· teaches you to develop a conversation between you and God through the practice of studying and meditating on and praying through Scripture.

· teaches you to absorb the Word of God, to converse with God openly, and to live out what you’ve processed as it becomes a part of you.

There are four elements of lectio divina:

1. Read

2. Think

3. Pray

4. Live.

Each element has a purpose and overlaps and weaves into the other.

Read.
Thoughtfully, leisurely, faithfully, attentively, and repeatedly.

Think.
Each subtle, significant, powerful word of Scripture is meant for you. One word may speak today and another tomorrow, but God sent each of them straight into your life. So listen. Go into your reading with a clean slate. Don’t bring what you think you need to hear, what others have said, or what you’ve been taught about a particular passage. Don’t bring fear that you’ll misinterpret the text. This is about what God has to say to you.

Pray.
God yearns to converse with you. And he wants far more than just “thanks for this, can I please have that” prayer. Respond to him in dia­logue. That means it’s as much about listening as it is about speaking. Open your ears and your heart to hear his voice. Fill your prayers with Scripture. Using the words you have read helps you ensure that your prayers line up with God’s Word and intention for your life.

Live.
You can read, think, and pray all day, but unless you live in God’s Word as well, you miss the point. (James 2) If you have taken God’s Word to heart and truly made it part of you, it will by its very nature change you. And when it does, you will find yourself called to act. There will come a time when God takes you to the end of yourself then asks you to go further. He wants you to put yourself at his disposal, to go and do what he asks, even the impossible.

Write down what God is saying to you in a journal. Be prepared with something to share with your group each week what God is teaching you through his Word by his Spirit. The result will be personal growth and group edification.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Work Out Groups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.