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A workshop developed by Reverend Dr. Rosemarie Hamon, Heights Christian Church, Houston, TX. Please click on this link for the complete Lectio Divina workshop. Prayer is practicing a loving relationship with our living heavenly father. God created us to love us. God wants us to want relationship with him. God woos us into relationship by talking with us in many ways.
Through prayer, we intend to get to know God's presence in our lives. Through prayer, we intend to align ourselves with the Spirit of God. It makes no sense to ignore God's written communication to us while we are getting to know God better. Therefore, one of the ways that God's people have (for many centuries) developed powerful prayer lives is through use of scripture. Prayer is love talk - between us and God. So is scripture. Use Scripture to Help Us Pray Lectio Divina is an ancient Latin term literally translated, "Diving Reading," or "Sacred Reading," that centuries ago was developed into a systemic method of prayer, that is, reading as a basis for prayer. We have seen its offshoots in movies like Sgt. York and in dozens of events and stories. The following words are summaries of more extensive discussion of Lectio Divina, from the Melleray "Monastic Primer" for the lay members of the Monastic Center Associate Program, New Melleray Abbey, Peosta, IA. Lectio Divina - Theory -- The essential point is that we are saved, sanctified, and glorified by receiving God's Word. This perception reveals the nature and orientation of all Christian Spirituality.
Lectio Divina - Practice -- The term and practice of Sacred Reading could broadly include a great variety of books of devotion and spiritual doctrine, besides the Sacred Scripture; however, this discussion is limited to the search for union of mind and heart with God through Sacred Scriptures, exclusively. The four principle categories traditionally used to encompass the experience of lectio divina are:
Lectio Divina - Reading -- This a special kind of reading. First of all, we are reading Scripture in order to seek a Person and be united with Him, even God. We are not reading to gain information or facts. We are not studying for a test. We are not fulfilling an obligation. Nor are we reading in order to gain practical or professional skill. Instead of all that, we have turned to the Word of God in order to repent, in order to cleanse our heart of sin, in order to return to God. Our apprach to Scripture is mystical: we are seeking union with God. There are two ways of reading Scripture. First, the continuous reading of an entire book of the bible from beginning to end. The other way is to read particular passages (special or favorite ones) out of context and independently of the rest of the book. It is presummed that a person has previously read the whole book of the Bible before he engages in reading particular favorite passages. Lectio Divina - Meditation -- It frequently happens to Christians during their reading that a particular phrase, sentence, or longer section appeals to the readers' mind and heart with special urgency. Read slowly and thoughtfully until you are attracted by a text. The text will strike you as particularly important or meaningful, at least to you personally. It just seems like that there is unusual power, beauty or truth in the particular passage. When this happens to you, stop reading. Concentrate on the passage. Read that passage over, slowly again and again. Do not reason about the text. Do not analyze it. Do not think thoughts about the text. Just listen to the words and meaning of the text itself. Meditate on that passage as long as you feel inclined to do so, as long as it holds your attention and seems worthwhile. God has led you to a word in Scripture that is the remedy for one of your ills, a release from one of your bonds, or a life-giving word that is actualizing one of your capacities for transcendent Christian life. An additional fruit of Meditation is that you will always have a few meditation texts in your memory. It is spiritually refreshing occasionally during the course of the day to recite your meditation text by heart. It brings you near to God in the midst of your work. Lectio Divina - Prayer -- A person who reads Scripture is even more frequently led to prayer than to meditation. The prayers are as short, usually, as they are more frequent. As you are reading, you will feel an inclination to speak to God about what you are reading. At various times, you will be led to every form of prayer, praise, petition, and intercession. Each time is a grace of the Holy Spirit. Do not plan and program your prayers; just remain open and sensitive to the impression and invitations the Divine Spirit will give you at your lectio divina. Sacred reading is a threshold to prayer. Yes, reading the Bible will teach you how to pray. Lectio Divina - Contemplation -- In the context of lectio divina, contemplation means "listening." The contemplative moment of lectio divina is an experience of illumined consciousness. It is a heightened awareness of God. It is a brief time when you are totally occupied in being lovingly aware of God. It is a "little while" during which you are completely and exclusively engaged in loving attention to God. Contemplation is not a rapture, not an irrestistable ecstasy. It is entirely free, voluntary and inter-personal. In lectio divinia, it is a wordless response to God evoked by his Word. It does not think or speak. It just knows and loves God. Copyright © Rosemarie Hamon, 1997 - Used with permission |