The idea of praying with scripture came to the church through ancient Jewish tradition.
Christians in the early church continued this tradition,
Developing the practice of prayer and meditation towards engagement with God,
As is evidenced in the 48th chapter of the Rule of St Benedict in around AD 480-453.
Later in the 11th century,
A Caruthian prior formalised Lectio Divina,
Outlining the four-step process that was also known as the Four-Wronged Ladder to Heaven.
Lectio Divina,
Meaning divine reading in Latin,
Is a monastic tradition.
The tradition is of reading the Bible in a meditative way,
Letting go of our own agendas and listening to what God may have to say.
It encourages a view of Biblical texts as the living Word rather than a written text to be studied.
The four steps in Lectio Divina are about seeking to experience the presence of God through reading,
Listening,
Prayer,
Meditation and contemplation.
The reading we are going to do now comes from Ephesians,
Ephesians 4 verses 2 to 6.
So let's sit back,
Take a few deeper breaths to relax and closing your eyes if you are comfortable.
In Job 22 it says,
Get along well with God and be at peace.
From this something good will come to you.
Receive instruction from his mouth.
Put words in your mind.
So let's do that.
Bringing the mind and the heart into this process.
This process of spiritual formation rather than gathering information.
Listening to the text as a gift to be received rather than a text to be dissected.
Just letting it come to you and allowing yourself to be caught by the Spirit as we go.
We're going to approach it a little differently today.
It will be the same four steps,
Listening,
Meditating,
Praying and then contemplating.
But as well as doing the reading at the start a couple of times.
I'm going to do it at the beginning of the next couple of steps as well with a few words.
As always this is meant to be a dynamic process with you moving to the next stage as you feel prompted to do so.
So please do use the pause button on your device between each step if you would like to spend more time in it.
So the first step is to listen.
The reading is taken from Ephesians 4 2-6 and as I read the passage simply listen for a word or phrase that attracts you.
Allowing it to arise from the passage as if it's God's word for you today.
Sit in silence in between the readings.
Maybe repeating the word or phrase in your head or saying it aloud.
Conduct yourselves with all humility,
Gentleness and patience.
Accept each other with love and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.
Conduct yourselves with all humility,
Gentleness and patience.
Accept each other with love and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.
And now we meditate on that word,
Words or phrase that's caught you.
And ponder as you think about the passage or word again.
Ponder how it speaks into your life and why it has connected with you.
Ponder carefully and don't worry if you get distracted.
It may be just a part of your response to offer it to God.
Conduct yourselves with all humility,
Gentleness and patience.
Accept each other with love and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.
Enter pray from the heart.
Asking what God's calling from you.
What is it that you need to do or consider or relinquish or take on as a result of what God is saying to you in this word or phrase?
In the silence that follows,
Pray for the grace of the Spirit to plant this word in your heart as we read Ephesians again for the third time.
Conduct yourself with all humility,
Gentleness and patience.
Accept each other with love and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.
And as we move into the final stage,
Contemplation.
Simply to sit and be quiet.
Open your heart and your mind to God.
Let his presence surround you and be with you.
Be with him.
And as we come to a close,
I just want to thank you for sharing this time with us.
Come with me today.
