Getting Closer to God Series Part 6

This is the sixth post in a series to help you get closer to God. I am purposely leaving time in between suggestions to allow you to put each idea into practice instead of flooding you with several suggestions at once.

1st post in this series

2nd post in this series

3rd post in this series

4th post in this series

5th post in this series

I am going to introduce briefly three methods of interacting with God’s Word. All three have some similarities so I chose to put them together in one blog post.

Biblical Meditation

Biblical meditation is pondering and speaking to yourself God’s words from the Bible over and over. That is the definition of it in the most basic and simple form I can tell you. For more of my thoughts on this please visit my previous post on biblical meditation.

If you are interested in more in-depth information on this topic I didn’t feel it necessary to reinvent the wheel so here are some links for you to check out (for all of you researchers and teachers out  there who like lots of info).

http://www.preceptaustin.org/a_primer_on_meditation.htm

Praying the Scripture

This is a little more formalized way to meditate on the scripture but also involves definite praying also. This was popularized by Madame Guyon in her book, “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ”.

Here is my basic version:

Set aside a separate time to be with the Lord. Turn to the presence of God. Believe you have come into His presence. Open your Bible with a gentle spirit and quiet soul. Read slowly until something within urges you to stop. Pause gently. set your mind inwardly on Christ. Look again at the words and then to the face of God. Wait before Him, bringing all your attention to the indwelling Christ. By faith, hold your heart in the Lord’s presence. In this quiet state simply swallow and take in what is there as nourishment. Stay with what the Lord has revealed to you as long as He is there. Ask, “Lord, what do you want to say to me? What do you wan for or from me?” Read again and ask again if necessary. Write down what He says. Wait quietly and keep focused on Him.

For more information on this discipline please either check out this link with basic info or purchase Madame Guyon’s book for yourself.

http://www.sidroth.org/site/News2?abbr=art_&page=NewsArticle&id=5691&news_iv_ctrl=1054

Lectio Divina

This is another way to do biblical meditation or “praying the scriptures” or “waiting on the Lord”…They all seem so very similar to me! This one, lectio divina, is definitely based in the Catholic tradition (which is just an observation of fact, not in any way negative or positive).

Lectio Divina means divine reading in the Latin, and includes scripture reading, meditation and prayer. It is divided up into four steps of read, meditate, pray and contemplate.

You read your selected passage slowly four times with high attentiveness. Meditate and ponder on the selected passage waiting for the Holy Spirit to bring illumination. Pray over the selected passage. End with silent prayer that expresses love to God.

Again, for those of you who like lots of information here are some other links to check out lectio divina:

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Catholic/2000/08/How-To-Practice-Lectio-Divina.aspx

http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html

Please share one thing you are planning to do to get closer to God because of reading this post. Scroll down to the bottom and add your comment in the space that says, “Leave a message” .

(c) 2012 Cheryl Cope
Cheryl Cope on Google+