Prayer
Finding the Heart’s True Home
by Richard Foster
Part 1— Moving
Inward
Chapter 6— Formation
Prayer
“Prayer—secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at
the root of all personal godliness.” William Cary
OPENING PRAYER
Prayer Project Review
1. Prayer changes us: “The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us
into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit,
we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.”
2. Be prepared to change. The Holy Spirit is the agent of change.
Conversatio
morum—death to all things that have been, constant change/conversion/openness to the movement of the Spirit
“Actively pursuing what the
Spirit is already doing.”
3. The Golden Triangle of Prayer
Spiritual
Disciplines: Solitude, fasting, worship, celebration
Constant
interaction with the Spirit: resistance, disobedience, repentance, submission,
faith, obedience
Patient
endurance developed in us through frustrations, trials, temptations
4. Progress, not Perfection—
Melt
me, mold me, fill me, use me…..
Growth
and change
Romans
8:29
5. Active/Passive
Pursuing
God--Phil 2:12; 1 Tim. 4:7; Phil. 3:12-14
God
pursuing us—Attentive and responsive—Jeremiah 18
6. Ignatius of Loyola—The
Exercises
Could be a 4 week devotional
journey, a 4 day silent retreat, a weekly rhythm…
1. Focus on our sin
2. Focus on the life of Christ
3. Focus on the Passion of Christ
4. Focus on the Resurrection of Christ
7. St. Benedict—12 Steps to
Humility
What
humility is not:
Groveling
Self-deprecation
What
humility is:
Being
as close to the truth as possible
Humus—“grounded”
Transforming
corruption into the power of life and creativeness
Reverence
for God before our eyes
Reject
our own will and desires, instead choosing God’s will
Confess
our evil thoughts and actions to God.
8. The Little Way
Choosing
what is available to us to remember how small we are
Choose
the menial job, the small portion, the poorest accommodation
Welcome
unjust criticism, befriend those who annoy us
Focus
on works for which we will never receive recognition
These
are conquests over selfishness
9. Solitude
Henry
Nouwen: “Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.”
Less
of the human voice, more of the Divine Voice
Unmasks
our busy, false selves
Not
to escape the rat race, but to become indifferent to it.
10. What about our death?
The
world will continue. Aesop’s chariot
wheel.
Galatians
2:19—what is it to be crucified in Christ?
11. Prayer of Docility
Completely
supple, transparent and abandoned into the hand of God.
A
sail in the wind, a pencil guided by God’s hand.
2
Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 11:34
12. The Blessedness of Winter
Deep
feeding while the exterior is laid bare
What
“virtues” do we have on the exterior that hide what needs transformation on the interior? (remember the Hidden Heart)
Closing Prayer
Better Than a Hallelujah
(recorded by Amy Grant)
1. God loves a lullaby
In a mother's tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
God loves the drunkard's cry
The soldier's plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
Chorus—
We pour out our miseries; God
just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are;
The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a Hallelujah
2. The woman holding on for life
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
Chorus—
We pour out our miseries; God
just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are;
The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a Hallelujah
Bridge—
Better than a church bell ringing
Better than a choir singing out, singing out
Chorus—
We pour out our miseries; God
just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are;
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
(Repeat)
Closing Prayer
Dear
Lord Jesus, in my better moments I want nothing more than to be like you. But
there are other moments…Help me to see how good conformity to your way really is. In my seeking for you, may I be found by
you. I love you, Lord. Amen.
The
Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about
the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire,
God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and
merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of
fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would
teach us to rest our hearts in this world and pose an obstacle to our return to
God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with
our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father
refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us
to mistake them for home.
From The Problem of Pain
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis
You can share our lessons with others who can’t be
here in person by referring them to
http://christian-transformationblog.blogspot.com
Comments
Post a Comment