Speak the Word
If you remember from our very first article, one of the main reasons that knowHis.love exists is to help address the lack of or confusion over our fundamental identity. Instead of placing our identity in our jobs, hobbies, relationships, successes, or failures, we are called to root ourselves in being a beloved child of God the Father. Once this fundamental identity is firmly established, our lives can be ordered in such a way that respects the dignity of our personhood and can help bring meaning and direction to our existence. Instead of being caught in an endless cycle of unhealthy relationships that only bring comfort and lack any substance, rooting ourselves in the identity of being a beloved child of God can lead us to surround ourselves with others who help remind us of who we truly are and who we are called to be.
Seeing our lives through the lens of this fundamental identity changes everything. It changes the way we see God. It changes the way we see those around us. It even changes the way we see ourselves. Sadly, many people have either forgotten who they are or have placed their fundamental identity in something or someone else. Even those who have received any kind of consistent instruction in the faith for many years may struggle with the reality of being personally loved by God. We may have heard a million times that God loves us, but we lack any concrete experience to verify this claim. Hearing the title “beloved son or daughter of God” sounds nice, but, when we think of what actual consequences it has in our lives, very few are found.
The fact that we can be personally seen, heard, known, and loved by God is a foundational truth of Christianity, yet for some reason, this seems to be the first thing to be forgotten when stress, sadness, or temptations come our way.
How can we expect to be good witnesses of this love if we ourselves do not know it?
How can we expect our children to find any longing to stay in the faith if we do not constantly communicate this reality?
How can we expect that any religious education and formation will be meaningful if not consistently framed within the context of a God who loves personally?
In many ways, telling others of God’s love sounds so simple to the point that it can be overlooked or undervalued. Saying “God loves you” has turned into a trite saying rather than the explosive and radical claim that it truly is. When was the last time we pondered how incredible it is that the God who created everything and holds the universe in existence loves me personally?
It breaks my heart knowing that many have forgotten, substituted, or never known God’s personal love. Unfortunately, this not only includes those who have wandered far from the doors of a church, but also many who sit in the pews Sunday after Sunday, either out of habit or guilt, but never out of love. Not only lay people, but also many nuns, priests, bishops, and even popes - I even include myself. There have been numerous occasions where I have forgotten God’s personal love, where I have taken it for granted, or I have tried to replace it with something fleeting.
Knowing God’s personal love is something that takes a constant conversion of heart. In other words, it’s not enough to simply know about God’s love - we have to practice living in it. In the same way someone can take up running to maintain their health, there are certain practices that we can do daily to help remind ourselves of and immerse ourselves in God’s love.
One of my favorite ways of reminding myself of and immersing myself in God’s personal love for me is the ancient practice of lectio divina. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI said of lectio:
In this context, I would like in particular way to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of “Lectio divina”: “the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart” (cf. Dei Verbum, 25). If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church — I am convinced of it — a new spiritual springtime.
As Benedict notes, lectio is praying with scripture in a way that it becomes a dialogue - hearing God’s voice and responding to it with our own. Prayer is meant to be a lived relationship with our God, but for many, trying to see how this can be done with scripture can be a challenge. If someone spends little time in the bible it can seem overwhelming or inaccessible for prayer - especially if we randomly open to a page discussing how many cows someone owns.
Before exploring how to do lectio, let’s first take a step back and try to gain a new appreciation for scripture itself. One of my favorite ways that I’ve heard scripture described is as a language learning device, but instead of learning Spanish or German, we are learning the language of God. When children are very young and are beginning to communicate in ways other than cries, parents encourage their language learning by repeating words slowly and deliberately until the child is able to mimic the sounds produced by the mother or father’s mouth. Babies are surrounded by people using a multitude of words to communicate and eventually these words begin to take on meaning for the child and can then be used to express their own needs, desires, and thoughts. In the same way, in the scriptures we are given God’s very word - His language. It can seem indecipherable at points, but the more time we spend immersed in these words, the more familiar they become and the easier it is to communicate with the Author.
The beauty of scripture is that it contains the entire spectrum of human experience and emotions. We can find words to express joy, sadness, anger, isolation, hope, and love. Lectio is simply a means of dialoguing with God using the words He has given us. In this practice we can hear the words God is speaking into our hearts and respond to them in gratitude as we learn to apply them to our lives.
There are many resources available on lectio and a wide variety of approaches with this style of prayer; what I would like to share is simply what was taught to me and what helps me root myself in my identity as a beloved child of God.
We begin by finding a passage of scripture that we would like to use in prayer. If you have never done lectio divina before, I would recommend starting with one of the shorter Psalms or something from the Gospels. It is helpful to find a passage about 10-20 verses long.
Lectio divina consists of four (sometimes five, depending on which version you use) steps.
Lectio - read
Meditatio - meditate/reflect
Oratio - pray/respond
Contemplatio - contemplate
We can use Psalm 23 to help illustrate how each step can lead us into deeper dialogue and union with God’s love.
After beginning with a prayer to the Holy Spirit, the first stage of this prayer is lectio where we slowly and deliberately read through our selected passage. As you read through the text you may notice that certain words or phrases stick out or strike you. Maybe these words feel “weightier” or like a light goes on as you read though the text. Feel free to underline or write these words or phases down.
Once you have slowly read through the selection, pause for a few moments and let the words or phrases that stood out resonate within your mind and heart.
Psalm 23
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
In reading through this Psalm, certain words or phrases may have stood out.
He leads me…
He restores my soul…
I will fear no evil...
Repeat this first step two or three times, each time slowly reading through the passage and pausing between each reading.
After you completed the first stage, now you can enter into meditatio. This is a time of entering more fully into the words or phrases that stood out to you. God is speaking to you through these words and it is good to take time to ask why. Immerse yourself in the words or phrases. Place yourself within His presence and ponder how these words apply to every part of who you are. This stage could last as long as you like, but it is good to spend at least 5-10 minutes meditating on the words or phrases that God spoke into your reading.
Returning to Psalm 23, we could ask:
Do I truly let the Lord lead me?
Are there any areas of my life where I need to allow the Lord to lead me?
How do I try to lead myself through dark valleys?
Do I feel a need to be restored?
Can I place myself within the scene described in this Psalm: do I feel rest?
Do I feel the still waters?
Do I trust his rod and staff?
In all things we first receive from God and then in gratitude we joyfully offer back to Him what we have received. In the same way, the next stage is oratio, or prayer, where we take the gifts of the words or phrases that stood out to us and transform them into a prayer in response to God. Remember - prayer is a dialogue. God has spoken these words into your heart and now, using His own language, we speak back to Him in our own words. This oratio doesn’t necessarily have to be very long, but it is good to really speak to the words or phrases that struck us and speak to God about their relevance for our lives.
We could turn the words or phrases that stood out to us in Psalm 23 into a prayer of our own:
God, all loving Father, I need you. I need you to restore my life. I need your life-giving waters. I need you to help me trust where you are leading me and know that wherever it is, I will find you and I will find rest. Help me to turn away from all of the ways that I try to lead myself and help me to put my trust in you.
Finally, the last stage of lectio divina is contemplatio, or, contemplation. This stage can not only be difficult to describe, but also difficult to experience as it is easy to be distracted and worried about the cares of the day.
In contemplation we are letting the words and phrases that were with us in the first three steps simply melt away as we find ourselves within the loving gaze of our God. He is looking at us - every part of who we are - in love, and we simply look back. We do not need to speak. We do not need to think. We simply need to exist in his loving and tender gaze. Think of a couple that has been married for decades and decades. They can sit on a couch together, holding one another’s hands, and simply exist in the love they have for one another. They do not always need words to communicate this love - they simply exist in each other’s loving presence. In the same way, God wants to be present with you and for you to be fully present with Him.
If you find yourself starting to get distracted or restless, return to the words or phrases that were with you in the first three steps and then allow them to melt away again, placing yourself once again in the restful and loving presence of God.
Contemplatio can last for as long as you’d like, but I would definitely recommend trying to start with at least 10 minutes and then slowly increasing this time as you become more familiar with lectio divina.
It is helpful to think of lectio divina not as separate entities, but instead as a downward movement into the depths of His love. We should not isolate lectio from meditatio or oratio; instead we should see each stage as steps into a pool of water. We start by slowly immersing ourselves in lectio, the next step of meditatio brings us deeper, oratio brings us even deeper, and finally, in contemplatio, we find ourselves fully submerged and weightless within the heart of God.
Praying with lectio divina is just one way that we can daily remind and immerse ourselves in the love that God has for each one of us. I created a printable bookmark on our resources page that gives a brief summary of each step. Feel free to keep a copy of it in your bible!
If you have any questions about how to do lectio or if you would like to share the fruit of your prayer, please feel free to write us at knowhisdotlove@gmail.com. I would absolutely love to hear how you daily remind yourself of His love and encourage one another in our daily need for a conversion of heart.