Lectio Divina w/ Kids
Lectio Divina with Kids
by Leah Wall
For worshiping with children especially active, not reading yet and perfectly wonderful in all their noisy ways.
After familiarizing yourself with what Lectio Divina is, you may begin to wonder if its simplicity would make it possible to share with children. And guess what? It is! Lectio Divina is very similar to our method of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. We lift up the Words of God, wonder about what they might tell us about God or about ourselves, then we allow time and to respond with prayer. We continue in work and restoring (tidying up) so that we can further ponder what the Holy Spirit is speaking in our minds and hearts. We share this method of worship and work with children as young as 3, and I am often in awe of the fresh insight the Spirit breathes in these small children. I am confident that you can share this in your homes as well.
This is my favorite way of worshiping with children. By stripping the activity down to the essentials – the Word of God and the Spirit of God – we are free to sit with the child in the presence of God. We are free to release the pressure of knowing all the answers and the pressure of performance. The child, likewise, is released to wonder with us. They are as sure as we are to hear from God’s very self.
One of the biggest difficulties I have seen with adults is the willingness to release our expectations from our own childhood, especially school-type expectations. A child’s movement could be a prayerful response, and even their “off-topic” discussion might lead through a “baby Yoda” trail as they seek to make sense of the world around them and what God is speaking to their absorbent hearts. The sooner we can demonstrate calm listening, the sooner we will also be able to see the Divine Spirit at work in our children.
“The child is released to wonder with us. They are as sure as we are to hear from God’s very self.”
If your child likes pictures, maybe draw a couple of symbols on a piece of paper for them – or you can get as creative as you want! You can find some great printables and further information for older children from Look to Him and Be Radiant at the button below, if you’re interested in that!
The How-To
Begin by preparing a space and preparing your bodies. Invite your child to choose a place and set up a Prayer Table (any flat surface with a candle and cloth is perfect!). Particularly for children, regularity of place is important. Choose a place that can be returned to and isn’t often used for noisy play or TV/video games. Begin by calming yourself and asking the Heavenly Father to be with you and help you to trust your child with Him.
To prepare our bodies and environment, we begin by lighting a candle. Then, practice 3 deep breaths with the children. Breathe in slowly and out slowly. Use breath 1 to calm your wiggles. Breath 2 is to calm your mind and think more about your breathing. Breath 3 should be the slowest and quietest as you wonder if you can even hear your own heart beating? What else can you hear?
READ: Next is the Lectio—the reading. The action for this is to lift up the Bible (or point to the picture prompt you’ve made). Let the child see the Bible. Turn to the 1 or 2 verses that you have selected. Begin by saying something like “Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us through God’s good words.” Then read the verse(s) calmly. Conclude with “This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.” As you model this behavior, your child will learn and join in when they are ready. There’s no need to demand particular responses at this time – mostly because it so easily keeps you from sitting humbly before God at this moment.
THINK: Meditatio. For our meditation time, the action is to point to your head (or the picture prompt that you’ve made). Think about how the passage connects to your life. Questions you can always ask a child are – “What did you hear?” “What do you wonder?” Be sure to briefly answer some of those yourself. “I heard…” “I wonder…”
PRAY: Oratio. The action could be folded hands or kneeling. Now we pray together. Adults like to pray with words. We often get lost in the beautiful conversation with God, or otherwise sit silently wondering what we could say. In order to worship with the child, we have to be willing to shorten our wordy discussions or save them for another moment. Children DO, however, respond with thoughtful prayer! Of course they do! A wonderful way to invite your child into this time of Oratio is to ask “What would you like to say to God about this?” “Does this make you think of a song?” “Do you have any prayer words (Amen/Alleluia/Praise) that you are thinking of?” Follow the lead of the child in the amount of time spent on this step of Lectio Divina.
LISTEN: Contemplatio. In this last moment, we continue listening in a more responsive way. There may be a concrete response that God is prompting. I often ask the children “what else can you do to continue thinking about this?” Sometimes there needs to be a dance, a drawing, or a walk. Sometimes we need to snuff and relight the candle. Sometimes we need to continue in singing. Always I am in awe of the power of God to speak to a child’s heart.
Lectio with children reminds me the Spirit of God is not subject to our own rationality. In fact, the Spirit speaks a spiritual language of God’s own, and that voice reaches beyond our intellect and English language and touches our very souls. So, the pattern Read-Think-Pray-Listen is an easy guide for us to remember, and I have seen that it makes Lectio Divina accessible even to preschoolers.
May you be blessed in your worship and may this be one of many ways that you fulfill the will of God for your family.
You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
-Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (ESV)
