PRAYING SCRIPTURE FOR A CHANGE

Subtitle: An Introduction to Lectio Divina

Author: Dr. Timothy Gray. 144 pg. PB.

Many Christians find prayer difficult - and, as a result, do not do much of it. The fact is, many simply do not know how to pray. Even St. Paul notes this sad fact when, in Romans 8:26, he says, "We do not know how to pray as we ought."

In this short book, written for a popular audience by well-known Catholic biblical scholar Dr. Tim Gray, we discover the secret of the saints which can enable us to enter into a lively dialogue with God. Their secret: the ancient art of Lectio Divina (divine, or sacred reading), which is reading, meditating on, and praying the Scriptures. As St. Cyprian notes, "Diligently practice prayer and lectio divina. When you pray, you speak with God; when you read [the Scriptures], God speaks to you." Here, we discover that we don't need a mystic gene or divine epiphany to hear God; we simply need to take up the Bible and read.

About the Author Dr. Timothy Gray is the director of the Denver Catholic Biblical School, and is also a professor of Scripture at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. Tim is currently a doctoral candidate in Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America. He also has a Th.M. in Scripture from Duke University and an M.A. in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Tim studied Hebrew at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. For the last four years Tim has helped direct and teach the summer training of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). Tim has authored several books including:
Mission of the Messiah: On the Gospel of Luke
Sacraments in Scripture: Salvation History Made Present