Praying with Scripture - Advent 2025

Summary

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Katie Hartfiel invites you to discover Lectio Divina—a powerful, time-tested way of praying with Scripture. In this guided experience, she walks you through each step of this sacred practice, helping you learn how to listen for God’s voice and encounter Him personally in His Word.

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Reflective Study Guide Questions

“Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12

1. Read Romans 10: 14-17:

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?

And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring [the] good news!”

But not everyone has heeded the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?”

Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

What word or phrase stood out to you during the reading?

2. What do you desire to say to the Lord based on that word or phrase?

3. What do you think the Lord wants to speak to you through this word or phrase?

4 .What did this experience and form of prayer teach you?

Text: Praying With Scripture

Hello, my name is Katie Hartfiel, and I am very excited to talk to you on this topic of Praying with Scripture today. So why don’t we invite that Holy Spirit into this moment,

Opening Prayer

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Oh Lord, we thank you for the gift of your word. And I don’t know if we spend enough time just really in awe of the reality that you have given us such a treasure of the word, that you are the word, you have said, and within these pages that we can find a life. And we know that the scriptures have two authors. We have a human author that wrote the words on these pages, but that those words were inspired by a divine author, by the Holy Spirit, and we call on that same Holy Spirit here today, asking that spirit will animate our hearts, that these words that were written thousands of years ago were written for that day, but also for this moment, that the Holy Spirit had this moment in mind, had each of us in mind, and that this word is alive. Let me just ask that you’ll be active in our prayer, especially as we encounter you within these pages. We love you so much, and we desire to love you more, and we ask that you’ll use this as a tool in order for us to be able to do so.

We ask that the Blessed Mother, who is the mother of the word incarnate, will pray with us. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Amen.

Praying Scripture As Warfare

So again, I’m very excited to share our topic today. For much of my life, I felt like I was not really like a scripture person. I have a theology degree, and I had a lot of different areas that I really love in the ways that I love to pray and the ways that I love to worship and things like that, but I never really felt like scripture study or things like that, really diving into knowing scripture was something that really was like my charism or something. But really, obviously I knew, you know, that we all need God’s word and we need it in our lives, and we pray it in the mass, and I should be reading the Bible and things like that.

Well, when I was a youth minister for a very long time at a parish here in Houston, I had this really amazing woman on my core team, who’s still a very dear friend of mine. Her name was Melinda, and Melinda taught me the way that she would use scripture specifically to pray for her children. And I love this concept, again, that the scripture is alive and that the scriptures are personal, and so what she would do is to take a specific passage of scripture and she would insert her child’s name into that scripture passage. She would do this for her husband. She would pray for me sometimes when I would ask her, you know, for prayers for certain things, and she’d be like, “All right, we’re going to take the Lord’s word, and we are going to place ourselves in the promises of God.” And this was something for me that I had never really heard as far as praying scripture as warfare, as praying scripture as a way to battle and to fight for our own souls, for the souls of the people that we love, to pray scriptures as intercession, to claim what God says to be true and the promises that He has made for our hearts and for our salvations to take it and to proclaim it over our own hearts and over the hearts of the people that we love.

Lectio Divina

And so I love praying scripture in this way, and really taking it and saying those words, you know, and proclaiming them, but also, so powerfully, using the process of Lectio Divina to let the scripture speak to me, right? So Lectio Divina, if you’re not familiar, is actually the official way that we are called to pray with the scriptures within the church, and it comes from a very, very old tradition of the way that a lot of religious orders and monks would approach the scriptures within their own prayer.

Lectio Divina means divine reading in Latin, and so even if you think about that title, divine reading, coming to the readings and finding the divine, finding God within the reading and reading it along with him. Sometimes we can read a scripture passage and, yes, there are scripture passages where sometimes you read it and it’s maybe a genealogy or something where you’re like, “I’m not exactly sure what the Lord would be speaking to me through this.” But sometimes even in mass, right, that we read the scripture and there’s some really good stuff in there, but we hear the words, and it just kind of goes somewhere else. Our minds go somewhere else. We walk out into the parking lot and have no idea what the readings were.

But for me, I have loved to read the readings ahead of time and to use this process of Lectio Divina and then to be able to also pray with the Holy Spirit within the mass, asking that He will speak within those moments, and it has changed everything for me. I lead a Bible study for several middle school and high school girls once a month, and I have taught them this practice of praying Lectio Divina. We do it together once a month, but also I’ve been so moved and so touched by so many of them that do this either before or during mass. They do it in their own prayer time during the week, and the ways that they have then shared it with their family and shared with their family how it has impacted their relationship with the Lord and impacted their own prayer life.

First Step: Reading

So we’re going to break down the four steps of Lectio Divina. Sounds a little daunting, I think, anytime you use a Latin phrase to explain something, but it’s so simple and so fruitful. So the very first step of Lectio Divina is reading. So what you do is look for a scripture passage. Again, readings for mass is a great place to start, but really anywhere in the scriptures, you can open up. My favorite thing to do also within intercession, when I’m praying for someone else or if I know that I have a specific need is I’ll go to good old Google and look up, let’s say “scripture passages for patience,” “scripture passages for joy,” “scripture passages for stress,” “scripture passages to know the love of the Lord,” different areas like this, and all of these different things are going to pop up.

And then I’ll pull out my Bible. I love having it in my hands more than I do on technology. There’s something about that physical connection to have with the scriptures within that way. So I’ll take my phone and put it under a couch cushion or in the next room or airplane mode, whatever I have to do to make sure that it’s not distracting me, but to take that scripture passage and to read it, and not just to read it, but to read it over and over again.

Depending on the length, read it at least twice, and maybe three times. To read it, and the first time, again, just kind of like that same explanation of hearing something at mass and it kind of goes one in one ear and out the other. But to read it intentionally, to read it slowly, but then to go back and read it a second time, then you’ll really be able to see and to hear the words that are there. If you’re alone and you’re able, I would even recommend reading it out loud, again, letting that physical experience of being able to see the words and to hear the words and to speak the words, taking your time reading the passage.

Look For The Word That Stands Out

Something that’s really important during this time is that you’re not supposed to be thinking about making these deep theological connections. You’re not supposed to be thinking about the ways that it applies or some kind of really deep thoughts. You’re just with the word, slowly walking through each and every syllable, letting that word come alive. And so as you read it, the first time you read it through, the second time you read it through, the third time that you read through, really pay attention for one to five words that really pop out to you during that time, and maybe it doesn’t make any sense why those words are standing out to you, but this word or small short phrase might stand out to you because it really touches your heart and it’s really beautiful.

It might stand out to you because it’s a really obvious connection to something that you have going on in your life. It might even stand out to you though because it makes you really uncomfortable, because it is a little disturbing. You have a little bit of a prickly feeling when you are hearing and reading those words, and you’re going to hold onto that word or that phrase for step two.

Step Two: Meditation

Step two is meditation, and it is my favorite step, actually, because this is the moment where you’re just opening yourself up to be really receptive. There’s a great phrase that they say that prayer is actually not supposed to be something that we do, but something that God does in us. So meditation is really all about that, about letting that spirit that is alive that wrote these words stir within your heart. So you’re going to take that word or that phrase, and you’re going to repeat it over and over and over again.

If you like to journal, which is what I love to do, especially when I’m praying with the scriptures, then I would invite you to write that phrase at the top of your paper and maybe even write it over and over again. This is what I have my girls in my Bible study do, because then you’re taking another physical sense that you are using in that touch and you are writing it and letting it burn itself into your experience of prayer. The monks describe this prayer, this part of the prayer as chewing on God’s word. And what we do when we chew on something is we break it down and then it seeps into us and then it becomes a part of us. So what you’re going to notice during this time is at first you’re repeating something over and over and over again, but then it’s going to start to sink. Then it’s going to start to sink. It’s going to sink from your mind into your heart. That’s what happens during a meditation. And stay with that for as long as you need, until those words are really sitting deep within you.

Step Three: Prayer

The third part is prayer. What do you want to say to the Lord based on those words? What is coming up for you? At this point, what are the connections that you’re making? Where do you see this application in your life? Maybe if it is something that has made you uncomfortable, asking yourself why? What is happening within your heart based on these words? Again, if you’re a journaler, this is a great time for you to bust out your pen and paper. And also, I love to go back and look at my journal later and to see the ways that God has brought certain things to fruition.

I try to do this once a year at the end of the year to go back through and to write into the margins certain things that had come up in prayer or things that I had prayed for for other people within my intercessions in scripture and to see ways that I wouldn’t know otherwise that God had answered. So really pouring your heart out in prayer.

Final Step: Contemplation

And then the final step is contemplation. And during this time of contemplation is the time that you are. What does the Lord want to say? And remember, during contemplation in our own , whether it’s in Lectio Divina or anything else, what we’re doing is we are asking God to talk, asking God to speak, and of course, we’re not listening with the ears of our head, but we’re listening with the ears of our heart. Sometimes there’s really specific words that come to us, but a lot of times, it’s more of a sense or a conviction, or sometimes an emotion, sometimes it is a feeling. What is God speaking and saying during this time? And if you are journaling, then that is also a great time to write those things out. Sometimes even as God’s speaking to you, which is perfectly allowed, as God’s letter to you, what does God want to say?

Now, sometimes, oftentimes, actually, for me in my own practice of Lectio Divina, I like to swap those last two. I like to read the passage, then meditate on the phrase, but then ask God first, what are you saying to me within this? And then as my prayer portion, then I will respond to the Lord based on what he has said. So this is something that’s also fair for you to try at times as well.

God’s Word Is Intimate

Listen, here is why this works. If we look to what God even says about his word, it says, Hebrews 4:12, I love this: “For the word of God is alive and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword, and it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” That God’s word is so intimate, that it is so intimate that it can reach even into places that no one else has access to within our heart.

“Sharper than a double-edged sword.” And then also another one, phrase that I love, another verse of where the Lord speaks about this is Isaiah 55:11: “So is my word that goes out from my mouth and it will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. That God’s word is active, it is alive, but that God’s going to keep good on his promises. And sometimes I even tell the Lord, it sounds a little bit sassy, but there’s times where I’m like, “God, these are your words. These are your desires, for myself, but also for my family, for those that I love, and I’m just asking you to make good on your promise.”

And yes, there are people in our lives that we are going to pray for and we’re going to proclaim God’s word over them, and they have this thing that’s called free will, which it’s a good thing that I’m not God, because I would never have included that in part of the plan. They have the opportunity to open themselves up to God’s word, coming out, ready to accomplish that which for which he has sent it, and they get to choose if they’re going to receive it or not.

His Word to Recreate You and I

I’ve shared several times about my experience with my father, and I had a very frustrating time when I was in high school and I was praying for him, and I was praying for his conversion, and I felt like God wasn’t answering my prayers. And I told the Lord, “I am not going to pray for my dad anymore. I’m going to come and I’m going to worship and I’m going to go to mass and I’m going to do all of these things and I’m going to love you, but I will not pray for my father because it’s too hard. It’s too hard because I feel like you’re not there .”

This went on for a really long time, and one night I was alone in my room and I was praying and I was holding back, which is really hard because this was the biggest thing that was happening in my life at the time, and so it was difficult to not talk to the Lord about it, and I had this moment. It’s not like this happens to me often. It’s maybe twice in my life that I’ve had this experience, but it was like the Lord gave me this image. It wasn’t a vision. It was just kind of this image in my mind’s eye and that God showed me my dad and here he was, and the Lord was pouring out all of the grace and the mercy and the love that I was begging the Lord for.

And not only was he giving him that, but he was giving him more, because God wanted my father’s conversion infinitely more than I wanted it. But he showed me that my dad was there and he was crunched down and he was holding this umbrella over his head in order to make sure that none of that grace and that love and that mercy was touching him, and I learned two very important things that night. And that was, first of all, that I could not stop praying for my dad, that if for any second, a fraction of a second, that that umbrella came down, that I wanted God’s love and mercy to be there to wash over him. A

nd I don’t know what the Lord did in the last moments of my dad’s life, but I have to believe that that flood of mercy and that love was there and available, and I hope, desperately, that he was able to receive it. And I also learned that there was a lot of areas, and still are, that I am blocking God’s love and grace and mercy in my own life, and that the Lord wants to take his word and that he wants to accomplish what he has set out to do. Yes, in the areas of the lives of the people that we love and the ways that we know that they need it, maybe in the ways that we know that they need it more than they do, but we want it to be available for them, but also to be available to us, because the words that God used to create the Earth, he said, and he spoke and it happened, he wants to use His word to recreate you and I, to let it be powerful and to move within our hearts.

Lectio Divina Exercise

So we’re going to go ahead and do it today. We are going to pray some Lectio Divina, and I will lead you. We’ll take a good amount of silence in between each of these for you to pray or to journal, and of course, if you need more time, this is your retreat, and you can pause at any moment if you would like to. But let’s start in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and I find within my own prayer that if I sit down for my prayer time and I just get right to it, that oftentimes it just becomes another thing on my list. It’s important for us to take the first time that we have here to sit with Jesus, to slow down, to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit and to sit in God’s love.

Romans 10:14-17

So we’re just going to take a little bit of time to sit with your breath, feeling the beating of your heart and being fully aware that the Lord is here. Our scripture passage that we’re going to pray with today comes from the book of Romans, and it is chapter 10 verses 14 through 17. And again, I’m going to read this passage. Avoid the temptation to have all kinds of thoughts. Just receive it.

“But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.’ But not everyone has heeded the good news, for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?’ Thus, faith comes through what is heard and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.”

I’m going to read that again.

“But how can they call on him in who they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.’ But not everyone has heeded the good news, for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?’ Thus, faith comes through what is heard and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.”

I’ll read this passage one more time. This time, pay very close attention to your heart. Look for one to five words, one word to a very short phrase that stands out to you. And it can be for any reason, but what pops out to you as we read this the third time?

Entering Step Two

We’re going to enter into step two of Lectio Divina, taking that word or short phrase and repeating it over and over again. Reminder, this is this experience of chewing on God’s word, letting it become a part of us, letting those words sink from your head into your heart.

Stepping Into Prayer

And our next step is to pray. What do you desire to say to the Lord based on that word or phrase? What’s bubbling up within you? And remember, authentic prayer is not “the before thou except after thine.” It doesn’t have to be so eloquent and perfect. Sometimes our most authentic prayers come from a place of crying out, of being really honest about our struggles or our confusion or our feelings that God can handle you coming to him from the rawest place of your heart because he already knows what it is.

So just invite you to be really vulnerable and authentic with the Lord as you pray with this word today. And then lastly, what does the Lord want to speak to you? Opening up your heart and your mind. When we look at the scriptures, most of the stories are little confusing of what God is asking people to do, areas that he is calling them to move, the people that he chooses. And yet, God has these incredible plans that are deeper and more amazing than any of us could ever imagine.

How does the Lord want to open up this area within your heart and within your prayer? What does he want to speak? Into any confusion or fear, things that you’re holding onto? How does he want to encourage you, to give you love, to make sense of things or to not make sense of things, and to say, “Well, you follow these words anyway.” It could be simple, so simple. It could be deep and mind blowing. Whatever it is, how does the Lord want to encounter you in his word today? And lastly, with any prayer time, I think it’s so important to end with a prayer of gratitude, that the God of the universe desires so deeply to sit with you and to speak with you. That the king of all of creation has delighted so much in this moment of encounter. Thank you, God. Thank you for being accessible, even within your power and your glory.

Sit with that gratitude for a moment. And Lord, I’d just like to close this time of prayer, this time that we have together today. Thank you for your goodness in encountering us in your word, in your presence with us, asking that wherever those who are praying together with us today, wherever they are, whatever action you call them to within their hearts, within their lives, or whatever areas that you ask them to even hold this silent and close and deep, that you will be moving and that your word will be alive, it will be active, it will be sharp, and it will be powerful, because you are real and your love is real.

And we ask that word will be born within our hearts in a beautiful way, this Advent and Christmas season, and that we will be able to encounter Jesus so intimately in that way.

Hail Mary

Bless the Mother. Please pray with us and for us. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

About Katie Hartfiel

Katie Hartfiel received her Theology degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville and spent the following seven years serving as a youth minister in Houston. She now feels blessed to spend her days with her husband, Mark, and their four children, while still getting to travel to speak about Jesus. Most recently, Katie joined the team at Paradisus Dei as the Content Coordinator for the parish based women’s program, She Shall Be Called Woman.

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Text: Praying With Scripture

About Katie Hartfiel