SESSION 14 (2024)
LEG 1 (1/22-2/4)
READING
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero
Chapter 9: Lead Out of Weakness and Vulnerability
Opening to God by David Benner
Chapter 3: Lectio Divina and Four Classic Prayer Paths (DOWNLOAD PDF)
Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
Author’s Note (please don’t skip this, it provides good context)
Part One: Praying in the Dark (Chapters 1-2)
PREPARING
Watch or listen to “Thirsting for God’s Presence” from Psalm 63 in our series The Measure of Maturity from January 2025 about the steps we can take out of the wilderness toward God’s presence.
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
In EHD, Scazzero writes of developing a theology of weakness, something not embraced by our world, but something we do see in Scripture. Looking at the chart contrasting weak and vulnerable leadership modeled by Jesus to the proud and defensive way we often lead today, which of the lines in the “Proud and Defensive” column do you most see in yourself? Write about where you see that in your life. Reflect on what this reveals and why that might be so. (EHD, p192-193)
In EHD, Scazzero provides a list of nine ways in which we can begin to realize when we are being proud and defensive (see list on bottom of p201). Identify the two you most relate with and reflect on how you convey this and why that might be so. (EHD, p201)
Benner describes the way Lectio Divina has been a gift in his own life, beginning at a time when he had almost lost hope of meeting God in Scripture. We’ve all been in that wilderness at some point, when God feels distant and sounds silent. What do you know of the wilderness in your own relational, emotional, and spiritual life (terms we used in the sermon “Thirsting for God’s Presence”)? What has helped you in those times to return to God? What do you find most often leads you into and leaves you in the wilderness? (O2G - p187, Q5)
The practice of Lectio Divina allows for silence and presence, attending and being. How does this ancient practice compare with our modern practice of prayer and ways you have been taught to pray? Why is stillness and silence missing in som much of our spirituality, with a need to fill the void with words? In what ways do you offer stillness before God? (O2G - p187, Q6)
Benner describes the four movements of Lectio Divina as holistic prayer in that it allows God to transform and integrate all the disparate parts of ourselves: our minds, hearts, imaginations, and bodies. What dimensions of your being do you feel most comfortable opening to God? Which do you have the most difficulty? Why do you think that is? (O2G - p187, Q7)
Lectio Divina helps us move beyond hearing the words of Scripture toward encounter, communion, and union with God. Christians often refer to Scripture as “the living Word,” but too often settle for head knowing instead of an encounter. How might Lectio Divina change your reading and listening posture in relation to Scripture? How has it already done so? How does it differ from the way(s) you were taught to read Scripture? If you were cautioned against Lectio Divina, reflect on those reasons as well. (O2G - p187-188, Q8)
Think of a time of emergency, anxiety, time in the wilderness, or vulnerability when a passage of Scripture, a song, a prayer, or a spiritual practice (such as the ones we have experienced through The Way) came to you and helped you through the experience. What about it was most helpful? Why do you think that is? (PITN, Prologue - p176, Q1)
Did you grow up around those who prayed? Aloud or silently? Individually or collectively? In English or in tongues? What was your default way of thinking about prayer growing up? (PITN, CH1 - p177, Q3)
Were you exposed to praying other people’s prayers (or perhaps discouraged from this practice)? Have you practiced this yourself? If so, when? What are the advantages or disadvantages of praying other people’s prayers? (PITN, CH1 - p177, Q3-4)
Sometimes it is helpful to take a passage of Scripture (such as a psalm) or a prayer and rewrite it in your own words, with your own cultural vernacular and personal experiences. Take this compline prayer and rewrite it in your words. (PITN)
PRACTICING: Lectio Divnia
Week of 1/22: Romans 8:1-8
Week of 1/29: Romans 8:9-11
Read these passages with the practice of Lectio Divina:
OPENING - Open yourself to God, positioning your body, preparing your heart, and praying this simple breath prayer of young Samuel from 1 Samuel 3: “Here I am, Lord - speak to me - I am ready to listen.”
LISTENING - Read the passage the first time, asking yourself, “What word or phrase is the Spirit drawing me to in this passage?” Then spend the next minute in silence with that word, savoring that phrase for the next minute, listening as the Spirit continues leading.
REFLECTING - Read the passage a second time, asking yourself, “What is God saying to me through this passage about who He is, what He has done, or what He has promised to do?” Then spend the next minute in silence as the Spirit continues stirring.
RESPONDING - Read the passage a third time, asking yourself, “How is God inviting me to respond to what He has said in this passage?” Then spend the next minute in silence as the Spirit reveals a step of faithfulness and obedience in living this out.
THANKING - Close your time in prayer, thanking God for this time, for His Word, for His presence with you, and His love for you.
LEG 2 (2/5-2/18)
READING
Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
Part Two: The Way of Vulnerability (Chapters 3-5)
Part Three: A Taxonomy of Vulnerability (Chapters 6-8)
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What do you do when you feel sorrow or sadness? Do you lean into it or press it away? Why do you think that is? Are there patterns or habits of distraction or anger that mask sorrow in your life? Where do you think you’ve learned these strategies for avoiding grief? (PITN, CH3 - p178, Q2)
How does the eschatological hope in Christ’s return - of a day when all will be made well, made new - change how we watch and wait in the present? How does the hope of Christ’s return and your resurrection inform the particular struggles in your life right now? How might an eschatological view of a strictly spiritual, disembodied eternity where you are taken away from here never to return diminish that hope? (PITN, CH4 - p179, Q1)
How does your daily work participate in the work of God’s restoration of the world in both big and small ways? Where do you see the assumption of “competitive agency” in the church, the world, or your own experience? Do you see ways in which we pit “thoughts and prayers” and action against one another? (PITN, CH5 - p179, Q2-3)
Pray one of the many psalms of lament (such as Psalm 22, 44, or 88) out loud. How do you relate to what the author is expressing? How have you been taught to avoid or suppress such feelings or emotions? Re-write the psalm in your own words about your own situation. (PITN - p180, #2-3)
Tish writes about how prayer often precedes belief, for example when we find ourselves wandering in the wilderness or in times of disbelief. Describe a time in your life where you experienced this as well as the prayer (or practice) that helped strengthen your belief and guide you out of the wilderness. (PITN, CH6 - p180, Q2)
What does your sleep regiment and hygiene currently look like? If you do not have a routine, spend time creating one and putting it into practice to see if or how it impacts your sleep. If you do have one, what modifications could you make to it? Think about consistent bedtime, comfort activities, and asking God for protection. Obviously with little kids and other aspects of life (changing shift schedules for example), this becomes both increasingly difficult and more important. (PITN, CH6 - p182, #1)
Recall a time when you were really sick (for me, I think of times when I had a debilitating migraine - for you it may have been a cancer diagnosis). How did your perspective about what is important or necessary change through that experience? (PTIN, CH7 - p181, Q1)
How do you experience the reality of vulnerability in your body? Has that affected your spiritual life or your spiritual practices? How might have past theological fallacies taught by others have contributed to this (for example, if you experienced some of the horror stories of “purity culture”)? Does weakness in your body ever act as a memento more for you? Does it remind you of your death or your limitations? (PITN, CH7 - p181, Q2-3)
Where have you seen “curated weakness” on display in our culture, in the church, or in your own life? How does this differ from true vulnerability? (PITN, CH8 - p181, Q1)
Write a brief letter to your physical body. Thank your body for the ways in which it has given you life and joy. Express frustration for the ways you have experienced the fall and limitations in your body. Describer what you’ve learned from your embodiment. (PITN, CH8 - p182, #2)
PRACTICING: Lectio Divnia
Week of 2/5: Romans 8:12-17
Week of 2/12: Romans 8:18-25
LEG 3 (2/19-3/3)
READING
Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
Part Three: A Taxonomy of Vulnerability (Chapters 6-8)
Part Four: Culmination
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
How have you felt or observed sentimentality or resistance to death in the church? Tish quotes David Bentley Hart, who says, “Our faith is in a God who has come to rescue His creation from the absurdity of sin, the emptiness and waste of death, the forces - whether calculating malevolence or imbecile chance - that shatter living souls; and so we are permitted to hate these things with a perfect hatred.” How does it change our spiritual life that we are permitted to hate death and suffering with the hatred that God feels for these enemies? (PITN, Ch9 - p181, Q2)
Do you think we as a culture rush to get over and move past grief? Do you rush through your own suffering? Why is that? What fear does it indicate? Where do you see signs of this in your own life or in the surrounding culture? (PITN, Ch10 - p183, Q4)
Tish writes, “We often don’t know how to walk with people when the road is long and there will likely be no happy ending.” How have you seen the church care for the afflicted well or fail to do so? How might your own church or community care well for people with chronic and long-term pain or need? (PITN, CH11 - p183, Q1)
Tish quotes her friend Steven saying that hew ants people to “seek Jesus where he promises to be found,” and she adds that it is often among the poor, the needy, and the afflicted. How have you encountered Jesus in your own affliction or among the afflicted? Reflect on what those experiences were like for you and what they revealed about God? (PITN, CH11 - p183, Q2)
Tish writes, "Often the most foundational and shaping spiritual practices of our lives are things we'd never have chosen." Have you found a kind of spiritual formation in parts of your life that were unchosen? How have these un-chosen things shaped and formed you, your community, or your view of God? (PITN, CH11 - p184, Q4)
Has joy ever felt "risky" to you? Tish writes that, out of self-protection, she often doesn't let herself feel joy. Does that resonate with you? Why or why not? How do you choose joy in spite of or even because of the risk associated with it? (PITN, CH12 - p185, Q1)
Tish writes that joy is less a feeling than a muscle we need to exercise. What can you do this week to "put on" or "take up" joy as a commitment and an exercise? (PITN, CH12 - p185, Q3)
Tish says that the Christian faith is true, but in a way that is more like a poem than an encyclopedia article in that there is ambiguity and perplexity built into our experience of faith. Do you read the Scriptures and see your life in Christ in this way? How does seeing the truth of Christianity in this way change things for you? (PITN, CH13 p185, Q1)
The author says that the love of God is like the speed of light. I's the one constant thing that makes everything else rearrange, and therefore it's the only thing that's worth staking a life on. What does it look like to stake your life on the love of God? Who do you know who has done this? What is distinctive about their life? (PITN, CH13 - p186, Q2)
The author says that all of our questions about God that emerge from a world of suffering and vulnerability come down to two questions: What are you like? And can you be trusted? How do the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus help us to answer these questions about God? What helps you keep these truths foremost in your mind and heart when you are suffering, or just on an ordinary day? (PITN, CH13 - p186, Q4)
PRACTICING: Lectio Divnia
Week of 2/19: Romans 8:26-30
Week of 2/16: Romans 8:31-39
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, January 16th, 2023, at 6:05 PM CT
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 6th, 2024, at 8:50AM - clarified Leg 1, Question 2