Prayer & Lectio Divina
Very often my prayer begins in Scripture or is nourished by it. As St. Ambrose observed, we speak to the Lord when we pray, and we listen to him when we read his word. Here you’ll find posts about lectio divina (the practice of pondering Scripture until it becomes prayer) and other forms of prayer, both how and why to use them. Explore the posts below (pictured with the most recent first) or start with one of the ones listed here:
- Read the Bible Like a Disciple
- Flourishing in Drought (a 4-part series on lectio divina)
- God Hears Our Prayers
- Why Pray, if it Doesn’t Always “Work”?
I hated walking home after Daylight Savings ended. I didn't live far from where I babysat, but the road wasn't lit. Not even houses along the way—houses of people I knew, who were friendly—erased the nagging fear that something could happen, I could be hurt, and no one would come to my aid. I'd clutch my bag, walk tall, then ...
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"O God, come to my assistance; O LORD, make haste to help me!" Who hasn't prayed this, or something like it, at some time in their life? It comes from Psalm 70, where it is a strong cry for rescue. But those words are far more than a cry for help. The early desert fathers repeated that verse throughout the ...
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What are your plans for the summer? My calendar's already filled with a family vacation and weekend trips and picnics. But work is lighter, and so are the days—leaving time for walks and books and doing nothing, if I want. Just seeing "Memorial Day" coming up next week makes my pulse slow down. I can't wait for summer. I have ...
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Have you heard of visio divina? I hadn’t, until I was asked to review Transformed by God’s Word, a wonderful new book by Stephen Binz. Immediately, I was intrigued by the subtitle: Discovering the Power of Lectio and Visio Divina. Lectio divina, I know well. But visio? Visio divina—“sacred seeing”— is an Eastern Orthodox tradition of contemplating sacred images, allowing ...
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I was just one of many pilgrims on the Mount of Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee, looking for a private place to pray. We all wanted the same thing: shade from the sun, a good view of the water, and a flat rock to sit on. I finally found a spot on a lonely slope -- lonely because the ...
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(Traducción en español al final) I heard twice from a friend last week, big news about others: one, a mutual acquaintance who suffered years after an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, who then got cancer. His funeral this month was a testimony to his faith and the joy he found, in spite of his suffering, in ...
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Hidden in a courtyard in the winding, cobbled streets of Jaffa*, near Tel Aviv, is a hanging orange tree. Seen through a nearby arch it looks surreal, as though it's trying to break out of the giant suspended pottery egg that holds it. Some miracle of engineering must keep it fed and watered, or someone tends it carefully. Can it ...
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We gathered behind the wooden cross two weeks ago, four of us carrying it and the remaining pilgrims lining up behind, ready to walk the Via Dolorosa – the Way of Sorrows – the way Jesus may have walked through Jerusalem to his crucifixion. Suddenly, a hail of small explosions peppered the air. We looked around uneasily. Soldiers gathered in ...
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I went recently to pray at the Western (“Wailing”) Wall in Jerusalem. It is a sacred place where Jews from around the world gather to pray, often leaving written prayers tucked in the spaces between the great stones. In contrast to the Temple Mount itself, which allows access to non-Muslims for only a few hours a week and where Jews ...
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