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Citywide Baptist Church
Listen to God
If faith is about relationship, then listening to God has to be a central part of the human experience
Locations & Times
Citywide Baptist Church (Mornington)
400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington TAS 7018, Australia
Sunday 10:00 AM
Communicate with us directly
https://citywide.churchcenter.com/people/forms/154251?Join our mailing list
http://eepurl.com/g4HtJrGive your tithe online
https://www.citywidehobart.org.au/payment-or-gift-to-citywide/John Mark Comer's Practicing the Way Book
https://www.amazon.com.au/Practicing-Way-Jesus-Become-Like/dp/0593193822We want to follow Jesus, which means doing what he did.
Today, we want to focus on the third kind of prayer... Listening to God.
Prayer is the basis of our relationship with God. Fasting and Sabbath both lay the groundwork that makes it a bit easier to do.
Jesus didn’t go into “the quiet place” because he was an introvert who needed a little me time; he went there to pray.
Many people hear prayer and think of one particular type of prayer—asking God for things, which is perfectly legitimate. But I mean prayer in the broader scope of the word, as the medium through which we communicate and commune with God.
There are four basic levels of prayer42 (or, you could say, dimensions to prayer):
1. Talking to God—praying premade prayers like the psalms or liturgy, or singing prayers at church, and so on
2. Talking with God—conversing with God about your life. Lifting up the details of your life before God with gratitude (talking to him about what is good in your life and world), lament (talking to him about what is evil in your life and world), and petition and intercession (calling on God to fulfill his promises to overcome evil with good)
3. Listening to God—hearing God’s voice through quiet listening, Lectio Divina, the prophetic, and more
4. Being with God—just looking at God, looking at you, in love (also called “contemplative prayer”)
All four types of prayer are essential to cultivate a loving relationship with God. But many people never move beyond the first two types of prayer, and even fewer discover the joy and possibility of the fourth.
Of course, prayer is not a linear, four-step formula; it’s more like a long and winding road we travel over a lifetime. The key is to just stay on the path.
As Ronald Rolheiser put it, "There is no bad way to pray and there is no one starting point for prayer. All the great spiritual masters offer only one non-negotiable rule: You have to show up for prayer and you have to show up regularly."
Comer, John Mark. Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did (pp. 202-203). (Function). Kindle Edition.
Jesus didn’t go into “the quiet place” because he was an introvert who needed a little me time; he went there to pray.
Many people hear prayer and think of one particular type of prayer—asking God for things, which is perfectly legitimate. But I mean prayer in the broader scope of the word, as the medium through which we communicate and commune with God.
There are four basic levels of prayer42 (or, you could say, dimensions to prayer):
1. Talking to God—praying premade prayers like the psalms or liturgy, or singing prayers at church, and so on
2. Talking with God—conversing with God about your life. Lifting up the details of your life before God with gratitude (talking to him about what is good in your life and world), lament (talking to him about what is evil in your life and world), and petition and intercession (calling on God to fulfill his promises to overcome evil with good)
3. Listening to God—hearing God’s voice through quiet listening, Lectio Divina, the prophetic, and more
4. Being with God—just looking at God, looking at you, in love (also called “contemplative prayer”)
All four types of prayer are essential to cultivate a loving relationship with God. But many people never move beyond the first two types of prayer, and even fewer discover the joy and possibility of the fourth.
Of course, prayer is not a linear, four-step formula; it’s more like a long and winding road we travel over a lifetime. The key is to just stay on the path.
As Ronald Rolheiser put it, "There is no bad way to pray and there is no one starting point for prayer. All the great spiritual masters offer only one non-negotiable rule: You have to show up for prayer and you have to show up regularly."
Comer, John Mark. Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did (pp. 202-203). (Function). Kindle Edition.
Our culture is nervous about people saying they hear from God.
Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?"
Lily Tomlin
God wants to speak to us
Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?"
Lily Tomlin
God wants to speak to us
The steps to hearing God are the same steps you take in hearing from a friend:
1) FOCUS: Move your attention away from everything else
2) INVITE: Actively welcome communication
3) TEST: Check your understanding
1) FOCUS: Move your attention away from everything else
2) INVITE: Actively welcome communication
3) TEST: Check your understanding
There are two steps needed to Focus. The first is to physically withdraw from distraction and potential distraction.
The second task in focussing is to ACKNOWLEDGE your own will
The rider is our conscious reasoning—the stream of words and images of which we are fully aware. The elephant is the other 99 percent of mental processes—the ones that occur outside of awareness but that actually govern most of our behavior.
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (p. ). (Function). Kindle Edition.
The rider is our conscious reasoning—the stream of words and images of which we are fully aware. The elephant is the other 99 percent of mental processes—the ones that occur outside of awareness but that actually govern most of our behavior.
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (p. ). (Function). Kindle Edition.
Behind your thoughts are your ACTUAL beliefs
Your will comes from your beliefs.
Jesus modelled what it means to acknowledge
The rider has to pay attention to the direction the elephant is going. You need to acknowledge your energy levels, what your thoughts are drifting towards, your adrenaline, your anxieties and your hopes.
This means you need to pay attention to what has your attention; otherwise, it will take more than it deserves.
This means you need to pay attention to what has your attention; otherwise, it will take more than it deserves.
Come as you are, not as you should be.
The second step is to INVITE God to speak.
Which means three things.
The first is being willing to say yes to him.
It is hard to have a conversation with someone who only wants to hear what already agrees with them.
Which means three things.
The first is being willing to say yes to him.
It is hard to have a conversation with someone who only wants to hear what already agrees with them.
The second aspect of Inviting God to speak is simply asking him a question.
The third and final aspect of Invitation is simply NOTICING what you feel, see or hear.
Sometimes an answer will come clearly, other times there might be a picture or what might seem like an unrelated thought or even just a general sense.
Sometimes an answer will come clearly, other times there might be a picture or what might seem like an unrelated thought or even just a general sense.
There is no trick to hearing God’s voice. It has nothing to do with the number of years someone’s been a Christian. Nor is it about being more spiritual than another. Once the barriers are cleared away, it comes down to noticing things, taking a second look, and pausing to reflect.”
-Susan Hill, Closer Than Your Skin
-Susan Hill, Closer Than Your Skin
The final part of hearing God is TESTing what you have heard in two ways.
The first way is to GET IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD by writing it down, drawing a picture or telling someone.
The second way is to CHECK CONGRUENCE with the bible and other people. The Holy Spirit will continually reinforce the truth of the bible and lead you towards genuine fellowship.
The first way is to GET IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD by writing it down, drawing a picture or telling someone.
The second way is to CHECK CONGRUENCE with the bible and other people. The Holy Spirit will continually reinforce the truth of the bible and lead you towards genuine fellowship.
FOCUS
Withdraw from Physical Distraction
Acknowledge your Will
INVITE
Be willing to say Yes
Asking a Question
Noticing what you see and hear
TEST
Get it out of your head
•⁃Check Congruence
As you seek to listen to God, what you are reaching for are the unforced rhythms of Grace.
Small group questions
1) Talk about your personal experience of prayer. How would you describe what you have learned about prayer over the years?
2) What are some of the physical distractions you need to withdraw from in order to focus on God?
3) How do you respond to the idea that the rider is your consciousness and the elephant is everything else? What parts of your elephant seem to take you away from spending time with God? How do you feel about coming as you are to God rather than how you think you should be?
4) Is there a question that someone in your group is wrestling with? Take a moment to Focus as a group and then simply ask Jesus what he has to say about it. Notice what words or pictures come to mind. After a couple of minutes of silence take time to share what different members of the group saw, felt or heard.
5) Where have you seen the "unforced rhythms of grace" or the patterns of grace unfolding? What do you sense God is wanting to say to you?
1) Talk about your personal experience of prayer. How would you describe what you have learned about prayer over the years?
2) What are some of the physical distractions you need to withdraw from in order to focus on God?
3) How do you respond to the idea that the rider is your consciousness and the elephant is everything else? What parts of your elephant seem to take you away from spending time with God? How do you feel about coming as you are to God rather than how you think you should be?
4) Is there a question that someone in your group is wrestling with? Take a moment to Focus as a group and then simply ask Jesus what he has to say about it. Notice what words or pictures come to mind. After a couple of minutes of silence take time to share what different members of the group saw, felt or heard.
5) Where have you seen the "unforced rhythms of grace" or the patterns of grace unfolding? What do you sense God is wanting to say to you?