Session 4: Spiritual Reading

Becoming a modern monk is about learning to practice the ways of Jesus in a modern world.

When we read the Scriptures, we enter into a world of revelation and a world that is so much

bigger than our world. It is the world of God. We must begin to read not just to obtain knowledge

about God and life, but to have a relationship with God and begin to know Him.

The Practice of Spiritual Reading:

Luke 10:26 NKJV - He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

 We must begin to practice not just reading, but divine and spiritual reading

Revelation 1:3 NKJV - Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy,

and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

 We can’t just read. We have to also hear and obey.

Ephesians 3:3 NKJV - how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have

briefly written already 4  by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the

mystery of Christ)

 Revelation is God making himself known.

 When we read, we understand His knowledge

Deuteronomy 17:19 NKJV - And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life,

that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law

and these statutes

 We are to read not just in times of trouble, but all our days

 Through spiritual reading, God becomes center of our lives

 We’re not just reading to understand, but to obey

Acts 8:30 NKJV - So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do

you understand what you are reading?”

 Do you understand what you’re reading?

Four Words Regarding Understanding God and His Kingdom

1. Lectio Devina – “divine lecture,” or “divine reading”

a. When we read, we need to slow down and not speed read

b. We’re not choosing how and when God speaks and reveals to us

2. Meditacio – “to think about or meditate on”

a. Are we reading without remembering what we read? Then we need to meditate

as we read.

3. Oracio – “to speak”

a. We need to begin to speak the Word out loud and pray the Word

b. S-O-A-P (Scripture, observation, application, prayer)

4. Contemplacio – “to contemplate”

a. Before we go to media, another person, or commentaries, we need to

contemplate the Word for ourselves

b. When we contemplate the Word, it becomes living and active in us

Hebrews 4:12 NKJV - For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-

edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a

discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 Where is there division in your personality?

 We need the surgeon (the Holy Spirit) to come with the scalpel of the Word of God to

bring health and healing

 God doesn’t want us to go through life broken.

Challenge: Create a Bible reading plan for yourself to follow and start simple.