Personal Prayer 4 - Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB

Online Retreat with Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB
Growing Closer to God through Personal Prayer
Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House: https://www.goodcounselretreat.org
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To summarize the steps of Lectio Divina, they are just parts of a relationship: Engage the person of God, let Him speak, respond to Him, rest and be with Him.

An analogy to describe Lectio Divina like eating: we put good food in our mouth (scripture) for the sake of both tasting it and the nutrients - both that tastes good and is good for us. And don't be discouraged if we don't immediately experience or notice the affects.

Take a bite, chew on it, start to taste and digest, take it in, gnaw on it. And don't just spit it out: our goal is to swallow, to make it a part of us. Thus praying with scripture is not just a bible study, but committing one life and choosing to respond as one is moved: with thanks, praise, repentance, compassion.

Like a cow would bring it back and chew on it some more, we reiterate, reflect some more, persist as the Lord brings connections together.

Digestion is not something we do consciously - as long we have given our stomach food, it automatically starts digesting. So too contemplation is something that happens to us, a gift from God which he gives in response to our feeding ourselves with prayer.

And like with digestion, where it's good to rest and enjoy after a meal. And then we will be ready to use that energy to act.

The Jesus Prayer
A practice from eastern Christians, wanting to make time to be with the Lord, they summarized prayer in one verse that was repeated: "God come to my assistance... Lord make haste to help me."
With time, they repeated the name of Jesus and plea for mercy in the prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Repeat it, slow it down, connect with one's weakness and need for Him.