Lectio Divina:
Devotional Bible-Reading
Isaiah
26:3 NIV
You
will keep in perfect peace
those
whose minds are steadfast,
because
they trust in you.
Step
1 – Read
Desiring the Simple Presence
of God
Using the
intellect, we seek for the objective meaning of the Text.
Step
2 – Meditate
Desiring a Personal
Understanding of His Word
Using the heart, we find what the text is saying to me
– the individual is challenged by the text.
Bible - Text for Meditation
What is the text telling me?
How does it affect my life ?
What does it remind me of ?
Step
3 – Pray
Desiring Knowledge of God’s
Will
Using
our whole Being, we converse with God through prayer. A.C.T S. – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication
(Petition)
Prayer as Consecration of Life Experiences to God
Adoration (Praise): Praise the Lord for the glimpse of His love that this text offers you.
Confession: What do I recognise is wrong in my life and needs to change?
Thanksgiving: How does this text stir gratitude in my heart? For what am I thankful?
Supplication for ourselves: What petitions does this text inspire me to ask of the Father?
Supplication for others: Who does this text inspire me to pray on behalf of?
Prayer: Consecration of Life Experiences to God
Step
4 – Contemplate
Desiring to Obey God
“We take up, as a gift from God, his own way of seeing and
judging reality, and ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is
the Lord asking of us? Contemplation aims at creating within us a truly wise
and discerning vision of reality, as God sees it, and at forming within us “the
mind of Christ” (1Cor 2:16).”
Pope
Benedict XVI
What conversion of mind, heart, and life is the Lord asking of me?
Conclusion
– Action
The process of Lectio Divina is concluded when it arrives at action.
We use our will to cooperate with God’s grace to act upon the word of God.