Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Fishers invites you to participate in an Advent practice. It is an old practice called Lectio Divina but it will be new for our church family this season. It is hoped that those participating will draw closer to God and find connections to one another through commenting. We are happy you have stopped by to engage in this practice.
Welcome to our Advent devotional practice of Lectio Divina – a simple pattern of engaging scripture reading and prayer that you can do in 5-15 minutes. This online format is available to you whenever you choose to utilize it – and invites us to greater connection by our ability to read and respond to one another’s comments.
Before you begin, you might want to have a journal (or just a piece of paper) and pen handy to jot down some thoughts. You are welcome to use your own bible – but the scriptures are available right here as well. You can choose to watch the video to hear this passage read out loud, or read it yourself using the link.
Just follow these simple steps:
Just breathe…take a minute to focus on your breathing in order to center yourself in preparation for this practice. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, and simply raise your awareness of God’s presence with you now. If it is helpful to you, you might try making this a “breath prayer” where you think about a word or phrase on the inhale, and another on the exhale. Your inhale word might be a name of God (Emmanuel, Lord, Creator...choose your own!) and the exhale word/phrase might be a simple prayer (…be present, love, center me).
Reading 1 – Listen. Play the video, or read the passage, and while you receive the scripture, listen carefully for a word or phrase that stands out to you. Don’t try to evaluate why or pick the “right” word or phrase, just pay attention to passage, and discover which word or phrase strikes you. At the end of the reading, write down that word or phrase in your journal or on your paper. You might want to add a couple of notes as to why that word or phrase seemed to speak to you today.
Just breathe…center yourself and clear your mind as you prepare for Reading 2.
Reading 2 – Ponder. As you listen to or read the passage a second time, ask yourself “How is God speaking to me in this passage today?” Just be aware of how the living God is speaking to you from the living word. The message you receive may or may not be connected to the word or phrase you focused on in the first reading of the passage – either way is fine! There is no right or wrong answer, just remain open to what God may be saying to you. Then, jot down a few notes about what you believe you are hearing from God today.
Just breathe…one more time, simply clear your thoughts and prepare for Reading 3.
Reading 3 – Pray. As you listen to or read the passage the third time, consider how this passage might be drawing a prayer from within your heart. You might find yourself considering a prayer:
For some area of transformation in your own life
For someone else in your life – an individual or group of people
For the world around you
As the reading concludes, turn your prayer thoughts into a prayer that you write down. Feel free to go ahead and pray your prayer before God in this moment!
Comment – Share something about your experience with today’s Lectio Divina in the comments section. You can share your prayer, your word or phrase, or anything else about experiencing God’s word today. Take one more minute to review comments that have been shared by others – and consider responding with something encouraging, by recognizing similarities or differences in how God spoke to them, or simply appreciating what they’ve shared.
That’s it. You may choose to return to a post later in the week – either to engage the process again (do it daily, if you like!) or simply review new comments that have been shared, and continue to respond to those comments. This online space encourages connection through sharing comments, reflections and responses.