What is Lectio Divina?
Lectio Divina is a wonderful spiritual discipline that can be done individually or with a small group. It is Latin for “Divine Reading”. I find it useful for slowing down my reading of Scripture to listen to Holy Spirit and to be more open to revelation.
How it works
The step by step is pretty simple. Take a small passage of Scripture, roughly 5 to 10 verses. You will read through the passage four times with a different focus each time.
1. Reading
2. Meditating
3. Prayer
4. Contemplation
First up, read the passage nice and slow, allowing whatever God wants to highlight to stand out.
Second read through, stop and linger over the phrase or word that stands out and savour that word/phrase.
Thirdly, read again and talk to God through the passage. Enjoy using your imagination to put yourself in the story and pray to the Lord through what He reveals.
Finally, another read through and still yourself and receive whatever the Lord wants to share with you. Stilling yourself is wonderful way to finish, dwelling in intimacy with the Lord.
Why you should try it
Every time I practice the spiritual discipline of Lectio Divina, I am astounded by what the Lord reveals. He can take a very short section of the Bible and reveal incredible depth of revelation. When I was a part of the Discipleship Training School team we took time every week to work our way through the Beatitudes (Matthew 5 – 7). It was such a rich experience to linger over each verse and not rush through just to get the job done. What was also edifying was to hear from each other what was standing out through each reading. There was such rich variety on the same small portions of Scripture.
A Modern take on Lectio Divina
Another way to engage with scripture is through the Lectio 365 mobile app.
Lectio 365 is a daily devotional resource that helps you pray the bible every day. Written by leaders from the 24-7 Prayer movement, and produced in partnership with CWR, this resource helps you engage with Scripture to inspire prayer and shape your life.
Lectio 365 is inspired by the spiritual discipline called Lectio Divina, a way of meditating on the Bible that’s been used by Christians for centuries. P.R.A.Y. – Each day, P:ause to be still. R:ejoice with a Psalm and R:eflect on Scripture. A:sk for God’s help, and Y:ield to His will in your life.
Shape your life with weekly focuses around six practices that help us live like Jesus: prayer, mission, justice, creativity, hospitality and learning. You can also read or listen on the go with both text and audio options for each day.
Whichever you choose, I pray that you enjoy feasting on the Word through reading chapter after chapter, and that you enjoy savouring the Word small bite after small bite.