Advice on praying with scripture?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SFV
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SFV

Guest
I have been trying to pray with scripture for the past couple of months but I cannot find anything that stands out to me. I have tried rereading passages slowly multiple times and asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
  1. Are there any good books/videos that provide insight to a deeper significance of events?
    Such as how when Zechariah was muted, he could never say the name of God, which the people had come to hear because the name of God was reserved only for priests who could burn the incense at the temple. Because of this, the people could not know His name except by hearing it. (This ‘history lesson’ is never brought up in the Bible. These kinds of things is what I mean)
  2. Advice on praying with scripture?
 
Last edited:
Make the effort with some form of the daily office. I can’t think of a better way to pray the psalms and the scriptures.
 
Have you tried the method of reading from the Lectionary: First the Gospel, then the responsorial psalm (especially the response) and then the first reading?

Abbott Jeremy Driscoll talks in this podcast series in “Episode 4: Second Master Theme: The Word of God” why the Bible is meant to be read in the context of liturgy. In the liturgy, the Gospel is the summit. The first reading is a foreshadowing and the responsorial psalm is almost like the people saying, “oh! oh! our hearts are singing, telling us where this is going!” If you read in the reverse order, then, you have a better chance of hearing the 1st reading as an announcement of Christ, who is the Word of God who is really speaking to us through the Holy Spirit.

Also, you may want to try the praying with Scripture as a way to just lodge the bite of Scripture in your heart with the expectation that you will reflect on it over the course of the day…like a ruminant, you take a bite at one time, deliberately, and then ruminate on it later, at the leisure of the Holy Spirit.

We’re not gnostics, looking for some “high knowledge.” What it is that God has to say to you is the deep significance. It is important, though, to root yourself in the way the Church proclaims the Word of God, and the lectionary will help with that.
 
I really love ‘The Better Part’ by Fr John Bartunek. It’s an in depth study /meditation / lectio devina walk through the 4 gospels. It’s really helped me see so much more. Each gospel is broken down into a few verses per day, and each chunk has 4 different Reflections on that passage. I’d highly recommend it.

I also have ‘A Year with the Bible’ Patrick Madrid /which I like, and in the same series ‘A Year with with Mary’ by Paul Thigpen.
 
Do you pray the Liturgy of the Hours? These contain scripture passages and psalms. Also, book of psalms and lamentations, I find, are good for prayer.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top