Praying the Scriptures

Praying the Scriptures

The Word of God was the center of Celtic devotion. They believed that there was power in speaking the scriptures out loud, and spoke long and often to their God in this way. This form of prayer eventually became known as “praying the scriptures.” Being mostly an illiterate people the power of an oral tradition brought them freedom to learn God’s Word and feel close to Him. Psalm 119 was a favorite of the Celtic Christians and these followers of Jesus were encouraged to memorize all of the words so that they might be able to pray them in times of need. When spoken aloud it was believed the word of Scripture had great power to heal and deliver. The Gospels were also favorites of the Celtic people, and were used as prayer before God. The words of Christ were of great comfort and hope as these early Christians spoke them to one another and to their Heavenly Father.

 The Celtic ‘praying the scriptures’ is not the same as Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina, with it’s four components of reading, meditating, speaking, and contemplating, fits more into a ‘Contemplative’ style of prayer where one chooses a specific time in the day, a chosen place, and some mind preparation for this ‘quiet time’ with God. Although this form of Contemplative praying the scriptures is found in the monastic communities in Celtic lands, for the ordinary person praying the scriptures it was a more natural and spur of the moment conversation with God. The celebration of nature found within the Psalms would inspire obvious words to flow from the Celtic men and women as they responded with their hearts to the One who created the beauty around them.

Calvin Miller states that, ”There is but a thin line that separates the devotional reading of and the praying of Scriptures. When the heart adores Christ as it reads the Bible, it transcends the act of repeating mere words. When we read the Bible while fixed on Christ, it becomes an act of adoration.” (The Path to Celtic Prayer)  Miller is writing these words to us today and they are certainly words worth embracing. But, to translate them into words that reflect Celtic Christianity oral tradition we could say,

“When the heart adores Christ as it speaks forth His Holy Word, it transcends the act of repeating mere words. When they spoke God’s Holy Word while fixed on Christ, it became an act of adoration.”

This is a true reflection on how the Celtic Christians ‘prayed the Scriptures.’

 

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