Mustard Seeds

​Step #1: Lectio / Read

Click the link below or open your Bible to the passage and read through the reading at least once, paying attention to what is happening in the text.

MATTHEW 13:31-35

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Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

Today’s reading is one that we hear in Sunday school. It’s popular and maybe since we know it so well, we don’t always listen closely or reflect on the words as closely as we should.

Let’s listen to it again: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.”

How small is a mustard seed? It’s about one to two millimeters, or 0.039 to 0.079 inches in diameter. And while it’s not the smallest seed in the world’s plant kingdom today, we can still grasp the parable. It’s small.

But when sowed properly in the field, the mustard seed grew into a mustard bush. How large is a mustard bush? It can have a 20-feet spread on the high end. For an exceptional bush in ideal conditions? 30 feet. The smallest seed planted in the human heart with faith and the Kingdom of God can grow exponentially as large.

Jesus brings up the mustard seed a few times in the Bible. He says in Luke 17:6 that if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea and “it will obey you.” In Matthew 17:20 we are told if we have the faith of a mustard seed a mountain can move. Think of the power of that. The power of the Living Lord in a tiny mustard seed. The power and control and dominion the Lord has over all the earth.

Right now is a scary time. There is much chaos, fear, anger and division. Don’t forget that with the faith of a mustard seed, mountains can move. Imagine what the Lord can do around us if we give Him the faith of two mustard seeds. Just two pencil dots on a piece of paper. He has power and He has dominion. Let us increase our faith and trust in Him.

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​Step #3: Oratio / Pray

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

Think about your faith, how would you describe it? Is it the size of a mustard seed? Is it a mustard bush? Is it smaller? Is it larger?

Where do you want to ask the Lord to move? Be bold.

​Where do you need your faith to increase? 

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​Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"Faith the size of the mustard seed."

"Two mustard seeds."

"Increase my faith."

"Move mountains."

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Step #5: Actio / Act

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

Today, look at your faith, ask the Lord where to you need to increase. Ask Him to move in your life. Write the Lord a letter telling Him these things. 

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The following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.

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Today's prayer was prepared by Andrea Scott, a writer and editor based in Washington, D.C. 

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today.