Wasting Time on God

1
Wasting Time on God

• Avenue Vineyard
• June 22, 2008

2
Busyness of Life

• We need some routine
• We need to embrace the value of wasting time
• We need quality not quantity

3

• "Busyness substitutes for meaning, efficiency
  substitutes for creativity and functional
  relationships substitute for love...In the outer
  life we live for ought (I ought to do this)
  rather than desire (I want to do this) and
  management substitutes for mystery." 
• John Eldredge The Sacred
  Romance

4
Defeat a bad habit with its opposite

• We defeat hate by walking in love.
• We defeat the destructiveness of busyness by
  embracing stillness.

5
Importance of Waiting on God

• But those who wait on the LORD shall renew
  their strength They shall mount up with wings
  like eagles, They shall run and not be weary,
  They shall walk and not faint.
• Isaiah 4031

6
Importance of Waiting on God

• The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
  to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one
  should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of
  the LORD. Lamentations 325-27

7
Wait

• wait Hebrew qavah
• qavah expresses the idea of waiting hopefully
  an active expectancy!!
• Waiting on God isnt passively doing nothing
  its expecting interaction with God!!

8
Priorities mixed up?

• Ps. 10613-16 says the Israelites didnt wait on
  the Lord and so they received a leanness in
  their souls.
• When we feel too busy, remember, God is one Who
  acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Is.
  644

9
Lectio Divina An Ancient Way

• Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) has been used by
  the church for more than 1500 years. It was
  strongly commended in St. Benedicts Rule for
  Monks. Benedict, who is sometimes credited with
  inventing the workday, considered it so important
  that he had his monks devote the best (in terms
  of mental energy) several hours of each day to
  it.

10
Lectio Divina

• Monks would repeat a Gospel reading or a Psalm
  over and over until a word or phrase began to
  stick out to them. Seeing these as words from
  God, they would begin their meditations based
  upon them, actively seeking a state of
  contemplation where God would speak to them.
  Later monks like Guigo II, a French Carthusian
  (12th century) helped the process to

11
Lectio Divina

• develop into the 4 steps that are often used
  today reading/listening meditating praying
  contemplating. Lectio gained further popularity
  through Ignatian Exercises in the Roman Catholic
  Church, and is quickly gaining in popularity in
  the Protestant world today.
• from Contemplative Bible Reading Experiencing
  God Through the Scriptures, Richard Peace
  (NAVPRESS, 1996)

12
Fr. Francis Martin

• Lectio Divina, happens in an atmosphere of
  wasting time.
• "There are no practical goals, no book to get
  through, no certain number of pages to read, but
  simply a deep sacramental use of God's word as a
  meeting place for God and humankind,"

13
4 Basic Steps of Lectio Divina

• 1) Reading Slowly begin reading a biblical
  passage as if it were a long awaited love letter
  addressed to you. Approach it reverentially and
  expectantly, with an attitude of listening, in a
  way that savors each word and phrase. Remember,
  there is no schedule. Read the passage until you
  hear a word or phrase that touches you,
  resonates, attracts or even disturbs you.

14
4 Basic Steps of Lectio Divina

• 2) Meditation Ponder this word or phrase
  for a few minutes. Let it sink in slowly and
  deeply until you are resting in it. Listen for
  what the word or phrase is saying to you at this
  moment in your life. Meditate on it. Really
  contemplate it.

15
4 Basic Steps of Lectio Divina

• 3) Prayer When you feel ready, openly and
  honestly express to God the prayers that arise
  spontaneously within you from your experience of
  this word or phrase. These may be prayers of
  thanksgiving, petition, intercession, lament, or
  praise.

16
4 Basic Steps of Lectio Divina

• 4) Contemplation Allow yourself to simply
  rest silently with God for a time in the
  stillness of your heart remaining open to the
  quiet fullness of God's love and peace. Enjoy
  Gods presence! Rest in it! Be still! Be quiet!
  

17
A Process of Listening

• God speaks in the silence of the heart. 
  Listening is the beginning of prayer. 
• Mother Teresa

18
Lectio Divina Underlying Assumptions

• God will speak through His Word to give personal
  messages to us today
• We can trust that He will lead us to the right
  word or phrase in a passage to meditate upon

19
Prepare

• Sit in silence with your eyes closed, let your
  body relax
• Focus on God
• You may wish to use a centering prayer such as
  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,
  a sinner or Come, Lord Jesus
• For todays practice, it will always be ok to say
  I pass at any point in the process if you would
  rather not share your thoughts

20
Listen to the Word of God

• As the passage is read twice, listen for the word
  or phrase that strikes you (if nothing seems
  clear, its fine to simply choose)
• During the one minute of silence that follows the
  second reading, repeat the phrase softly (or
  silently) to yourself
• If you are with someone else who is doing this,
  share your words or phrases with each other
  (without elaboration) otherwise, write it down

21
John 6 (NLT)

•   29 Jesus told them, This is the only work God
  wants from you Believe in the one he has
  sent. 30 They answered, Show us a miraculous
  sign if you want us to believe in you. What can
  you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna
  while they journeyed through the wilderness! The
  Scriptures say, Moses gave them bread from
  heaven to eat. 32 Jesus said, I tell you the
  truth, Moses didnt give you bread from heaven.
  My Father did. And now he offers you the true
  bread from heaven.

22
John 6 (NLT)

• 35 Jesus replied, I am the bread of life 37
  those the Father has given me will come to me,
  and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come
  down from heaven to do the will of God who sent
  me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the
  will of God, that I should not lose even one of
  all those he has given me 40 that all who see
  his Son and believe in him should have eternal
  life45 Everyone who listens to the Father and
  learns from him comes to me.

23
Ask How is My Life Touched by this Word?

• The passage will be read once more
• Consider how this word or phrase connects to your
  life. Sometimes this will be an idea or thought
  at other times it may be an image or impression
• You will have 2-3 minutes of silence for this
• Share (or write) in 2 or 3 sentences (again,
  without elaboration) the connection between your
  phrase and your life

24
Ask Am I Being Invited to Respond?

• The passage will be read once more
• Consider whether you are being invited to respond
  in some way in the next few days Am I being
  encouraged to do something?
• You will have 2-3 minutes of silence for this
• Share (or write) in 2 or 3 sentences (again,
  without elaboration) the invitation you are being
  given

25
John 6 (NLT)

•   29 Jesus told them, This is the only work God
  wants from you Believe in the one he has
  sent. 30 They answered, Show us a miraculous
  sign if you want us to believe in you. What can
  you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna
  while they journeyed through the wilderness! The
  Scriptures say, Moses gave them bread from
  heaven to eat. 32 Jesus said, I tell you the
  truth, Moses didnt give you bread from heaven.
  My Father did. And now he offers you the true
  bread from heaven.

26
John 6 (NLT)

• 35 Jesus replied, I am the bread of life 37
  those the Father has given me will come to me,
  and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come
  down from heaven to do the will of God who sent
  me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the
  will of God, that I should not lose even one of
  all those he has given me 40 that all who see
  his Son and believe in him should have eternal
  life45 Everyone who listens to the Father and
  learns from him comes to me.

27
Pray for One Another

• If you are with someone who has been doing this
  exercise, pray for each other in line with what
  each of you has shared if you are alone,
  continue in personal prayer
• If you are with someone, its fine to pray
  silently for him or her, but say Amen so that
  its clear when youve finished

28

• Spend a moment contemplating/reflecting on the
  experience.
• Rest in Gods presence.