Which practice is God asking you to focus on?

by | May 2, 2020 | NGLC

Which practice is God asking you to focus on?

–Eremois/Desert (Jim)

Embrace/pursue this space of isolation and solitude to intentionally know God more deeply through it.   

–Watch your tone. (Josh)

  1. Over the next month, before we gather again, pay attention to your tone as you read God’s word. 
  2. Pay attention to your tone as you communicate God’s word. 
  3. Pay attention to your tone as you live out God’s word in your life.
  4. Luke 7:11-15. Read the passage. When you get to Jesus’ words to the widow, say them out loud using 3 different tones. Notice your tendency. Notice your process. What is your response to Jesus in light of the widow and her son?
  5. Feelings and longings. Take a few moments to ask the Spirit to show you what you are feeling and what you are longing for. 
  6. Fill in the blank Lament. Take some time to write your own psalm of lament following the pattern of Psalm 13. How long, Lord _______________________. Why_________________. How long, Lord_________________________. Why_________________________.

    Consider and answer me, Oh God, or else _______________________________________________/ But I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. 

 

–Lament (Fran)

  1. We grieve because we love. Hold up one hand and place in it what you lost or are grieving. Then hold up your other hand and place in it what you loved about what you lost. Do not sensor that grief as unimportant. Place one hand inside the other (grief within love or love within grief). Ask God to put His hands underneath yours. 
  2. Theology lament. Pour out onto paper a written lament. 
  3. Trinity prayer. Speak to the Holy Spirit and pour out you lament. Then listen. Then ask the Spirit to take you to Jesus. Pour out your lament to Him and then listen. Ask the Son to take you to the Father. Pour out your lament and listen.
  4. Reflection. During seasons of lament, make a regular practice of taking stock of how you have seen and experienced The Holy Spirit at work in all of it. Ask others to reflect with you how they have seen The Holy Spirit at work in you. Notice how you see The Holy Spirit at work in others too. 
  5. Examen. Take note of your consolations and desolations. What is drawing you towards God and what is drawing you away from God?

–Waiting. (Dan) 

  1. Two pictures: From the bottom of the pit/ An expectant farming waiting for rain. 

 How do we as sinners relate with God in prayer and the Word from these spaces?

Reflect on what waiting on God like a waiter/waitress might look like versus a couch potato for you in this season.  

  1. Triangle: Ask the Spirit which of the tree corners you tend to attend to the most. (Mission, Love or Truth). Now, ask Him how He might be inviting you to attend to the corners that have received less attention. 

–Acts 10 (Virgil)

  1. Praying the Holy Hours. Establishing intentional times to pause throughout your day for prayer. Praying at regular intervals reshapes the work we do. Pay attention to the extraordinary you notice within the ordinary.
  2. Listening, Attention, Reflection. 
  3. Open flexible theology- total obedience to Jesus.
  4. Showing up and asking questions. What conversation is God trying to have with you? Ask Him. 
  5. Perceiving and responding. 
  6. Resonance, Dissonance, what God?

–Big context prayers. (Kwashi) Develop a regular habit of reading large chunks of scripture to spend time with the Father. Then let that time saturated in the words of the Father, inform your words back to Him. Watch Him move! 

-Visio Divina (Deb)

From the Blog articles: 

  • -Prayer of Examen 
  • -Lectio Divina
  • -Lamenting, Looking, Listen
  • –Dialogue with scripture as a child reading a parent’s biography 
  • -And more!

April 2020 NextGen

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