The next five weeks what we're going to do is cover five different themes of disciples that actually fall underneath
What I think it means to live right so we start with rest
Move into this segment of live live is a lot broader than what some of us think it is and then we get
To work and so it might be a shock to some of you that there is more to living in Christ than church attendance
It's not just about showing up on a Sunday. There is so much more that God has for us in relationship with him and whether so the next
Five weeks we're going to talk about abiding in prayer about reading the scripture about listening to the spirit
But practicing our faith and about forgiving as we're forgiven and then the the last week we're going to talk about
Working with God. So today we are going to abide in prayer a few weeks ago when I started this
Series off I mentioned that the Bible isn't the first step in our discipleship plan
You know because I said like some people will just tell people to a church and read
Their Bibles and I actually want to slow down and explain a little bit more
Why the Bible isn't the first step and you might be like Greg
I thought we were talking about prayer, but I think that this is a precursor why we have to explain this
Because some people they're not comfortable with the idea that the Bible isn't the very first thing
That you should jump into in this plan
And so I want to explain a little bit more because I love the Bible
I've been reading the Bible my entire life and over the years
I have come to understand it differently more deeply with new kinds of beauty and compassion with more grace
Hope but the Bible doesn't come first in this plan. So why?
We have the option of having the Bible with us
100 versions of it at all times in all places
so
post
enlightenment
Okay, you know a little bit about history post enlightenment the position of prayer in the life of a believer
Has been replaced by the reading of Scripture
Post in line that we've become so focused on what I can know
What can I learn? I think therefore I
Think therefore I am
We go what can I have this now so I should read it all the time
But this has not always been the case because the Bible as we understand it isn't something that even existed until relatively
Recently, I don't mean the books of the Bible the books of the Bible were decided the order of them
Which ones were considered canonical and all that relatively early?
So that's not what I'm talking about the ability to have the whole Bible
Available to us at all times is a relatively new
Concept first Bible in English is only six hundred and thirty eight years old
You may be like, oh, that's that's really old. That's been forever. Well, my grandmother died at 97
Just five of her lifetimes
It's not that long ago
600 that the first Bible in English is only six hundred thirty eight years old and when it got translated into English
You couldn't get it
You couldn't get it because the printing press hadn't been invented yet
That didn't happen for another 71 years after that in
1455 and it's true that when the Gutenberg press was created the first book printed was
The Bible it was they printed between 150 and 180 copies depending on which source you read
And then it took them between three and five years
To print those copies depending on which source you read
This is fascinating. They were printing guys. You ready for how quick this was happening
Between two and a half and five copies of the Bible per month
But they were all in Latin
Anyone speak Latin?
It was the 1520s 500 years ago before a German or an English version of the New Testament
would be printed and
Another ten years after that before the full Bible would be printed in English right now
There are as many as six billion with a B copies of the Bible in the world
It's been translated into over
3,300 languages
There are
There are 100 million copies of the Bible printed every single year
When the printing press was created there was only 430 million people on the earth
Think about it
Right now you can go to a thrift shop to Goodwill Salvation Army and get a copy of the Bible for a quarter
But in the 1500s there was maybe thousands
At most hundreds of thousands of the copy of the Bible in English
German Latin Hebrew Greek they started expanding as they got further into the
1500s and back then because of supply and demand a copy of the Bible could cost as much as
Ready for this ten to twenty thousand dollars in today's money
When the Bible started being translated out of Greek and Hebrew and Latin and into English and German for the first time
Even if you could afford it you'd have to be able to read it
See because the literacy rate when this was happening just guesses
Literally across the board. What was the literacy rate in the 1500s guess?
10%
11.5%
10% 11%
Now now remember different time different era
Among women
The literacy rate was 1%
Because they would not teach women to write or read
So even if you could afford a Bible you had to be able to read it had to be in a language that you could read a
Lot of people were left out of the opportunity to read from the scriptures
Really most people the only place that you could hear the Bible was if it was read at a public service
And that's if you lived close enough to a church
And if that church read the passage in a common language you spoke because many churches up to that point
Read all of the passages in Latin whether you spoke Latin or not. I think you're starting to get get the point
In the absence of access to the scriptures
There's an easy answer to this question. What do you do?
In the absence of an access to the scriptures. What do you do?
Will you do what every believer of every generation has ever done?
You pray
Because prayer is timeless
Prayer is limitless
It's remarkable prayer is priceless yet accessible to everyone the rich and the poor
Every social class to the illiterate and the elitist alike
Prayer knows no borders or boundaries and draws no linguistic lines
Because God is fluent in every language we speak
In a couple weeks on
November 1st on All Saints Day
It will have been 22 years since my grandpa buddy died
And uh to to have known my grandpa buddy was to have known like kind of a
God-like event
He was not boring
Yeah
He had personality
And he wasn't in my understanding. He wasn't always a great person
He was not as far as I know a religious person
but
In his life he was a religious person
but
In his last months when his dementia had gotten really bad when he could barely speak a sentence
For years and years and years
He had smoked pipes and and cigars and when he got dementia when he started development
He forgot that and so he stopped but it damaged had already been done to his mouth
So when by the time he was put into a care facility, uh, he had always had these big mutton chops
And they they shaved his face and they pulled his teeth and they they buzzed his head
And so in a way he didn't look like himself
At all there was all of his personality all the external personality that my grandpa had had kind of been stripped away from him
as dementia
Just wreaked havoc, right
But we went to see him in this care facility and I was concerned about oh, does he about his knowledge of god?
I
Remember taking my guitar and sitting in his room and playing him a song. I don't remember which one
And then I asked him
I said grandpa, do you
Know god
Oh god, which is such a funny question for me to ask my grandpa if you knew my grandpa
Um
And he taught me something that i'll never forget
I said grandpa, do you know god?
And him being barely able to speak in full sentences. He says oh he says oh, yeah
I talk to god every day
He says we don't speak the same language, but I understand every word he says
As when you read the book of john
John uses this word abide 21 times across this 21
Chapters, but 11 of those are found within six verses
When jesus is teaching about what it will mean to stay connected to him
This word abide in the greek means to remain
To settle to take up lodging to rest to continue to stay
To abide so listen in this plan
prayer comes before reading the scriptures because none of us
Were born with the ability to read
And some of us will die having lost some of our faculties
And yet jesus will still understand
every word
And somehow
We'll know how to communicate with us in a way that we understand the language that he speaks
Prayer is something
that truly holds no boundaries
Truly holds no boundaries
Truly has no borders
Because we don't just learn how to pray guys
We settle
We dwell
We remain
We abide
In prayer
So no matter how much of the bible that you've read you will always be able to pray from cradle to grave
So let's keep that in mind as we move forward
As we move forward with the time that we have left
If you'd like to open your bibles, i'm going to read verses from four different places
from first thessalonians 5
from ephesians 6
Philippians 4 and john 15 you can pick one of those if you'd like
um if you're a true uh
Bible sword warrior you'll find all four right now
Some of you know what that means
Sword drills I grew up in a church where they called it sword drills where you'd hold up your bible and they'd say here's a verse
And then you had to find it as quick as you could and whoever won was the best christian
All right, so uh we have a tradition, uh, if if if you'd like to join us
Uh of standing as we read the scriptures as we are are able and so i'm gonna read from first thessalonians 5
Ephesians 6 philippians 4 and john 15 first thessalonians 5 16 and 17
Says this plainly and simply rejoice at all times
pray
without
ceasing
Ephesians 6 18
And praying the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests with this in mind be alert
And always keep on praying for all the lord's people philippians 4 5 and 7
Let your gentleness be apparent to all the lord is near be anxious for nothing
But in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to god and the peace of god
Which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus and john 15 9
As the father has loved me so have I loved you now remain
In my love or abide in
In my love or abide in my love let us pray
Father we thank you for the scriptures that we have them that we can hold them
We thank you that even if we did not have this available in our hands that we could still pray to you
I pray that whatever you have
For us to learn today to remember today to be impressed upon us today that it would become a part of the framework of our faith
That our faith would become stronger that we would become more like your son jesus
Amen, thanks joe can I have a seat?
All right, so
so far
This morning we've already prayed in numerous ways in at least four different ways. Have you noticed?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, saint augustine said the one who sings
prays twice
So we've prayed already through each of the songs that we sing with different focuses with with different ideas with different
Hopes we have prayed through those songs. We prayed
Congregationally we do this every single week either through the prayer for rest or live or work. We we say that our father the lord's prayer
Monthly together, so we've prayed congregationally audibly and in unison
Together we've prayed interceding on behalf of our neighborhood
and then we've prayed for understanding
through
the scriptures
We've only been here for 45 minutes and we have prayed in at least
four different ways
But what do we do?
When we leave this building?
Right when when when you don't show up for a service that has structure and someone going
Okay, these are the exact things that we're going to do. What do you do when you're off on your own because prayer?
Is something that we're meant to be bathed in but prayer isn't a bathtub that you get in at a place
Does that make sense?
Like prayer is like an atmosphere that's meant to move with you
Jesus said abide in me
That jesus is not in one place dwell in me settle continue in
me
And so when we leave this place the opportunity to pray is meant to continue
Not meant to be confined to a prayer that we pray after the songs that we sing and pray
Hmm
So paul said that we can pray at all times on all occasions without ceasing
But I also know that that can sound intimidating
Like some of us think that we have no clue how to pray
Um, so at the time that we have left that I want to get real practical. Okay
Um, this is not something i'm i'm not like the practical guy sometimes in my sermons. I understand so i'm going to try to be
Practical, um because I could preach and I could break down words and cultures and contexts and I could exegete and offer
hermeneutical ideas, but I don't think that a sermon on what prayer is
Will actually do much for us as much as us practicing what prayer is
Because in addition to that I don't i'd be surprised if many of us actually have to be convinced that prayer is important
I think for most of it is it's it is just getting past the line of thinking about prayer
It is just getting past the line of thinking that we can do it
So today
Uh, we're going to be full on practical. So at the time we have left i'm going to teach you three
prayer practices that you can use
almost anywhere
And almost any time and I say almost because you'll see
All right. So here we go. Richard fostered
In his book on prayer said this
Today the heart of god is inviting you and me to come home
To come home to where we belong to come home to that for which we were created his arms are stretched out
wide to receive us
His heart is enlarged to take us in he invites us into the living room of his heart
Where we can put on old slippers and share freely he invites us into the kitchen of his friendship
That we're chatter and batter mix in good fun
He invites us into the dining room
Of his strength
So here we go. Our first practice is called hands up
hands down
So the first step of this
Is to sit in your chair in a way that will help you in particular pay attention
So for some of us that's going to be leaning back for some of us. It's going to be sitting forward on our chair
And we're all going to start getting settled into that now. So sit in a way
That you feel this is the way that I best
pay
Attention, let's take a moment
And just give everybody a chance
To move around
wiggle a little bit
Okay
The next thing
is to place
Your hands comfortably on your knees
with your palms
down
And ideally if you're comfortable, I would encourage you to go ahead and close your eyes
Because some of this includes
your imagination
So thinking back to what richard foster said and you don't always have to do this, but I think it would be helpful
To think about what you're going to do in your life
And I think that's what we're going to do today
So I'm going to ask you to imagine yourself in a living room of god's heart
Or imagine yourself sitting in the kitchen of his friendship
Or in the dining room of his strength
Let's take a moment just to let ourselves
Imagine ourselves
In the living room of friendship kitchen of friendship
Dining room of his strength
And now what we do is with your palms facing
down on your knees
We begin to imagine ourselves letting go
Of any and everything that god's heart is asking us to let go of
Understand that your hands are an extension of your hearts
We hold on to things with our hearts maybe more tightly than we do with our hands
But right now you are surrounded by the heart of god god's presence is all about you
Every time you pray god's presence is all about you
Just imagine the things that you're letting go maybe you're placing those things on the coffee table in the living room maybe
You're putting them on the kitchen table
Or in the sink or on the dining table
Whatever you need to let go
Let it be released from your heart down off of your hands
Maybe some of us feel like we have sticky hands
Maybe some of us feel like we have sticky hands maybe some of us feel like we have velcro
Imagine the stickiness being washed off
Imagine the velcro losing its effectiveness like it always does
Remember you are in the living room of god's heart you're in the kitchen of his friendship you're in the dining room of his strength what you let go of is not lost
The fear that we have of losing things
They are not lost
The fear that we have of losing things they are not lost
But they are finally being found in god's heart and god will know exactly what to do with the things that you are letting go of
Now when you're ready
Turn your palms up
And in your mind and your heart tell jesus my hands are empty
My hands are open to what you have for me
My hands are empty
My heart is open to what you have for me
And just see what god asks for you
This is a conversation
A conversation of openness
Settle in
Just rest
Receive
Abide
Open your eyes and let go
Okay, so i'll take a deep breath exhale and open our eyes that's one
For some of us that's worth the price of admission
You're gonna go home and be like oh my gosh. I can't believe i've never done that before
But you can do this anywhere
You can be driving in your car and you can have one hand on your knee
You can be at work hands open typing on a keyboard thinking about what you're letting go of
All right
That was hands up or hands down hands up or palms down palms up now. We're going to do a breathing prayer
Uh
This has words involved. Um, so whereas the first one is just thinking and being present
Through prayer to what god wants you to love this one actually involves words
We don't say them out loud because we're breathing at the same time becomes difficult to say words while you're breathing in
But they are phrases that that we will think with our mind
When we breathe in we think a short sentence and as we breathe out what we do is we think
and pray a response
to that
sentence we breathe in
breathe out
and um
As some of you may have noticed
We're always praying or we're always breathing so we can always be praying
Okay
So with this kind of prayer what we want to do is we want to keep it simple
We want that first sentence to be shorter than the second
Uh, what's recommended historically this this kind of prayer goes back centuries and centuries
But what's recommended and i'm not completely sure why some people think that has to do with um your heart rate
Some people have to do with just what um how long our breath in is compared to out
But we're aiming for about five syllables in and eight syllables out
And so something like this could pray on the way in saying you are my true friend
You are my true friend
And on the way out I will trust in you fully
In you are my true friend
I will trust in you fully
So let's um, let's do that that one together a few times and then i'm going to encourage you to write your own
And then we'll practice that okay
So i'll say you are my true friend and as i'm saying that you breathe in
And think that sentence
Hold it and then i'll say and I will trust in you fully and we'll breathe out together. Okay ready
You are my true friend
And I will trust in you fully
You are my true friend
And I will trust in you fully
You are my true friend
And I will trust in you fully
And that passage in john where jesus is teaching them about abiding
He tells them I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends
Now let's take a moment on your own wherever you are and think of your own prayer they don't have to be five and eight
You could say
You could say I can feel afraid but I will trust in you jesus
Say
You feel far away
That you are closer than I know
You could say I didn't sleep well last night
I will receive rest from your heart today
In a way let the second sentence be a response or fulfillment of the first sentence
Okay
Say take some time you think of your own and you breathe in and out on your own pace
This will just take a couple minutes here to practice this
So
Mine was on the way in saying I fall in old habits on the way out saying you make me a new creation
Anyone have a prayer the in and out that you'd like to share be helpful to someone else
So you are my comfort I will rest in you
You are my comfort
I will rest
in you
We have two practices now two practices that we can do pretty much anywhere almost anytime
Hands down hands up palms down palms up and a breathing prayer, okay
This last exercise
Dates back to the four or five hundreds and ironically in latin it means sacred readings
But I promise it's not just reading scripture. It is a prayer exercise that's connected back to scripture
Which I think is a good bridge as we
Leave the idea of abiding prayer next week. We begin to talk about reading scripture. It's called
lectio divina
This practice includes
Praying and scripture at the same time and I want to explain how it's going to work
What's going to happen is i'm going to read a passage of scripture if you were to do this at home
You could print out or write out something a passage and then you would read through it once and then there's four times. There's four
phases of lectio
Divina, okay first time that I read it we just listen
Just listen to the scripture being
Read but even more listen for what god might be
Saying in your heart. It doesn't have to be a word from the scripture
It doesn't have to be a phrase it can be god might just want to say something to you in your heart
Maybe feels unrelated but
Listen to the scripture
And let god just be present
In your heart the second time
I read it listen for a word or a phrase from the scripture
That stick that sticks out specifically
Especially if it connects to what god was saying in your heart the first time
Yeah
And then what you do is we'll give time for you to just pray that word or that phrase
back to god
Repeat it to yourself as you pray that phrase
Begin to think what is god bringing to your heart and mind because of that phrase because of that word
How is god speaking as you pray the third time through?
Reading the passage expand on what god has been showing you and begin a conversation
back and forth
What do you want to say to god?
Because of what has been sticking out. What do you feel like god is saying in response and the last time
I read the passage
Just settle
Abide in prayer
Let whatever the lord has been having a conversation with you about
Be refined down
Into quiet rest
Into a peaceful mind
Okay
So this is lectio divina the first time just listen
See what god says
In your heart
Matthew 6
Starting in verse 9 says this
This then is how you should pray
Our father in heaven
Hallow would be your name
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth
as it is
in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our debts as we
Also have forgiven our debtors
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us
From the evil one
So just be aware of what god might be saying in your heart as a result of that passage
Now as I read the same passage again what word or phrase sticks out
That you want to stop and rest with repeat that word or phrase to yourself
As you pray
This then is how you should pray
Our father in heaven
Hallow would be your name
Our father in heaven
Hallow would be your name
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us
From the evil one
Meditate on what stuck out
Repeat it, pray it
What do you feel like god is bringing to your heart to your mind because of that phrase because of that part of scripture
As I read it a third time expand on what god has been showing you
And go deeper into a conversation with god
About what is sticking out
This then is how you should pray
Our father in heaven
Hallow would be your name
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we also forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us
From the evil one
Continue your conversation with god
This last time I read the passage again just settle in abide rest quietly calm your mind and heart sit prayerful peace
This then is how you should pray
Our father in heaven
Hallow would be your name
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our debtors
That's as we also have forgiven our debtors
Lead us not into temptation
Deliver us from the evil one
Say with me amen amen
So three practices
Turn our hands down let go
Turn our palms up and recite
We can breathe in breathe out response
And then we can take scripture
And we can pray through that scripture
And what sticks out god is speaking to us
How we can have a conversation with god
Because of that passage and then let it
Bring us to a place
Peace and rest
So what do we do with this
We have to pray
We have to take these ideas
And we remind ourselves
I know how to pray
Prayer is not something that only happens in one place
But his presence goes with us wherever we go
Conversation is always available
Because we do not abide in prayer or in god in a building
We abide in his presence at all times
Amen amen let's pray
Father I thank you for these practices
I pray that we would be brave
We'll be brave about how we practice our prayer
The way that we dive in
The way that we sink into the couch of prayer with you
The way that we belly up to the bar
So we can take conversation with you in
The way we stand side by side and wash the dishes with you
The way that we partake of a meal
The way that you did on the night that you were betrayed
Remind us that you are always present to us
That we can remain, we can settle, we can stay, we can lodge, we can rest
We can abide in prayer with you
In the name of Jesus we pray
Amen