Spiritual Practices

Friends, engaging spiritual practices is not about perfection, but about practice! It’s not about striving; it’s about surrender. It’s really about our diligence and commitment to showing up regularly and inviting God to be faithful to do His part. Spiritual practices are about surrendering and giving God access to our heart and mind. Will you join us in surrendering this next eleven weeks to Him and see how He might show up in our practice?

The reading plan below is meant to help us meditate on God’s word. God’s word is the nourishment that equips and empowers us to live the life of a resilient disciple. Allow God’s word to direct you as you listen for the ways God is inviting you to practice and apply each week’s spiritual practice.

Ephesians Reading Plan

Spiritual Practices

Week 1 | Spiritual Practice of Meditation

Intro to Meditation | YouTube Video

What is Meditation?

Meditation is a long, ardent gaze at God, his work and His Word. It is slowing down and giving one’s undivided attention to God. This is the core of Christian meditation. (Calhoun, pg. 191) Richard Foster says it is “the ability to hear God’s voice and obey His word. It involves no hidden mysteries, no secret mantras, no mental gymnastics, no esoteric flights into the cosmic consciousness.” (pg.17) Meditation includes mulling over, chewing on and ruminating over God’s word and its application. Meditating develops sight for the interior things of God, seeing beyond a first glance and first impression to the heart of God. Meditation allows us to develop depth of insight and a love for gazing at God. (Calhoun, pg. 191) Meditation is “deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer.”(Whitney, pg.48) Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “just as you do not analyze the words of someone you love, but accept them as they are said to you, accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart.”

“If you believe that we live in a universe created by the infinite-personal God who delights in our communion with him, you will see meditation as communication between the Lover and the one beloved.” Richard Foster

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS // Ephesians 1:1-14; Joshua 1:6-9; 1 Samuel 3:1-18; Psalm 1:1-3; Psalm 143:5-6; Psalm 63:1-8; Psalm 77:11-20; Psalm 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148

PRACTICE PROMPTS // Practice five days this week utilizing a Scripture above.

Prepare yourself to meditate on Scripture by choosing a comfortable and quiet place. Sit in a position that you can maintain without effort or attention. Place yourself in the presence of God. Release your anxieties and to-do list to the Lord. Entrust your cares to Jesus. Ask Him to open your heart to His Word.
Invite the Holy Spirit to come and be your teacher. (John 14:26) Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the wonderful things in His law. (Psalm 119:18)
Read a passage of Scripture. Choose brief shorter passages. Read less to meditate more.
Read and repeat the Scripture several times in different ways, not vainly, but purposefully. Read aloud. Read several versions. Write the Scripture several times.
Ask the Lord what He wants you to hear. Listen for His answer.
Think deeply and pay attention to images that flash in your mind. When a word “lights up” up for you. Stop and attend. Focus on individual words. Let the word or phrase roam around in your mind and heart. What do you hear? What feelings do you notice in yourself?
Write down questions that surface. Write down what you are hearing or getting.
Don’t rush; take your time. “The goal is not to get through the Scriptures. The goal is to get the Scripture through us.” (Ortberg, pg. 184)
Pray through the text. Pray, telling the Lord what you heard. Pray, asking the Lord to help you receive His Word.
Take one thought or verse with you throughout the day.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

What is your gut reaction when you hear the word “meditation”?
How might the tendency to do everything quickly affect your ability to meditate?
As you have learned about and practiced meditating on God and His Word this past week, what is something new that you have learned or experienced?
How did you encounter God as you practiced meditation?
In what way did you feel stuck or experience frustration in the practice of meditation?
What words, ideas or pictures did you encounter or did God give to you through your times of meditation?
If you could name your experience of meditation in one word, what would it be?
How did you experience comfort, encouragement, challenge, peace, rest, conviction as you meditated on God’s Word?
What questions do you have for God in your experience of Him this week? What do you wonder about? What are you curious about?

Further exploration: Lectio Divina // Look/List/Learn/Listen/Live

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg

Week 2 | Spiritual Practice of Praying Scripture

Intro to Praying Scripture | YouTube Video

Why pray Scripture?

The purpose of praying Scripture is to allow God to shape our prayer life through the words of Scripture. Praying Scripture allows God to direct the content of prayer. It opens the heart to praying particular prayers, psalms, teachings, and hopes found in the Bible. “Praying Scripture is a way of entering deeply into the text with a heart alert to a unique and personal word from the God. Words and verses that catch our attention become invitations to be with God in prayer. When our prayers seem to be more about maintaining control and offering God our agenda for his stamp of approval, praying Scripture can return us to a simple state of openness and attentiveness to God. We lay aside our own agendas and open ourselves to the prayers given to us in the Bible.” (Calhoun, pg. 279) The Bible serves as a model and provides content for our prayers. Scripture is preparation for prayer, provides guidance and wisdom in prayer, and provides subject matter for prayer. Isaiah 55: 11 says, “God’s word does not return void…” By the power of the Holy Spirit, Scripture guided prayer activates God's word in our life and in the life of others.

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS // Ephesians 1:15-21; Psalm 139; Psalm 51; Psalm 32; 2 Chronicles 20:6-12; Luke 1:46-55; Psalm 143; John 17; Daniel 2:20-23; 2 Samuel 7:18-29

PRACTICE PROMPTS // Practice five days this week utilizing a Scripture above.

Pray any of the Psalms. Write it out or pray it out loud.
Personalize Scripture for yourself by substituting your name OR for someone else by inserting the appropriate personal pronouns. Write it out or pray it out loud.
Pray the same Scripture each day, not vainly or repetitively, but to soak in it and receive it. (Psalm 143:6,8,10, “I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like parched land. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Teach me to do Your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
If you find it hard to pray for someone you love (or even hate), ask God to give you a prayer from him or her from his Word. Don’t stray from that prayer until you are prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so.
When you are convicted of your own sinfulness pray Psalm 51 or Psalm 32. Offer yourself in repentance. Stop after each verse and talk to God about what you have read.
Quote a promise as assurance of an answer (i.e. “Father, I claim your promise, ‘My presence will go with you.’ I thank you in advance for giving me courage to go to Uganda.’”)
Quote a fulfilled promise as a reason for praise (i.e. “Lord, Paul said that you do not allow us to be temped beyond what we are able and that You provide the way of escape. Thank for allowing the house deal to fall through so that we wouldn’t be overextended in our budget. You provided. I praise You.”)
Apply Bible verses to a current situation or circumstance (i.e. “God, guide me in preparing to each Bible study. You have said, ‘Feed my sheep,’ and with Your help that is what I want to do.”)
Use Bible verses as a prayer, as praise or as a lament (i.e. “’Bless the lord, O my soul; and all that is with in me, bless His holy name.’”)
Use Bible phrases in prayer (i.e. “Lamb of God, which was slain for us, we offer our praise for Your glory, dominion, riches, power, wisdom and love. You are worthy.”)
Write your own Psalm 23 based on the form of Psalm 23 that reflects your unique relationship with the Lord (example under resources at connectwithtrinity.com/discipleship/

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

Until now, how has Scripture been a part of your prayer life?
Until now, in what ways have you let God set the agenda in your prayers?
What prayers of the Bible have helped you in the past?
How might praying Scripture for yourself or a loved one lift the burden from your shoulders and place it squarely on God’s?
When have you experienced answered prayer as you prayed Scripture?
Describe an experience of utilizing Scripture in prayer having the answer be ‘no’. How did that impact you?
What Scriptures did you choose to pray this past week? Why did you choose those Scriptures?
How did you encounter God as you prayed Scripture?
In what way did you feel stuck or experience frustration praying Scripture?
How did you experience comfort, encouragement, challenge, peace, rest, conviction as you prayed Scripture this week?
What questions do you have for God in your experience of Him this week? What do you wonder about? What are you curious about?

Further exploration:

Personal 23rd Psalm
Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds, Beth Moore
Praying Scripture Back to God
Praying Scripture - Library of Scripture Promises

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg
Disciples Prayer Life, TW Hunt and Catherine Walker

Week 3 | Spiritual Practice of Gratitude

Intro to Gratitude | YouTube Video

What is gratitude?

Gratitude is a loving and thankful response toward God for his presence within us and within the world. Though “blessings” can move us into gratitude, they are not at the root of a thankful heart. Delight in God and His good will is the heartbeat of thankfulness. We practice gratitude to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to live with a grateful heart, cognizant of God’s work in our life. Gratitude is about noticing and expressing the ways in which God is present and at work. We train our heart, mind, and eyes to recognize and our lips to express the ways and things for which we are grateful. Gratitude is being intentional to say thank you to the Lord and others. Thankfulness is possible not because everything goes perfectly but because God is present. We practice by choosing to stitch our days together with a thread of gratitude, no matter the good or the bad.

“Let us daily praise God for common mercies” Charles Hadden Spurgeon

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 2:1-10; 1 Chronicles 16:8-36; Exodus 15; Psalm 107; Psalm 103; Psalm 136; Ephesians 3:20-21; Hebrews 13:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

PRACTICE PROMPTS Practice five days this week

Read Psalm 107. Hear the refrain “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for His wonderful works to humankind!” Choose a stanza that reflects your experience and read aloud each day beginning and ending with the refrain, first heard in verse 8.
Each day, twice a day name five things aloud you are grateful for, end it with “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for His wonderful works to humankind!” Keep a list of those five things each time, at the end of the week you will have 50! At the end of the week, read the week’s list aloud and bless the Lord for His grace and goodness.
Begin a regular gratitude journal by keeping a record of the “abundances” God has given you.
Hand write a letter of thanks and gratitude to someone who has touched your life in the past year, past month, or past week.
Have a thank you meal. Invite the people you want to honor with a thank you. Verbally express your thanks to them.
Abstain/fast from comparisons that result in a feeling of dissatisfaction or entitlement. Refrain by using comparative statements about what you don’t have. Instead give thanks for what you do have.
See Colors and give thanks. Choose a day. Use the colors Red, Green and Blue to remind you to give thanks for God’s presence with you. Red=express gratitude for Christ on the Cross, his blood shed for you; Green=thank God for life and spiritual growth; Blue=give thanks for God’s holiness and the character He is building in you.
Think of a current hardship in our life. How do you feel about this hardship? Tell the truth to God. Where is there evidence of God’s presence in this hardship? Is there anything to be thankful for? If you cannot find God in your hardship, spend some time in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus Himself faced hardship and great agony. What does he want to tell you?
Find a “Gratitude Mentor”. Find a person who demonstrates gratitude and tell him/her you are trying to break out of your gratitude-impaired condition. Invite them to pray together with you that the Spirit would produce gratitude in your life in greater abundance. Maybe even communicate to them your daily gratitudes for a few months.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

How is gratitude currently a regular part of your life?
In what ways does gratitude come naturally to you? In what ways do you wrestle with gratitude?
When you feel at the bottom of the food chain and dead last in terms of priority, how do you move toward gratitude?
How has a grateful person affected your own vision of what matters in life? How has someone who lives out of bitterness affected your life?
In what ways do you get stuck in criticism, analysis, and negativity? How might gratitude be an antidote to a critical spirit?
When have you found that in retrospect you could have been thankful for something that you were not grateful for at the time it was happening? How can this perspective inform your life now?
In what way did you feel stuck or experience frustration in the practice of gratitude?
If you could name your experience of gratitude in one word, what would it be?
How did you experience encouragement, challenge, peace, conviction as you practiced gratitude?
What questions do you have for God in your experience of Him this week? What do you wonder about? What are you curious about?

Further exploration & resources

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg
Disciples Prayer Life, TW Hunt and Catherine Walker

Week 4 | Spiritual Practice of Hospitality

Intro to Hospitality | YouTube Video

What is hospitality?

Hospitality invites us to be a safe person who offer others the grace, shelter, and presence of Jesus. Hospitality creates a safe, open space where a friend or stranger can enter and experience the welcoming Spirit of Christ in another. Because we have been welcomed into the love of Christ and receive as dearly loved children, we can offer the world a place of safety and healing. The heart of hospitality is keeping company with Jesus and offering His welcoming heart to others. Hospitality includes sharing your home, food, resources, and all that you call our own so that another might experience the reality of God’s welcoming heart. It’s a mindset of that says all you have belongs to God. It can be seen by displaying God’s welcoming heart to the world – to children, foreign exchange students, neighbors, immigrants, colleagues. Practicing hospitality seeks to love people rather than impress people, develops conversation skills that put others at ease, opens a home to those outside the family for lodging and meals.

“Whoever practices hospitality entertains God Himself.” - Anonymous

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 2:11-22; Acts 2:46-47; Romans 12:9-13; Romans 15:1-7; Hebrews 13:1-2; Matthew 25:35-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 14:12-14; 1 Peter 4:8-10

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Remember a time when you have been welcomed and received. Recount the experience and the way people reached out to you. Picture where Jesus was in this event. Let God touch you again with his welcome and love.
Intentionally welcome people. Be a host of the here and now. Be present to those in front of you. Put your phone away. Put your mental ‘to do” list down. Notice each person you encounter at work, at school, in class, at the store, at lunch, at the gas station – smile, say hello, start a conversation, ask someone how they are and take time to listen. Listen for what the Lord might have you say or do.
As you encounter people during the day, pray for each one. Pray as they a pass by, pray as you wait in line, pray over your classmates and teachers, pray for your colleagues. Ask people how you might pray for them specifically. Pray for them on the spot. Pray for them later and send a note with the prayer you prayed. Pray God’s peace, provision, and protection for them.
At your work, in a meeting or a conversation, invite one/s who is more reticent to share (but don’t force). Deliberately withhold your input to leave room for others.
Invite someone other than your “regulars” for a meal, into your home or invite them out and pay for their meal.
Practice civic hospitality, with the upcoming election, help a recent immigrant or underserved person register to vote. Make information about candidates accessible.
Before worship or after worship greet and speak to someone you don’t know. Sign up to serve as a greeter.
Reach out to an unknown neighbor. Stop by with a small token of hospitality. Leave a note in their door saying you prayed for them, their family, and their livelihood. Offer to help with a project along with your cell number.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

How do you typically define hospitality? What new are you learning about hospitality?
When have you been so deeply received that the welcome touched your soul?
When have you been wounded because you were not welcome and received? How has the welcome of Jesus touched your soul?
How comfortable are you being a host or hostess?
What prevents you from practicing hospitality? How might you overcome the roadblocks?
How do you feel about having guests visit? Where do you struggle with doing everything perfectly?
Who models hospitality and welcome for you?
In what ways do you experience frustration in the practice of hospitality?
How did you experience encouragement, challenge, conviction as you practiced hospitality?
What are your wonderings about practicing hospitality?

Further exploration & resources

Restoring Hospitality: A Blessing for Visitor and Host Fuller Studio article on theology of hospitality
Biblical Hospitality Christianity Today article by Ed Stetzer
Making Room book by Christine PohlOpen Heart, Open Home book by Karen Mains

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg

Week 5 | Spiritual Practice of Fasting

Intro to Fasting | YouTube Video

What is fasting?

Fasting is abstaining from something for the purpose of seeking God. We empty ourselves to be filled by the Lord. Mostly, fasting is forgoing food for a time. However, fasting from anything for the purpose of drawing closer to God is appropriate. It is an opportunity to lay down an appetite – for food, media, shopping, etc. A fast is the self-denial of normal necessities to intentionally attend to God in prayer. It brings attachments and cravings to the surface and opens a place for prayer. It can reveal the things that control us. We become aware of the places we may be blocked from experiencing a fuller filling of the Lord. Fasting brings us face to face with the hunger at the core of our being. It reminds us of our dependence on God and the sustenance found in “every word from God.” (Matt. 4:4) Fasting’s purpose and center is God. Meditation, prayer, and worship replace the thing from which you are fasting. Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will not happen in any other way.

“…never has Heaven’s gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer (God’s) glory.” - Charles Spurgeon

Fasting Prayer: Join us on Wednesday, October 14 at noon in the Orange City campus sanctuary. Learn More | Fasting Prayer.

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 3:1-13; 2 Samuel 12:17-23; Psalm 69:10, Isaiah 55:1-3; Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 6:16-18; Luke 4:1-4; John 4:31-34; John 6:23-27

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Pick a purpose for your fast. Decide what you will fast from. Choose a day/s and amount of time for your fast. Then do it - fast. Try it for day; try it for a week or longer; try it regularly.
During the fast engage in prayer, Scripture meditation, confession, listening, journaling.
Purpose for fasting: strengthen prayer; seek God’s guidance; express grief; seek deliverance or protection; seek repentance/forgiveness; humble yourself before God; express concern for work of God; minister to the needs of others; overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God; express love and worship to God.
Fast from: a meal or two; lunch each day; a particular food or drink; morning coffee/daily soda; sports; shopping, reading; excessive exercise; compulsive eating; social media; news; streaming entertainment service; overpacked schedule/busyness; judging others; judging yourself; personal recognition. (See Guidelines for Fasting from Food.)
Keep a journal when you fast to help you process. Utilize these questions. How am I responding? What feelings accompany my experience? How do I express these? Do I sense cleansing, release, freedom, empowerment? How am I attentive to God in new ways? In what way am I connecting with another in a new way? What thoughts interrupt my prayer? What is God revealing to me? What does Jesus have to say to me? Tell the Lord what it means to share in His temptation and suffering.
Make two lists: one of need, the other of wants. Ask God to show you where to fast from some of your wants. Offer to God the time you spend hankering after your wants.
When facing a decision or trial, decide on a fast that gives you time to seek God’s strength and guidance in your journey.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

What are your wonderings and/or reservations about the practice of fasting?
When you feel empty or restless, what do you do to try to fill the emptiness? What does this tell you about your heart?
What is your attitude toward fasting or self-denial?
In what ways do you currently deny yourself?
When has self-denial brought you something good?
Where do you operate from an entitlement mentality? How might you wean yourself from this way of life?
What did you choose to fast from? For what reason did you choose your fast? What has the experience of fasting been like for you?
How did God reveal Himself in your fasting? What did you learn about yourself and/or God in your fasting?
In what ways did you experience struggle or frustration in the practice of fasting?
How did you experience encouragement, revelation, or breakthrough as you practiced fasting?

Further exploration & resources

How to Do a Biblical Fast by Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ)
Prayer and Fasting by Cru
Fasting for Beginners by Desiring God
Guidelines for Fasting from Food

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life, Marjorie J. Thompson

Week 6 | Spiritual Practice of Solitude/Journaling

Intro to Solitude/Journaling | YouTube Video

What is solitude/journaling?

Solitude is a “container” practice that supports other spiritual practices, as is the case this week in journaling. Practicing solitude leaves people, work, and distractions for uninterrupted time alone with God. Solitude provides space for paying attention and listening to God and our life. Journaling is the tool for reflecting on God’s presence, guidance and nurture in the days and seasons of life. It affords us the opportunity to be alert to our life through writing and reflecting on God’s activity in, around and through us. Journaling helps us be present to God and ourselves. Journaling in solitude provides an avenue for self-understanding and evaluation, writing and recording our prayers, meditating on God’s Word, expressing thoughts and feeling to the Lord, remembering the Lord’s works, tracking progress in our spiritual and emotional growth, regaining spiritual perspective, seeking the will of God, and spiritual and physical restoration. Journaling in solitude gives God’s Spirit time and space to do deep work.

“We are so afraid of silence that we chase ourselves from one event to another in order not to have to spend a moment alone with ourselves...” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 3:14-21; 1 Kings 19:9-13; Psalm 25:1-5; Psalm 62:5-8; Psalm 77:11-15; Ecclesiastes 5:1-5; Lamentations 3:24-28; Habakkuk 2:1-3; John 20:31; Galatians 1:11-18; Revelation 1:9-20

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Set aside time daily to completely unplug in a quiet place of solitude, be still and silent in a posture of listening. Start with 15 minutes. Or try ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the evening. Engage the Scripture prompts or whatever Scripture you prefer. Pray, listen, and watch. Preview or review your day. Ask God questions you have. What is God saying? What do you hear? What is God showing you? What word or image is God revealing?
Secure a journal or paper. Utilize a journaling Bible. Write and/or draw what comes to you in solitude and throughout the day. Date your journal entry. In the digital age it’s tempting to use electronic tools. Yet science suggests analog is best by handwriting or drawing in your journal.
Take thirty minutes for a walk, run, drive, bike ride with God. Be still, quiet yourself, be alert, observe. Note what you hear and see. Pick up something you notice. Journal what you experienced.
Review your journal entries at the end of the week. Notice narratives, themes, significant markers. What is God revealing? Of what is God reminding you? To what is God inviting you?
Leave a legacy or spiritual heritage for yourself and your family. Write your “exodus story”.
Set aside extended time of several hours/half a day to listen and journal. Develop a regular rhythm for solitude journaling and a plan of extended solitude. (Once a week; once a month; 24-hour solitude retreat once a quarter or twice a year)
Make shower time each morning be your alone time with God. Present yourself to your Creator – all of your body, all the dirt that has accumulated in your soul, all that God has made you to be. Let the water from the shower remind you of the water of life that nourishes and cleanses. Let the warmth touch you with love. Record in your journal how you experienced God.
Keep a regular written record of God’s ways in your life. This could include clippings, drawings, collages, articles, poems, quotes, Bible verses, prayer prayed, prayer requests and answers.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

If you live your life at full tilt, when and how do you reflect on your life and your experiences?
How and when do you resist or avoid being alone?
When have you felt most comfortable being alone? Most uncomfortable?
What sense of God do you have being alone?
What tends to pop into your mind when you are alone?
In what ways does writing or drawing help you focus or know what you think and feel?
How did God reveal Himself in your journaling? What did you learn about yourself and/or God as you practiced solitude journaling?
In what ways did you experience struggle or frustration in the practice of solitude journaling?
What is one narrative or theme in your life that you got present to through journaling?
If writing is not a medium you enjoy, what other ways might you or do you process and reflect on your experiences in the presence of God?
What is it like for you to read someone else’s published journal? How does the thought of someone reading your journal strike you?

Further exploration & resources

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Week 7 | Spiritual Practice of Stewardship

Intro to Stewardship | YouTube Video

What is stewardship?

Stewardship is the voluntary and generous offering of God’s gifts – time, talents and treasure - for the benefit and love of God and others. It is living as a manager or steward of God’s resources in all areas of life. In a me-centered consumer culture, stewardship lives out of the awareness that nothing we have is our own. It is the conviction that nothing belongs to us; we didn’t deserve or earn it; it all comes from God. A good steward lives a systematically and intentionally generous lifestyle flowing from the love of God. It involves investing in the Kingdom of God and building up treasure in heaven. Stewardship thoughtfully invests resources and spiritual gifts to benefit the body of Christ. The way in which we steward the earth, our time, financial resources, blessings, spiritual fruit, spiritual gifts, abilities, and our passion reveal what is in our heart. Stewardship asks the hard questions that expose the unique intentions of our heart. The question that gets at the heart of stewardship is, “Are you doing all God would have you do with all that He has given you?”

“Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God., If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 4:1-16; Exodus 35:1-10, 36:1-5; Psalm 24:1-2; Psalm 31:14-15; Matthew 6:18-21; Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Ephesians 5:15-17

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Ask God to speak to you about your stewardship. Listen. Where might you need to be a better steward? Decide and give a regular percentage of your time, talent and treasure weekly, monthly, yearly to Kingdom work.
Steward your time by signing up to serve regularly in some capacity at Trinity Church.
Better steward your time and spiritual gifts, sign up online for the Spiritual Gifts training and inventory offered on November.
Practice giving at least a tithe (typically 10%) of your God-given income back to Him. Give a percentage versus a dollar amount. As your incomes rises and falls, give appropriately.
Take an inventory of the people who are regularly in and out of your life. Do you feel any sort of responsibility to know their need? Ask them what they need right now? How could you be the loving hands of God’s provision just now? Share your time, talent or treasure with them.
When have you given something that brought you great joy? How and where might you continue to give in that same area or way that gives you joy?
Give a deserving person a “bonus”. Tip a waiter or waitress extra. Pay for someone’s gas. Give the cashier at the store an extra twenty dollars for the person coming behind you. Give a “word bonus” – share your time and words by hand writing a note of encouragement.
Increase your financial giving by one percent this holiday season.
Fast from shopping, technology, streaming services, “keeping up with the Joneses” and give the money to the church, to a regular someone in your life or for a need that arises.
Set aside a “shepherd’s purse.” Collect your spare change and put it in a jar between now and Christmas. When you hear of a need, offer what is in your “shepherd’s purse” to that need.
Consider your stewardship legacy. What has been modeled for you? What do you want people to say about that legacy? How might you continue, stop or add to the way you are currently stewarding your time, talent and treasure? Develop a plan for your stewardship legacy and take one step toward that between now and Christmas.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

How does the knowledge that all you have belongs God affect your life?
What are the primary things that you spend your time and money on? How do these things impact the way you use or don’t use your time, talent and treasure for God and His Kingdom and purposes?
In what ways do you tend to waste time?
In what ways are you currently practicing stewardship and investing in the Kingdom?
What might God be saying to you about how you utilize your time, talent and treasure?
When have you gone without so someone else could have? What was that like for you?
What is your current stewardship practice telling you about your heart?
Where do you sense resistance to stewardship?
What did you learn about yourself and/or God as you encountered the practice of stewardship?
How is God revealing Himself in your stewardship? Or where might God be missing in your stewardship?
In what ways do you experience struggle or frustration in the practice of stewardship?

Further exploration & resources

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Week 8 |Spiritual Practice of Examen

Intro to Examen | YouTube Video

What is Examen?

Examen is a simple but powerful prayer of reflection. Experience alone does not teach us much, but it’s when we reflect on that experience that we truly begin to learn. Examen is a practice for discerning the voice and activity of God within the flow of the day and week. It is a vehicle that creates deeper awareness of the things that bring us life (consolation) and death (desolation) as well as our God-given desires. It helps us attend to what we might otherwise miss in the press and busyness of the day or week. The work of Examen is attending to how God’s internal movement is present in the external comings and goings. We listen deeply and pay attention. Critical to engaging this spiritual practice are two truths – 1) God loves us with an overwhelming love that no work can earn or sin can diminish, and 2) Our human weakness and brokenness in relation to God. Examen is a regular time of coming to recognize God presence in our experiences and develop discernment and receptivity to God’s voice. It is best practiced daily, beginning with five to fifteen minutes. Examen can be used weekly as well.

“The examen makes us aware of moments that at first we might easily pass by as insignificant, moments that ultimately can give direction for our lives.” Dennis Linn

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 4:17-32; Psalm 4:4; Psalm 16:7-8; Psalm 63:6; Psalm 77:6; Psalm 139:1-10, 23-24; Proverbs 4:26; Colossians 1:9; Philippians 1:9-10

EXAMEN (5-STEP PROCESS)

Step 1: Find a space for uninterrupted time. Quiet your mind; calm your body. Become aware of God’s presence. Imagine God welcoming you into this space.
Step 2: Review the day with gratitude. Ask God to show you the day through His eyes. Focus on the work and the people of the day, what you received, what you gave. Notice the small things - food, sights, sound, feelings, small things. God is in the details.
Step 3: Review the day again; notice your feelings. Notice when you felt fully alive, peaceful, joyful, comforted, challenged, connected, whole, close to God. Allowing the moments to come; choose a moment for which you are most grateful. Stay there, savor it. Give thanks to God. Review your day again, recalling moments for which you are less grateful where you felt frustrated, angry, drained, irritated, sad, alone, isolated, unaccepted, fragmented, less than your best self. Bring these memories before God; ask Him for the healing you need.
Step 4: Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the thing God finds particularly important. Look at it, pray about, allow prayer to rise spontaneously from your heart whether intercession, gratitude, repentance, or praise.
Step 5: Look forward to tomorrow with hope. Ask God for light for tomorrow’s challenges. Allow thoughts and feelings to turn into prayer. What gift do you particularly need for tomorrow - courage, strength, energy, patience? Ask for that gift of grace.

OTHER PRACTICE PROMPTS: Come into the presence of the Lord and ask two questions (below). Note your responses.

For what moments today am I most grateful? the least grateful?
When did I give and receive the most love today? the least love today?
What was the most life-giving part of my day? the most life-thwarting part of my day?
When today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God and others? the least sense of connection with God and others?

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

Overall, how did you experience the practice of Examen? What brought you joy in the practice? Where did you find frustration or resistance?
How do you tend to recognize God’s presence in your day?
Upon recognition or awareness of God, how do you typically respond to His presence?
In what ways do you wrestle to discern and be receptive to God’s voice?
As you practiced Examen, was there a theme or consistency to what you experienced in your reflection?
Throughout the week, in what situations did you find yourself most fully alive, at peace, connected, comforted, joyful?
For what did you find yourself asking God for healing?
Was there something surprising that you encountered as your reflected and prayed? If so, what?
What has God been doing in our life in the past six months? What themes are emerging, and how will you attend to them?
What have you learned about yourself this week?

Further exploration & resources

5 Minute Daily Examen step by step Instruction
5 Minute Daily Guided Examen
Spiritual Practice of Examen from Sacred Ordinary Days | Jenn Giles Kemper
Weekly Examen sample page

Sources:

Soul Feast, An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life, Marjorie J Thompson
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
sacredordinarydays.com

Friends, I am especially inviting you to engage an additional resource this week – Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline’s chapter on Confession. Honestly, I could have just read the chapter to you for the video. It is profound and rich. One thing that struck me was how we might be a listener of confession for one another. -Michelle

Week 9 | Spiritual Practice of Confession & Self Examination

Intro to Confession & Self Examination | YouTube Video

What is Confession & Self Examination?

Self-examination and confession differ from last week’s Examen. Self-examination can be a part of the overall practice of Examen. Specifically, however, self-examination along with confession is examining our conscience daily, to name the specific behaviors and attitudes that are contrary to the way of God. Confession is specific, concrete, and particular. It consists in three parts – examination of conscience, sorrow, and determination to avoid sin. Confessing our sin is as useful to the soul as pain is to the body. Confession invites us to surrender our weaknesses and faults to the forgiving love of Christ and intentionally desire and embrace practices that lead to transformation. True humility keeps us facing God and teaches us to accept the fact that we will falter and fail. Confession does not invite us to self-absorbed anxiety about our sin or wallowing in guilt to punish ourselves. Rather, humble examination and confession turn our heart and mind to the mercy of God to know how much God loves us and suffered for us. Confession is an act of grace. It is the momentary hopeful pain of coming clean and experiencing the sorrow of wounds that heal. Thanks be to God for the gift of grace and forgiveness in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 5:1-21; Nehemiah 9:1-5; Psalm 19:7-14; Psalm 32; Psalm 51; Psalm 86:1-6; Psalm 103:8-14; Daniel 9:1-5; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Hebrews 4:12-16; James 4:8-10; James 5:13-16; 1 John 1:5-9

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Utilizing Psalm 32 or Psalm 51, bring your own sin before God. Insert your name, personal pronouns and your own sin or struggle. How does God meet you in David’s confessions?
If you feel out of touch with your sin, honestly consider where these sins show up in your life – envy, lust, greed, gluttony, deceit, lying, exaggerating, anger, pretense, avoidance of responsibility. What do you see? How do you want to talk to God about these things? Confess where you have fallen short of God’s expectations and receive His forgiveness.
In the presence of God ask for light to pierce your defenses, then ask yourself, “Who have I injured recently through thoughtlessness, neglect, anger and so on?” As the Holy Spirit brings people to mind, confess your feelings about these people to God. Ask God to forgive you and if need be, to give you grace to forgive them. Write an apology, make a phone call. or confess out loud to put the relationship back on track.
In a safe place, surrounded by the love God, ask God to help you see yourself as He sees you. Remember, He sees you absolutely and with great love. Using the Ten Commandments as a guide, journal your sins. When you have finished, go through each commandment one at a time, asking God to forgive you and help you to change. Then burn your list in a symbolic act of what it means to have God remove your sins from you. (Psalm 103:8-14)
Make a life confession – alone or to a trusted friend or confessor. Divide your life into seven-year segments., reflect on the sins particular to each segment. Confess your sins aloud. Receive the freedom that comes in knowing you stand completely in the clear before a holy God.
Notice your strong emotions. When do you feel yourself getting hot, defensive, angry, withdrawn? What is motivating your emotion? What behavior stems from your emotion? As you attend to this internal world, ask God to make you alert to what triggers strong emotional reactions. Confess any sin relating to these reactions. Practice noticing your internal world and begin to develop a habit of immediate confession.
Enter into a regular accountability relationship/group where you cannot hide. Tell the truth about yourself. Ask your partners to pray for you and help you change.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

How in touch do you feel with our own sin? What does this reveal to you and state of your heart?
Does your confession tend to be along the lines of “Forgive my sins, dear Lord” rather than specifically naming your sins one by one before the face of God? What is that about? What does the lack of specific confession do to self-awareness?
What experiences have affected your ability to give and receive forgiveness?
When have you tasted the joy of a good confession? What was that like for you?
In what ways are your familiar with confessing your sins before a friend or a confessor? What is that like for you? Where do you find yourself open or resistant to this?
Which of your sins hurts those closest to you?
Share what specific way/s you practiced confession from the prompts. How did you experience it?
Overall, how did you experience the practice of self-examination and confession? What brought you joy in the practice? Where did you find frustration or resistance?
Was there something surprising that you encountered in the practice to confession? If so, what?
What have you learned about yourself this week?

Further exploration & resources

Prayers of Confession
Celebration of Discipline: Confession, Chapter 10 by Richard Foster
What is a Confession Prayer and How do I pray it?

Sources:

Soul Feast, An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life, Marjorie J Thompson
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Celebration of Disciplines, Richard Foster
The Life You Have Always Wanted, John Ortberg

Week 10 | Spiritual Practice of Service & Submission

Intro to Service & Submission | YouTube Video

What is Service & Submission?

Service is a way of offering resources, time, treasure, influence and expertise for the care, protection, justice, and nurture of others. Acts of service give hands and feet to the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Submission means aligning our will and freedom with God’s will and freedom, which includes freely submitting to each other out of love and reverence for Christ. Submission means yielding our will, mind, and body for God’s purposes. Submission is rooted in God’s good and loving intention for each one us. It’s the way we allow God’s Kingdom agenda to shape our choices, relationships, and vocation. Service is rooted in the seeing of others. We serve and submit to be more like Jesus. Service and Submission are a spirit of consideration and respect for one another, and they can be summed up as the ministry of the Cross and the Towel. We take up our cross in submission to the Lord and we can take up our towel to serve those around us. We live a ‘cross-life’ (Luke 9:23) and engage the ‘ministry of the towel’ (John 13). Service is the practical outflow of submission. Consider these seven spheres for service and submission to: the Triune God; to Scripture; family; neighbors and those we meet along the way; the body of Christ; the broken and despised; and the interdependent, international world.

“Jesus lived the cross-life in submission to all human beings. He was servant of all. The cross-life is the life of voluntary submission. The cross-life is the life of freely accepted servanthood.” Richard Foster

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 5:21-6:9; Psalm 40:6-9; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 9:33-35; John 12:26; John 13:1-17; Luke 9:21-24; Luke 22:24-27; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 13:7

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Consider a place in your life where you are resistant right now, whether in a relationship or in obedience to something the Lord is inviting or prompting. In what ways might you submit your own will and actions to Christ and the other in this? Choose to submit out of reverence for Christ and observe the result.
Consider submission and the service of small things - of guarding the reputation of others, of allowing yourself to be served, of common courtesy, of hospitality, of listening, of bearing one another’s sorrow, of sharing the words of Life. Ask the Lord each day, “Lord Jesus, as it would please you bring me someone today whom I can serve.” Watch, listen and ACT. What did you hear and do? How did it impact you and the person you served?
Participate in hidden acts of service or secret service. Serve someone anonymously in whatever way you sense the Lord leading. Invite the Lord to show you what, who and how. Offer the act of service back to God in thanksgiving.
Divide a paper into three columns entitle them “for me”, “for others”, “for God”. Review the past several weeks. Jot down in each column the things you bought and did for yourself, others, and God. What does this exercise reveal? Consider Luke 9:23 and gaze at the Cross. How would you like to see the answer in your columns change over the coming months? Listen for your longings and God’s promptings.
Ask the Lord, “Who, today, do I need to submit to?” – boss, teacher, parent, colleague, friend, spouse? What does that submission look like? Offer yourself to Christ and submit.
Every morning for the next week, ask your spouse, roommate, or colleague, “What can I do for you today?” Then do it. What do you learn about yourself?
Consider your spiritual gifts. Ask those who know you their take on your spiritual gifts. Plan and execute a way of using your gifts to benefit others in the coming weeks.
Sign-up to set up or take down for an event. What is it like for you to do a simple task that doesn’t require your skill or expertise? What does this tell you about your acts of service?

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

What is your reaction to the word submission? What experiences have impacted your perspective on submission?
Who is an example of someone who knows how to practice healthy, biblical submission? How has her or his life influenced you?
Do you like to be served or to serve? How does this affect the way you live?
In what ways do you live out of an entitlement mentality rather than the love of neighbor?
Where or with whom might you need to practice the service of “holding your tongue”? Of listening? Of bearing burdens? Of interruptibility? Of the mundane and ordinary?
What of the seven spheres of service and submission is the greatest challenge for you? (Listed above in the description paragraph.)
Overall, how did you experience the practice of service and submission? What brought you joy in the practice? Where did you find frustration or resistance?
Was there something surprising that you encountered in the practice of service and submission? If so, what?
What have you learned about yourself this week?

Further exploration & resources

Submission plus 7 Acts of Submission
Six Ways to Practice Submission
Book Excerpt Submission by Richard Foster
Do something for someone else that you’ve never done before.
Do something for someone else that they won’t know about so they can’t thank you.
Do something for someone who has been unkind to you. In other words, overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
Spiritual Practice of Service Bible study

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Celebration of Disciplines, Richard Foster
The Life You Have Always Wanted, John Ortberg

Week 11 | Spiritual Practice of Intercessory Prayer

Intro to Intercessory Prayer | YouTube Video

What is Intercessory Prayer?

Intercessory Prayer invites us into God’s care and concern for us, our families and friends, and the world. Intercession is not a means of manipulating heaven. It is a way we become aware of God’s prayer for persons and join in that intercession. When we intercede, we turn our concerns and worries into prayer, to enter God’s heart for the world and pray from there. As we keep company with Jesus through intercession, we begin to see the world and the people in it from God’s perspective and heart. Intercessory prayer is willing God’s will. “Prayer is not a substitute for action; it is an action for which there is no substitute.” (Jane Edwards) Intercession can engage us deeply in the spiritual battle. It’s not always easy, but the point is to remain faithful, trusting God. We pray, persist, and commit the battle to the Lord. Prayers of committed people become part of the cosmic reality God works with. God uses them to ‘tip the balance’ and change the shape of distorted realities in our world. At times, we don’t know what or how to pray; in those moments we have the assurance that God’s Spirit prays. (Romans 8:26) Intercessory prayer invites us into the heart of the Trinity – the Spirit intercedes with “groans that words cannot express” and the Son, Jesus, seated at the right of the Father, ever lives to make intercession for the saints.

"To intercede for another means that in our prayer we stand between – or next to – them and God.” - Brian C. Taylor

SCRIPTURE PROMPTS: Ephesians 6:10-24; Nehemiah 1:1-11; Daniel 9:1-23; Matthew 6:5-14; Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 18:1-8; Romans 8:26-28;34; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; Hebrews 7:22-27; James 5:13-18

PRACTICE PROMPTS

Pay attention when people come to mind. Sometimes they come out of the blue. As a person comes, offer them up to the Lord. Turn to God and ask, “What is your prayer for this person?” Listen and pray.
As you begin the day, commit all your efforts to the Lord. Dedicate the time to the Lord. Ask the Lord to use you for his glory and the good of the world. (Proverbs 16:3; Psalm 37:5)
Intercede with the newspaper or newsfeed in hand. As you read, what do you feel called to pray about? Gently bring the fears and concerns of the news to the Lord.
Create an intercession journal with pictures of people, places, and concerns for which you wish to pray. Record your prayers, appropriate Scriptures and answers beside the photo in the journal.
Intentionally come into the presence of the Lord. As people or places come to mind, picture bringing them to Jesus. Does Jesus say anything to you about these people? When you have brought everyone to Jesus, leave them with Him. Tell Jesus your intent is to leave those people in His care rather than look after them on your own. During the day, return to the comfort that they are with Jesus.
Place yourself in the presence of God, bringing your concerns. Ask God to show you if there is something you need to surrender to better join Him in your concern. If something comes to mind, offer it to God. Ask God what He wants you to do about the concern or if you are to leave Him to do the praying.
Use the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern for intercession:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name…” Thank God for His fatherly love and attention. Adore His majesty, holiness, sovereignty, goodness, and beauty. “

Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” Confess where God’s priorities and God’s Kingdom have been replaced with your own. Where is God’s kingdom agenda in your relationships and in the world? Partner with God. Pray for these things.

“Give us today our daily bread…” Pray for your needs and the needs of those around you.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…” Confess grudges, bitterness, and oversensitivity. Dwell at the foot of the Cross. Thank God for His forgiveness.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one…” Look ahead, where might you be tempted to get off track. Pray for the Spirit to work. Ask for protection and courage.

“For Yours is the kingdom and power and glory forever.” Pray prayers of trust in God’s goodness and redemptive plans.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & TRIAD PROMPTS

What do your requests to God reveal about your priorities, goals, desires, and heart?
If God prompted you to pray for something, what do you think he would ask you to pray for?
In what ways do you most often engage in intercessory prayer?
Are you most apt to pray for yourself or others? What does your answer reveal to you?
What helps you remember to pray for others?
How is it for you interceding with others? How is it for you interceding alone?
In what ways have you experienced spiritual battle in intercessory prayer?
What about Intercessory Prayer is the greatest challenge for you? Where do you find frustration or resistance?
Overall, how did you experience the practice of Intercessory Prayer? What brought you joy in the practice?
Was there something surprising that you encountered in the practice of intercessory prayer? If so, what?
What have you learned about yourself this week?

Further exploration & resources

Daniel Model of Intercessory Prayer (Excellent by the way! 😊)
Intercessory Prayer: How to Pray for Others.
Nehemiah's Prayer - A Broken Intercessor

Sources:

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney
Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life, Marjorie J. Thompson

Intro Video

Welcome Letter