• In using Scripture for prayer we need to befriend the text, to take up Scripture with an open mind, to read with a fresh eye. Any text, especially the familiar, resists our entry into it. In other words, familiarity can dull our appreciation of it.

• We need to remember prayer is always a gift, God’s gift to us. All we can do is to be present and open to God’s Spirit, present at the heart of it, for it is, in the words of St Paul, "in God we live, and move and have our being".

• Prayer can never be dissociated from life.

• Remember the golden rule: "Pray as you can and not as you can’t".

Start and finish
It’s a good idea to begin and end a time of prayer, rather than drifting in and out of it.

• To begin, find a suitable place. Take up a comfortable position, relaxed and yet attentive in your body. Have the Scripture texts you’re about to use near at hand. Spend a few minutes becoming still. Tune into your breathing and consciously imagine and relax each part of your body. Recollect that God is with you, ask for the Spirit to help you pray. Then ask yourself, "How am I feeling?" "What is my desire?" "What do I want to ask God for?" "Is it peace, love, generosity, forgiveness, openness or …?"

• Whatever passage you are reflecting on, take this time to relax. Trust that whatever your mood or feeling, it is okay to be with God as you are, for this is the you that God wants to relate to.

• To finish: Take a few moments to be with God, Jesus, the Spirit, just as one good friend is with another. Name your feelings, your striking thoughts and images. Let a conversation develop. Say it as it is, for whatever has happened will reveal something to you of how God is touching your story. Bring your prayer time to a close in some way. For example, say a slow Lord's Prayer or some other familiar prayer.

• It can be helpful to keep a notebook (for your eyes only) in which you jot down a short review of the prayer time. Become aware of the striking moods and feelings of your prayer time. Note where there are feelings and thoughts which bring you closer to God. Also those feelings or thoughts that may bring a sense if distance from God, feelings that were less comfortable. This review need take only five minutes or so but it is a useful means of getting and keeping in touch with what is happening during a time of "Praying the Scriptures". Whether positive or negative it can be a means of growth.

• Become aware of your rhythm of breathing, say the prayer one word at a time with each breath.

• Take the first word of the prayer on its own, repeat it a few times, think about it. Ask yourself, "What do I feel?", "What may God be saying to me through it?". Rest awhile, brood over the word - only then move on to the next word, and so on.

Lectio Divina

• This is an approach to praying the Scriptures, called by some "sacred reading" or "savouring prayer". It is a dialogue between the written text and life experience - each one throwing light on the other.

• Take a reading from Scripture. The psalms, the gospels, or parts of the prophets or letters are most useful for this approach to prayer. Short passages are preferable.

• Read through the text very slowly several times. Notice how you are affected by it. Ask yourself, "Is there a word or phrase that attracts my attention?"

• Stop when you are struck by a word or phrase. Stay with the words that moved you, maybe repeating them slowly and attentively, allowing them to sink into your heart. Ponder and wonder. Let the word or phrase encourage, challenge, surprise, disturb, nourish you to new perspectives. Move on only when you are quite ready.

• Bet still and let God be with you. Let prayer arise naturally out of you. Often it will be wordless. Respond from the heart.

• Bring your prayer to a close and review the prayer as suggested above.

Some passages for prayer
Psalms – 8; 23; 63; 131; 139
Isaiah Ch 25; 40; 43.1-7; 45.9-13; 54.4-10; 55
Jeremiah Ch 31.31-34
Ezekiel Ch 36.22-26
Hosea Ch 11.1-3
Wisdom Ch 11.21-12.2
John Ch 15.1-7
Romans Ch 8.28-39
Ephesians Ch 1.3-14; 3.14-21
Philippians Ch 2.1-11
Colossians Ch 1.14-20

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