Café - Hot Topic

Devotional Bible Reading
An ancient practice beloved of Christians everywhere is a technique called lectio divina. It is a deliberate, contemplative praying of Scripture, listening carefully and inviting God’s Word to seep into our souls and transform us. This practice has been preserved in the Christian monastic tradition and is now becoming popular among laity across denominations. Lectio divina, which is Latin for “divine reading,” invites us to open our hearts to the living Word, thus enabling us to offer more of our lives to God. In doing so, we throw ourselves into the outpouring of grace where the Savior’s love can surely reach us.

Lectio divina can be practiced in a group or individually. To begin a solitary session, sit down with your Bible in a quiet place and choose a brief passage, no more than two or three verses. Breathe deeply, relax, and ready yourself to really listen — to eagerly drink in God’s Word. Read through the passage and then be still for several minutes, silently ruminating on it. Is there a word or phrase that sticks in my mind? What feelings does it evoke? How is it speaking directly to you? After spending some time with these questions, re-read the passage again and pause to ruminate and question again. Repeat this process several times. Notice what thoughts emerge. Close the session with prayer and journaling about your experience.

For further reading:
Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina by Thelma Hall

Top Next page Forward this article to a friend

Faith Reflections by the Rev. Laura Gentry

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105

We believe that God’s Word is living and active — that the Spirit dances within the words of Scripture and activates our faith as we read them. The Psalmist describes the Word as a lamp and a light, implying that it imparts wisdom and direction. What a treasure we can discover within the pages of our Bibles!

God’s Word is not confined to Scripture, however. The primary Word of God is Jesus Christ himself, who “became flesh and dwelt among us,” as John’s Gospel proclaims. Jesus is the very living, breathing embodiment of God’s Word.

And yet there is an even more expansive understanding of the Word of God and this comes from the first chapter of Genesis. Here God’s words: “Let there be . . .” result in creation. From this we can conclude that creation itself is the Word of God. Each and every aspect of this marvelous earth and her creatures is the Word of God. Therefore, we can say that we are each a living Word from God.

More