Praying the Psalms- Psalm 121

Last weekend I led a wonderful 

women's retreat at St. Luke's Lutheran Church

in Oviedo, Florida.

One of the prayer processes we did together was to

engage in a Lectio Divina reading of Psalm 121.

"Holy Reading", or "Slow Reading" 

is a wonderful way to deal with the challenges 

that keep us from participating

 in uplifting spiritual formation practices.

We all have problems with:

slowing down, 

saying attention,

 and dealing with distractions.

We used an abbreviated version of Lectio and read

 the Psalm outloud in 3 versions of the Bible.

We looked for words and phrases that "stood out"

 to us and underlined, circled 

or colored them in with color pencils.

We had prepped a journal page the night 

before with "wine cork" stampings

 and glued in some magazine cutouts.

  It was no longer a blank journal page.

Then we asked them to transfer a couple of their 

"main points" and then add in words or phrases

 from the selected reading.

They could pull from any or all of the readings.

They could add lines, doodles, color and 

"make it their own."

This part of Praying the Psalm then becomes a 

Visio Divina process.

 The image allows them to recall it better

 for prayer time, and they can come back

 to it again and again

 as it strengthens their prayer time.

These prayer practices were well received, 

and they jumped right into this new experience.

For me these words have nestled into my spirit-

HE WILL KEEP MY LIFE.

Supplies:

8 1/2 by 11 inch wire bound journal

wine corks

stamp pad

magazine cutouts

glue

colored pencils

Sharpie fine-point marker