A Framework of Hearing God

What if you knew a simple Christian prayer that could transform your experience with the Lord?

This prayer doesn’t replace thanksgiving, confession, petition or intercession. It complements them by bringing you closer to the Lord and able to hear His voice more and more clearly.

Why would you need that?

● Do you struggle with hearing the Lord?

● Do you read the Bible but you’re not sure what He’s saying to you?

● Do you check off your quiet time as another To-Do?

● Do you need to hear the Lord’s wisdom over a decision?

● Do you need to feel the Lord’s love in a circumstance?

Then listen in your mind and your heart.

This Christian prayer has been around since at least the sixth century church. Its name is Latin: lectio divina, which simply means divine reading. Most of us shorten it to “lectio”.

It’s a simple four-step method of contemplative listening prayer, where you start with the Bible, think about the Lord is saying to you, pray Scripture back to Him, and then contemplate in silence His holy presence.

The four steps are:

Read.

Meditate.

Pray.

Contemplate.

Each step is very simple and put together they turn into a powerful prayer experience with the Lord, becoming deeper and stronger as you make it a regular practice.

Reading is simply reading in the Bible until a passage, or verse, or even a word, captures your attention. This is different from Bible study, which is incredibly important to do, but for lectio you are doing meditative reading. Write down your verse and say it gently to yourself several times.

Christian meditation is not the Eastern forms where you empty yourself. Christian meditation is thinking about a passage or truth that you are learning about God. In this case, meditate asking yourself the question, why did God draw this verse to my attention? Do I feel strongly that I already know? Or am I not sure what it means? Then write down your experience reading the verse, and what you think God might be telling you. Even if you don’t know what it means yet, ask. God will lead you into the truth.

Now, pray the Scripture back to the Lord. All this means is putting your prayer into first person and speak it back to God. For example, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil. 4:6)

Praying it back might sound something like, “Lord, I’m anxious a lot. Some of it’s connected with my business direction, but I find my anxiety stretching over whole days at a time. But I don’t need to be anxious. Instead of just praying a bunch of nervous prayers, I’m going to pray thoughtful prayers for help and at the same time I’m going to praise You, thank You, and know that You will bless me, and You are now.”

Contemplation is entering silence, where instead of voicing our words to Him, you receive them. This may be in silence, where you wait for the feeling of the presence of God or may be hearing the Holy Spirit speak to you in your imagination in words and images. Either way, be silent. Receive what the Holy Spirit wants to give you during this time.

I have my M.A. in Biblical studies and my D.Min. in spiritual formation and creativity. I work with a few Christian women every month as their spiritual director. We concentrate on meeting the Lord in the deep places of their life: creativity, dreams and visions, prophecy, and wisdom—all within the framework of the Bible.