Prayer is a necessity for living an authentic Christian life. In fact, prayer is not only essential—it is also our primary means of communicating with God. Of all the Church’s treasures, there is nothing more rich and varied than its prayer, both communally and in the individual lives of its members.
Our greatest teacher is Jesus Christ, and He is the One to whom we must go to learn how to pray. The disciples knew this: “[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’” (Luke 11:1). The Gospels reveal to us the intimate conversation between Jesus and the Father and we learn how to pray by imitating the profound communion between them.
Sacred tradition teaches us that the prayer of a committed and persevering Christian ascends to higher levels in three main stages. In the Western Catholic tradition, these three stages are called vocal prayer, mental prayer, and contemplative prayer.
The Church encourages various wonderful ways in which to pray. One very special method was first introduced by the Church Fathers. This holy reading, meditating, and praying with scripture is called lectio divina, or “divine reading.”
Pope Benedict XVI referred to the ancient tradition of lectio divina as a “prayerful listening to the Word of God.”
1. Read
The first element of this type of prayer is reading (lectio): you take a short passage from the Bible, preferably a Gospel passage and read it carefully, perhaps three or more times. Let it really soak-in.
2. Meditate
The second element is meditation (meditatio). By using your imagination enter into the Biblical scene in order to “see” the setting, the people, and the unfolding action. It is through this meditation that you encounter the text and discover its meaning for your life.
3. Pray
The next element is prayer (oratio) or your personal response to the text: asking for graces, offering praise or thanksgiving, seeking healing or forgiveness. In this prayerful engagement with the text, you open yourself up to the possibility of contemplation.
4. Contemplate
Contemplation (contemplatio) is a gaze turned toward Christ and the things of God. By God’s action of grace, you may be raised above meditation to a state of seeing or experiencing the text as mystery and reality. In contemplation, you come into an experiential contact with the One behind and beyond the text.
King David said to the Lord, “I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
As Christians, we must also treasure the Word of God in our hearts. In order to live in a way that is pleasing to Our Lord, and to gain the graces He wants to give us through meditating on His Eternal Word, which formed our very being, St. Paul admonished us to, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16).
Thank you for the nice and beautiful message.