Prayer & Meditation
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Why Disciplines?
Why Disciplines?
RECAP: Jump Start
1) Fasting {Shut mouth, give up/sacr. something essential & REPLACE w/ God - Diffic't!?}
2) Silence & Solitude {X got away to silence distraction, meet w/ Father, refuel}
Why Disciplines?: {Kills Selfishness; Shows serious...}
They [Re-]Focus my Priorities (on God)
How many... time life really 'focused' on God?
Calamity, disaster, challenge, question???
Other moments - out of sync with Him, not 'close' as once was?
Need to REFOCUS!
Good news - God already CHOSE us.
At incarn., cross: God's going extra mile to stand in gap on our behalf...
Sacrificed way we could never to be WITH us, his creation.
Same thing He asks in OT and NT - choose him back!
Show we're "all about" Him as much as He is "all about" us!
We need to lay it alll down.
Best way to "choose Him back" is to step aside; give Him honor deserves!
[Not that we're really PROVing anything, or it's paying our way to closeness... in RESPONSE to and RESPECT for His sacrif!]
God is Who's Most Important!
When we set aside our time or our money or fast [something core], we put God in His rightful place and it reminds us who's in charge!
Try as we might, thinking or pondering doesn't always make us realize WHO God is or how much I need him.
When I take discip'd action, it lowers my need/priority for my ego.
It Gets Better with time
Difficult at first, possibly... Desperate??
The MORE we try to implement these disciplines - even if we fail - the better we'll get at them. Prac. makes perf./proficient!
“Repetition is the key to learning...”
Disciplines tackling TODAY - Prayer & **Meditation
Focus on God
Focus on God
Prayer
"The Prayer" series: Dissect. X's famous prayer, bring us insight on HOW to pray.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray continually,”
Regular comm. with YHWH Two-way street! Remember to LISTEN! U + spouse or BFF -- what kind of relat. if you just spoke AT them all time. Routine will help
TODAY: Talking bout Disciplined prayer... long stretches, time set aside to do so (prayer meetings; prayer team; phone call?!)
Regular basis! Set schedule/time per week
Interrupt your daily routine - est. NEW one
Encourage you to set aside time.
Slow - not in a rush. Give him your all; your best.
Matthew 6:5-6 ““And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
X's pt = not be a show-off, but great truth about mingling solitude w/ prayer (X example)
Merge ideas with the next discip…
Meditation
Scary, weird? We mix in ideas of eastern medit. in our heads.
Similar, in try to achieve focused mind. Determined about one thing - singular minded; attentive toward one thing.
Might say same thing over and over to help focus.
New-age/eastern med. (Bhudda) achieving 'emptying' of self - to think about nothing, be nothing, do nothing
hopes of comm. with 'divine' self; purging neg. thoughts to reach true self
internal-focused
Leaves one open to demonic influence/poss.
Christian meditation is focused on JESUS.
Depending on, listening for, hoping in HIM.
Often accompanied by worship/praise music. Any music will do.
"Meditation" in the Bible
Hagah - to groan, plot, mumble/growl, meditate
Used of animal noises like pigeons or bears eating
Low, rumbly growl like a bear concentrat. on meal.
First time - Issac doing it (Gen ), likely in prayer for a wife
Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Psalm 63:6 “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.”
Spend time repeating, reading, re-reading (out loud), or praying the Torah of YHWH.
NOT limit'd to 1st four scrolls. "Instruction of the Lord "
Like the bear mumbling over food, reciting scripture over and over, reading, re-reading, praying this WORD been given.
Most common way 'medit.' used in Bible
To gain a better understanding of Bible, need to read over again.
First step to understand is to READ it.
Intimidated by the video at beg.? The point of it was that - to get to know Bible better, need to be reading it together in community!
Lots of beauty, wisdom, inspir. miss out on...
I want to encourage u (in pract.) to merge meditation and praying AND Bible...
Praying God's Word
Bible is powerful !
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
Theopneustos - imbued with God's spirit/breath
Men wrote down the words in our scriptures. God gave them the ideas to connect; a God + man partnership. Sometimes, even gave words
Bc Bible is God's idea, goes beyond time to inspire and chall. TODAY.
Just picking it up and reading it with a hope to get something out of it is powerful.
Sometimes confusing or scary or traumatic... let that push you deeper, more curious! {tBP!}
On the whole, the Bible offers us a wealth of wisdom and knowl. today!
Leviticus job descr. of future Kings is that they should study, memorize, and know Torah!
To be a better ruler, should internalize this wisdom!
Add that to our prayer life, with medit!
Later this year: "Praying the Psalms w/ Augustine & Friends" - Dr. Carmen Imes
For over 2000 years, diff. trad. of Xiantiy have been using Psalms as a prayer book and song book
Jewish people did this in ancient times also
"Song of acents" "Miktam" "Wedding song"
Speak to their purpose and use
Each brought them closer to each other (singing together) and to God using poetic metaphor and imagery
Gave them better words for their prayers, enhanced their prayer life, more easily connected Psalms to rest of Bible...
Anyone else here/watching would like a guide to improve prayer life?! Right here.
Focus on Jesus
David meditated on the WORD; we meditate on the WORD become flesh!
Just like Reading through Psalms, can meditate on words and actions of Jesus.
Meditate on Sermon on the Mt. - Matthew ch.5-7; a specif. miracle; upper room discourse toward end of John; Revelation 21
Jesus is the one after whom we should be modeling lives!
What better way to internalize His way of life than to wake up every AM or end your day every PM reminding self of His actions?
Live the Blessed Life:
Live the Blessed Life:
Psalm 1 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
vv.2-3 Blessed are the Bible nerds!
Meditate day and night - all the time.
Repetition is the key to learning. Repetition is the key to learning. Repetition is the key to learning. Repetition is the key to learning....
GK Chesterton {early 1900s, Xian philosopher, apologist}
“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
May we take time to read and re-read and to pray our scripture
May it never get old - and, through that process, over-and-over - may we find Jesus!
May He meet us there.