Deeper Devotion

Formational Practices • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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How do you grow in your relationship with God outside of services and small groups? What do you do when your soul feels stagnant? This workshop explores ancient Christian practices that will deepen your intimacy with Jesus and help you become more like Him. You will be introduced to soul exercises and resources that can hep you get started or reignite your devotional life.

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My Story

Finding God in nature.

A simple faith with no growth track fraught with hazards. I ended up in paganism.

Finding God in church

Not always available and limited in scope.

Finding God in XA

Small group

Growing through the community, accountability, realizing that you are not alone in your struggle.

Devotions

More regular and customizable

Wholeheartedness/Practicing the Presence

Finding everywhere through noticing and intentionally slowing.

I say all of that to say that these were progressions in my walk with Jesus.

It takes time to make a pickle.

How to Make a Pickle

Has anyone here ever made a pickle before? How about sauerkraut? Grown any gardens or plants? To mature something takes time. To mature a pickle, you need your cucumbers to stay in a jar of brine and vinegar for at least 6 weeks. As they sit their for an entire day, it seems that nothing is happening. After a week, still not there. If you take them out, there’s not much flavor of the briney vinegar, but as time goes on, the cucumber not only is surrounded by it, but it has absorbed so much of the vinegar, every bite will pucker your lips! It is still a cucumber, but it has become more like pickle juice than a cucumber. It looks like a cucumber till you take a bite, then you know whether or not it is a mature pickle.

God is forming us into His likeness in this way, as we soak in Him and His Word.

Mt 6:33

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 6

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

I like that word steep. Like tea. I want to be a tea worth drinking, don’t you? We want to steep till people hear Jesus when they hear us talking.

Gal 4:19

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

The role of clergy is to help their church become more like Christ through sermons, teaching, discipleship, counsel, etc. But how long would it take to make a pickle one or two hours a week? This is simply not enough.

You can’t make a pickle an hour a week. Instead of 6 weeks, it would take nearly 20 years! The cucumber will just rot. It needs to stay, remain, abide, soak, steep.

When God makes a squash, he takes 3 seasons. When He makes a mature oak, He takes 100 years. How long does it take to form a soul into looking like Jesus?

God has called us to maturity.

Heb 5:11-14

The New International Version Chapter 5

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

You don’t get a good pickle by dipping a cucumber in vinegar. It requires at least six weeks of soaking. In the same way, you won’t become a mature Christian by simply going to church and attending small group. At some point, you need to get off the bottle and start learning how to feed yourself. And until you can feed yourself, you really can’t feed others. So the first requirement of a small group leader is daily devotion to Jesus. But what does that even mean, “daily devotion”?

I actually have issues with that term because God has actually called us to wholeheartedness which means we are to live life being present to Him.

Psalm 16:8 ESV

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

God wants to be the watermark of our world. Indeed, we are called to pray without ceasing, which is impossible if prayer is speaking. But if prayer is communion with God, it refers to connection and intimacy. Much of my prayer time with God is throughout the day, being present with the Spirit of God as I go about my tasks and interactions.

You see, we could talk about all the different kinds of prayer, Bible study, and soul searching, but the ultimate desire is uninterrupted union with God.

Soaking. Pickles stay in the jar.

Sometimes we feel like reading the Bible. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we feel like praying. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we feel like journaling and examining our hearts. Sometimes we don’t. It doesn’t matter, so much, what disciplines that you do… stay in the jar.

The spiritual disciplines do not earn God’s favor, twist His arm so He will answer your requests, or make you more holy. They foster growth by bringing your interior life and exposing it to God’s Word and Spirit. Any change to us is from God and not the discipline. The cucumber has to be permeable to receive the vinegar, but no matter how permeable, if it isn’t in the jar, it isn’t going to pickle. We need to be both permeable and present. These practices are called disciplines because they are to be practiced regularly.

How many of you would like to grow in your relationship to God? You want to really delight in prayer and study and reflection? You have the desire, but without discipline, it will never lead to delight.

Most people who advance in their relationship with God have set times that they discipline themselves to soak. Every inner discipline is enhanced by silence and solitude. You might say that solitude is a container for all of the other ones. So if you don’t have a set aside time to be alone with God, uninterrupted, without noise or distraction or other people, that is the first thing that I would recommend. All of the great Christian mystics who found great union with God spent extravagant amounts of time alone with Him, soaking in the jar.

The 3 concentric circles of the inner disciplines are Prayer, Scripture, , and Reflection.

Prayer refers to communion with God. It is both listening and responding. It is pouring out our hearts and allowing God to pour out His while we listen. It is thinking, feeling, connecting, and enjoying God for who He is.

Scripture is our primary tool for growth. It is our guide to how to approach God and informs our prayers, gives us great examples, warnings, instructions, wisdom, theology, etc. It shows us who God is and is a love letter to us from Him. Reading it, devotionally, is a type of prayer.

Reflection is where much of our formation takes place. Socrates is credited with saying, “The unexamined life is not worth examining.” We can pray and read Scripture without being changed. Reflection allows us to chew on, think about, wrestle with things we hear in prayer or read in Scripture.

Virginia Mollenkott says, “God is reaching out to me, speaking to me, and it s up to me to learn to be polite enough to pay attention.”

We are a forgetful people and psychology points out that we suppress the things we fear or bring discomfort. This happens in prayer and Scripture reading as well. We block out, sometimes unconsciously, the messages that could bring about the most meaningful changes to us.

Solitude/Silence

Solitude is a container that all of the other spiritual disciplines can be practices in. Solitude, combined with silence, is a strong enhancement for each of them. I know many of you probably like to study with music or even do your devotions to worship music, but what if the songs are about something that God doesn’t what to talk with you about?

Solitude is getting away from people temporarily to focus entirely on God. It is getting to a location where you are away from people and interruptions.

Silence is the removal of distractions, noise, and anything that could grab your attention away from God. This is why it would help you so much to use a physical Bible or at least turn off all notifications and silence your phone when trying to focus on God.

If you have never taken a personal retreat, it is a great way to get a head start on soaking with God in Scripture in solitude and silence. You could start with a two to four hour time on a blanket in the park somewhere.

Imaginative Prayer

Luke 2:19 ESV

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Imaginative Prayer

Jesus loves children. They are so imaginative and playful. It seems that as we grow into adults, we use our imagination less and less, especially in our spiritual life.

There is a spot in the Harry Potter movies where Harry is with a dead Dubledoore. It is all white and clean and he wonders if it is real or not. He asks his mentor if it is all real or just in his head. Professor Dumbledoore says, “Of course it is in your head, but why does that mean it isn’t real?”

Imaginative prayer is just that, imagining yourself in the crowd as Jesus fed the multitudes, as Zaccheaus as he climbs the sycamore to get a glimpse of Jesus, or at the seat across from you at the dining hall. It is the abiding in the vine of John 15, where you simply gaze at Jesus in your mind and enjoy His company. You may find that what starts out as imagination becomes real. Jesus wants to meet with us regularly in prayer, why wouldn’t He use our imaginations, regularly?

Try this and stay with the images you see that evoke worship and change into Christ-likeness throughout the day. Stay in the jar!

Lectio Divina

Jews practiced praying the Scriptures and listening to God through them and the early Church did as well. St. Benedict is said to have coined the term which means divine reading. He found it so important that the men in his small group who became Benedictine monks would do this practice daily.

Lectio Divina is a way of praying and engaging with Scripture that it different than Bible study. It does not replace the need for Bible study or theology or church and small groups. It is a devotional reading and listening to the Word of God for the purpose of listening to what God might want to say to you. This is different from opening the Bible to a random passage and asking God what you are supposed to do vocationally or whether you should date someone. That is closer to a tarot card reading. The Bible is not a ouiji board or tarot cards, tea leaves, or a crystal ball.

Lectio is a slow, audible, attentive reading of Scripture. You take a passage, perhaps from the Gospels, a verse or two from the Epistles, or a Psalm and read it through slowly, out loud. It consists of 4 basic steps that come after you have taken some time in silence to prepare your heart to hear.

Lectio: (Read) the passage out loud, slowly, and with a listening spirit. What word or phrase catches your attention, seems to have a special meaning, etc.? Read with yourself in mind and your own situations and growth needs.

Meditatio: (Reflect) Read the passage again, but focus in on that one word or phrase that stuck out to you. Let it sink down into your heart. Is there any invitation from God?Ponder and treasure the words like Mary did with the angelic announcement of Luke 2:19

Luke 2:19 ESV

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

3. Oratio: (Respond) This is praying in response to what you have pondered. Pray this back to God. Is He instructing you, challenging you, encouraging you, Talk with Him about it. What feelings do you feel in response? Are there areas that you are resistant?

4. Contemplatio: (Rest) What do I need to take with me from this meditation? How do I need to rest in these words? Change? Ask God what you need to do with this personal word for the day and week.

Even though you have finished, stay with that word throughout the day and don’t leave the pickling jar!

Col 3:1-3

The New International Version Chapter 3

3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

These are ways to set our hearts and minds on heavenly things.

You have been invited into a deeply personal relationship with the most wonderful person in existence. One who James Bryan Smith calls, the good and beautiful God. He focusses on God’s character, that...

The Good and a beautiful God

He is good

Trustworthy

Generous

Love

Holy

Self-sacrificing

Transforms

Knowing the Good and Beautiful God leads to a good and a beautiful life!

The great preacher and founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley (1703-1791), was once approached by a man who came to him in the grip of unbelief. “All is dark; my thoughts are lost,” the man said to Wesley, “but I hear that you preach to a great number of people every night and morning. Pray, what would you do with them? Whither would you lead them? What religion do you preach? What is it good for?” Wesley gave this answer to those questions: You ask, what would I do with them? I would make them virtuous and happy, easy in themselves, and useful to others. Whither would I lead them? To heaven, to God the judge, the lover of all, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant. What religion do I preach? The religion of love. The law of kindness brought to light by the gospel. What is this good for? To make all who receive it enjoy God and themselves, to make them like God, lovers of all, contented in their lives, and crying out at their death, in calm assurance, “O grave where is thy victory! Thanks be to God, who giveth me victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ.”

If time permits, allow for questions or do an actual exercise of lectio or imaginative prayer.

Mk 10:46-52

The New International Version Chapter 10

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Mark 10:36–52 ESV

And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us Spiritual Exercises > Lectio Divina/Devotional Reading

1. Using Mark 10:46–52

• Silencio. Put yourself in the presence of God. Become quiet and offer yourself to God.

• Lectio. Read Mark 10:42–46 out loud, slowly allowing the words to resonate and settle in your heart. Linger on the word or phrase that catches your attention and lights up for you. Sit with the word or phrase and savor it as a word of God for you.

• Meditatio. Read the passage again and listen to where the word connects with your life right now. Enter into the scene in your imagination. Imagination is a God-given gift. Envision the scene. Carefully watch the people. Listen to how they interact. What do you hear and experience as you watch and listen?

• Oratio. Read the passage one more time, listening attentively. Has God addressed you in this Word and invited you to respond? Allow the Scripture to lead you into a prayer response. Do not censure your thoughts or requests. Let them flow out spontaneously and freely before the Lord who loves you. Hold nothing back. Respond to God’s invitation to you.

• Contemplatio. Deeply receive God’s Word and rest in his presence and love. Give yourself some time to wait and be still before you reenter life as usual. Take God’s Word to you with you throughout the day. Return to it and remember it all day long. Stay with God until you feel prompted to leave.

Great Books:

The Good and Beautiful Series-James Bryan Smith

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook-Adele Calhoun

Silencio-Leadership Transformations

Apps:

The Bible App

One Minute Pause

Pray the Gospels: using Lectio Divina

Reimagining the Examen Loyola Press

If you have additional questions, feel free to connect with me at a meal or just come and see me.

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