Chapter 3 (Hearing God’s word in prayer: Lectio Divina)
Chapter 5 (Hearing God’s whisper)
Welcome to session three of The Lectio Course. Each session of the course is designed to take around an hour and features:
• A teaching video with Pete Greig and a special interview guest
• Discussion questions for groups
• A practical activity to do together
It can be tempting to linger on the questions or keep the discussion going, but we really recommend prioritising the practical activity; it will help you as a group to practise what’s being explored in each video session.
You might find that there are more discussion questions than you have time for: if that’s the case, choose the ones that feel most appropriate and helpful for your group context.
Hearing God is a concept that many Christians are familiar with, and others are brand new to. We recommend paying attention to the dynamic of your group and being aware of the varying levels of understanding and experience. Unfortunately, some people have negative experiences in this area too, and we recommend being sensitive and aware of this as you lead through the session.
We’d love to hear how you’re finding the course: please do share your experiences with us.
5 mins
In this session, we’ll explore the second step of Lectio Divina, moving from reading the text to meditating on it.
What comes to mind when you think about meditation? Do you feel positively or negatively about it?
“May the words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” – Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
15 mins
Summary
1. Embrace interruption: slow down and be patient
2. Exercise intuition: explore the implications
3. Apply imagination: adopt a mental playfulness
“Our mind, will, emotions and our body can also be ways of communicating with God and God communicates to us in those as well… Logic and emotions are not mutually exclusive, they live together.” – Mara Klemich
25 mins
Q. What did you find most helpful or most challenging in the video?
Q. Pete says that meditation has nothing to do with emptying our minds but filling them with the beauty of biblical truth. How does your idea of meditation differ or align with Pete’s explanation?
Q. When thinking about the three keys to meditation – embracing interruption, exercising intuition and applying imagination – which do you find easiest to focus on? Which feels the hardest?
Q. Mara explained the vital role that both logic and imagination play together in our understanding of scripture. What practical step from Pete and Mara’s conversation will you apply next time you read the Bible?
Q. Do you consider yourself more of a logical or imaginative person? Do you think this impacts the ways that you hear God?
Q. How do we know when God is speaking and when it’s just us? How can we practise discernment when we’re praying imaginatively?
Q. What one thing will you do differently because of this session?
15 mins
Practical prayer activity:
As a group, use the steps of Lectio Divina to reflect on the parable of the Lost Son.
This time, try to focus on engaging with the parable imaginatively. What do you see, hear, taste and smell? Imagine yourself in the scene as you read the passage.
How to do the Lectio Divina as a group:
Try using the three keys that Pete and Mara unpacked to explore hearing God as you read the Bible:
Interruption: Slow down as you read.
Intuition: What captures your attention?
Imagination: allow your mind to think creatively as you read.
