First, we need to realize that prayer itself is an incredible gift.
- “Prayer is a precious privilege – and this is putting it mildly. That the Lord of glory, himself unending joy, beauty, and goodness, would invite us to communicate with Him and then begin the conversation with His inspired Word [Sacred Scripture], which welcomes our responses, is an unimaginable blessing” (Fr. Thomas Dubay).
Second, since the core of Christian prayer is essentially a heart-to-heart conversation with God, we need the Word of God so that we may hear clearly what God wants to say to us.
- “When you read the Bible, God speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to God” (St. Augustine).
Third, as the highest form of mental prayer, lectio divina is one of the best ways we can cooperate with God’s grace to become great saints.
- “It is impossible for him who perseveres in mental prayer to continue in sin: he will either give up meditation or renounce sin… All the saints became saints by mental prayer” (St. Alphonsus de Liguori).
Fourth, lectio divina helps us to realize that Christian prayer begins with God calling us 1st, God initiating a conversation of love, God engaging our heart, God speaking to us.
- “God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer. In prayer, the faithful God’s initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself, prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a covenant drama. Through words and actions, this drama engages the heart. It unfolds throughout the whole history of salvation” (CCC 2567).
Fifth, lectio divina is a key way to “discover” key truths about life.
- Dan Burke calls lectio divina “discovery prayer” because we will discover what is essential through this form of prayer: God’s love, His loving presence and peace, our true identity, and our purpose in life.
Sixth, lectio divina is simply the best way to learn how to pray.
- It is both ever-ancient (practiced by saints for thousands of years) and ever-new (God meets every person uniquely in his Word).
Some more quotes to inspire:
- “Ignorance of the Scriptures is Ignorance of Christ” (St. Jerome).
- “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 3:9
- “Be still and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:10
- “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105
- “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching…” – 2 Timothy 3:16
- “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news to all of creation.” – Mark 16:15
- “Believe what you Read; Teach what you Believe; Practice what you Teach” – Ordination of Deacons
- No passage of Scripture, then, should be regarded as valueless, rejected as false, or repudiated as evil, for its all-perfect Author, the Holy Spirit, could inspire nothing untrue, trivial, or degraded. That is why heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of Scripture will not pass away until they are fulfilled (The Breviloquium, prologue ~ St. Bonaventure)
- “Besides the Holy Eucharist, the true food of the saints is to be found in the Scriptures.” Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., writing in his monumental The Three Ages of the Interior Life.
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