Sacred Reading: Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is a fun, reflective, and engaging way to encounter scripture together at youth group. For that matter, it’s valuable for anyone!

The practice of Lectio Divina over the centuries is very broad, and you will find many different shapes of it if you look online or in books. For the purpose of conducting Lectio Divina at youth group, I have assembled a four-step structure that has proved helpful.

How it works

(You can also download this as a printable sheet.)

Choose your text.

With your whole group assembled, read through an entire chapter of scripture. Have your group partner up into 2s and 3s -- 3 as the maximum. If you form larger groups, one person will be The Quiet One, another will be The Chatty One, and so on. The point and power of sacred reading is interactive conversation. So it is a good idea to keep groups small.

From your whole chapter of scripture, each group will select a single verse to focus upon. You might choose one that feels “important”, or just choose one at random to see what you might discover.

1. Literal

The first step is the simplest: state the obvious. What is happening right now on the page? At what point in the story are we? Who is there? What is going on? What is the situation?

2. Scripture

Think about the phrases in your text. Where else in scripture have you heard similar things? What other stories or passages does your text bring to mind? Reflect on the meaning they might share in common. How might these other parts of scripture help you to better see and hear in your text?

3. Christ

Where do you see Jesus? How might you receive this verse if Jesus was the speaker or the subject? Think about the life of Jesus: What does your text bring to mind? What does this text show us or foreshadow for us about Jesus?

4. Call

In your own moment of life right now, what do you feel God calling you to? Does this text make you feel motivated to do or change something? What might God be calling you to do?