In the early church of the 200s, some Christians chose to withdraw and seek God in the desert as a way of life. They lived an austere and simple existence, and it was in the desert that the ancient practice of lectio divina (Latin for âdivine readingâ) began.atch for the next post in this series later this month! In the meantime, you can read more of Brianâs writing in Passages, or follow his work at Daily Audio Bible. You can keep up with him each day at his blog, Twitter feed, or Facebook or G+ pages.