Lectio Divina

"Lectio Divina: A way of Praying with Scripture," Cutting Edge 4, no.2 (summer 2000): 18. Quoted in The Younger Evangelicals by Robert Webber, p.184.

Preparation
     Have the group members prepare themselves for prayer in whatever way is beneficial (e.g., silence, imagining Jesus, etc.).
     First let the group know you are about the read a verse or a short passage, and invite them to listen for a word or phrase that , as the Benedicitines say, "shimmers" - something that "beckons you, addresses you...something that stirs, unnerves, disturbs, grabs, or touches you."

Read the Passage
     Read it aloud twice in an unhurried way, the second time more slowly - perhaps by two different people.
     Ask people to repeat the "beckoning" or "shimmering" word or phrase to themselves.
     Invite each person in the group to speak that word or phrase one at a time. Allow this to be a slow movement, with spacious time between the speaking. Perhaps the group may agree simply to take turns around the circle, with each speaker indication to the next person (by a gesture, a touch, a word) when he or she is finished.

The Passage Is Read Aloud Another Time (perhaps by a different person than above)
     Have the group attend to the feeling or image in them which is connected to the word or phrase they have spoken.
     Each person in the group briefly states his or her feeling/image. Use the same process as when the word/phrase was spoken.

The Passage Is Read a Final Time (perhaps by yet another person
     Have each person attend to the way this word or phrase, feeling or image, connects with the context and situation of their life right now. How does it relate to what they have heard and seen this day? How does it connect with what is happening at home, at work, in leisure time, in their community, in society, in the world, in nature?
     Take an extended time of exploring the connection (in thought, in a journal, in art). How is God present to you in that connection? Is God calling you to anything in your present circumstance?
     Briefly share with the group what you have discovered. Go around the group in the same process as above.
     Invite the group to a time of silent contemplation, a time of simply resting with and receiving what God has offered them. Close with extended silence, resting in the presence of God. A spoken blessing or prayer may complete the silence.