Divine Reading (Lectio Divina)

For most of my life I have viewed a wide reading of Scripture as the best way to engage the Word of God. Whether that view was intentionally held or not, I failed many Bible-In-A-Year plans trying to attain the extra holiness in store for people who take in a lot of the Bible every day. 

Around this time last year, I was introduced to a new-to-me way of engaging with Scripture called Lectio Divina. Latin for “divine reading,” Lectio Divina is a series of movements to help the reader engage a passage in a deeper way. This is a practice of slow, meaningful reading and re-reading of a very small portion of Scripture, usually only a few verses. It’s asking questions and silently listening for their answers. It’s allowing the Spirit time and space to move in our hearts. 

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with reading large passages of Scripture each day or reading the Bible in a year (many people I love dearly, including my husband, do this and really benefit from it), Lectio Divina is something I’ve found to be another tool in my arsenal, another spiritual exercise if you will, something to be used to increase my enjoyment of God as I read his word. In the same way our bodies become stronger as we exercise them in different ways, so can our hearts and minds as we engage scripture in different ways. 

Building muscles - both physical and spiritual - is complementary in ways we often aren’t even aware of. For example, a person who does only bicep curls will soon plateau unless he also exercises other parts of the body. By adding other exercises to his routine - planks, squats, cardio - he can begin to improve again. The strength gained in his core by doing planks can help him lift heavier weights with his arms because his body is more stabilized. 

The same is true of our spiritual muscles. After practicing Lectio Divina, my day-to-day readings of larger passages of scripture take on a new depth, and I’m more apt to take note of words or phrases the Holy Spirit brings to mind as I’m reading. In the same way, reading more broadly gives my practice of Lectio Divina a fuller shape as I understand the context of a passage better and how that passage fits into the larger narrative of the Bible as a whole. Each spiritual “exercise” benefits the other. 

Lectio Divina is traditionally broken into four movements: read, meditate, pray, and contemplate. As you walk through each of the four movements, know that the descriptions are meant to be a gentle guide. You’re encouraged to linger where you feel the Spirit prompting you to linger, to ask questions beyond what is mentioned here, and generally make this practice your own. I’m hopeful you’ll find this practice as beneficial in your own walk with the Lord as I’ve found it in mine. 

Read (Lectio)

Choose a short passage of scripture (five to ten verses) and take a few moments of silence to prepare your heart and mind for what you’re about to read. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your reading. Then, read the passage slowly, taking time to pause between sentences and ideas, and soaking the words in. You may choose to read the passage several times, silently to yourself, or out loud. As you read, pay attention to any words or phrases that stand out to you, but try not to determine why. The goal here is not to extract meaning or determine action steps - remember this is not meant to be an in-depth study of the passage; the goal is simply to read slowly. 

Meditate (Meditatio)

After reading through the passage, begin to meditate on the word or phrase that stood out to you. Ask yourself why did this part of the passage resonate with me? What in my life can this word or phrase speak to? 

Pray (Oratio)

The next movement naturally flows out of your meditation. This is the act of responding to God based on what you have read. Allow your prayer to flow freely, perhaps using a journal or praying out loud. M. Robert Mulholland Jr. explains in this movement “we are sharing with God the feelings the text has aroused in us, feelings such as love, joy, sorrow, anger, repentance, desire, need, conviction, consecration.  We pour out our hearts in complete honesty, especially as the text has probed aspects of our being and doing in the midst of various issues and relationships.” (Invitation to a Journey). 

Contemplate (Contemplatio)

After reading, meditating, and praying take a few moments to sit in restful silence. Actively choose to rest in the words you read and your meditation and prayer to the Lord. It may help to visualize yourself resting against Jesus as John did (John 13:23, 25.) After several moments of silence and listening, thank the Lord for the work he is doing in you and resolve to walk through the rest of your day - your eating, drinking, working, playing, etc. - carrying with you the words your read and meditated on.