Scripture Engagment

"Storying Scripture is the process of helping people discover the truths of the Bible through listening to and discussing the stories of the Bible.

In storying, a teacher tells a Bible story by memory to a group of people. The listeners then work together to retell the story back to the teacher as best they can. Next, the teacher repeats the story until all of the listeners have the story in their memory. The group then discusses the story and relates their own lives to the story (see the “5 Questions” sidebar for examples of discussion questions). After the storying process is over, each person who has memorized and discussed the story together is encouraged to share the Bible passage with others, in a sense becoming walking, talking Bibles."

"Hand copying Scripture is simply writing passages by hand word for word. Why would you do this when you probably own a number of copies of the Bible and can even easily access Scripture digitally? The purpose of hand copying Scripture is not to have another copy of the Bible. Instead, this form of Scripture engagement offers you the unique opportunity to slow down the process of reading and experience a more reflective engagement with God’s Word."

"Lectio divina, which literally means divine reading, is a process of formational reading that emphasizes a slow dwelling with the text. We can speak of it as containing four ways of being with the text. These are not steps; though they form a logical order, they may happen in any order or simultaneously. Often Latin titles are used to label these four ways.

• Lectio. This describes a slow and careful reading of the text and includes much of what we would label as study.
• Meditatio. The meditation called for is meditation on the Scripture being read. It may involve savoring, repeating, thinking about or digesting the words so that they become personally meaningful and nourish us spiritually.
• Oratio. Here we pray the Scripture. We pray to God for understanding. We pray back to God the promises found, we use this reading to cry out to God or we listen for his voice in what we read.
• Contemplatio. We rest in God’s presence through the Scripture.

As we shall see, other titles (for example, tentatio, struggle; operatio, action) have also been used.

Lectio divina is a “both/and” way of being with the text. We read carefully and analytically, but we also savor its beauty and its personal message. We sit quietly before God through the path prepared by reading, but we cry out in joy or anguish as we bring together our life, the world and the text. We zealously chew and ponder the text, and we happily bathe in it."

Excerpt from Wilhoit, James C., Howard, Evan B., and Wilhoit, Jim. Discovering Lectio Divina : Bringing Scripture into Ordinary Life. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012. Accessed January 23, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.

"People from all cultures take part in singing in some form and at every age. Babies around the age of 12 months naturally sing, and by 18 months they make up recognizable, repeatable songs. By age 5, children know a fairly large selection of songs. Singing seems to be a God-given aspect of being human. One important way to use singing in your life is to use it to build up your relationship with God.

Followers of God sing throughout the Bible (e.g., Exodus 15:21; Acts 16:25). Psalm 95:1-2 says, “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” In Ephesians 5:19, we’re told we should be “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” The entire book of Psalms is the hymnal of the Bible! For the whole life of the church, Christians have been singing psalms and other portions of Scripture."

"Journaling Scripture helps you to reflect on a passage, focusing your mind and helping you concentrate. Writing often helps us clarify our thinking. Most of us, when we take notes for a class or during a sermon, engage with the content at a deeper level and remember it more completely—and, as a result, the content has more impact on our lives. This same principle holds true when you journal Scripture. Writing down your thoughts about a passage helps you to engage the Bible more deeply. "

"One of the most powerful means of engaging with Scripture is by doing something you naturally do every day: You talk to others. Conversation is one of the most natural human social processes. We are created for community and wired to speak with others. The things in our lives that are on our hearts naturally come out in our conversations. The conversations we have with others result in our turning those ideas over in our minds (in other words, what we talk about often leads to what we think/meditate about). By speaking about Scripture with other people, we deepen our connection with God and his Word."

"Since art is often complicated and takes time to understand, it can help you slow down and meditate on a passage. In the presence of the Holy Spirit, you can combine a piece of art and the inspired words of the Bible, helping you to encounter the God of the Bible in a new way."

"Drama is a powerful tool that can cause people to think and feel at a very deep level. Putting yourself into a story and “trying on” what characters in that story were thinking and feeling often causes you to see yourself in a new way. Drama can help you engage both your mind and emotions. Truth can become clearer and take on more meaning when it is fleshed out through a dramatic presentation."

"Evan Howard in his book Praying the Scriptures writes, “To pray the Scriptures is to order one’s time of prayer around a particular text in the Bible.” This can mean either praying the prayers of the Bible word-for-word as your own prayers, personalizing portions of the Scriptures in prayer, or praying through various topics of the Bible."

"Memorizing Scripture is one of the most effective means to engage Scripture. Because Scripture engagement is about reflecting on the Bible and mulling a passage over in our minds, having a passage memorized makes the process of reflection available to you at all times. Memorized Scripture allows you to dwell continuously on a passage throughout the day. Passages memorized often bring a sense of “ownership”; a passage feels like it “belongs” to you after you have it memorized."

"MBS was invented by Paul Byer in the mid-1950s. Byer sought a way to enrich his personal Bible study...Those who practice Manuscript Bible Study print out a passage of the Bible—removing chapter and verse numbers, section headings, and footnotes in an attempt to eliminate all distractions. The desire is to see the passage in its original form. This unique visual view of Scripture affords those who are used to reading the Bible a new way to interact with the text."

"The Bible was meant to be read, but it was also meant to be heard...To hear someone read God’s Word well is a different experience than to simply read it silently to yourself. A well-prepared and gifted reader can bring out meaning in a text through voice inflection, rhythm, and intonation. A talented reader can present the Word of God to a group or congregation so that the listeners may experience the Bible in a rich and powerful manner. There is something moving about being with other believers and hearing the Word of God read to you as a group that results in a powerful corporate experience that can’t happen when you read alone."