Parents and Kids, let's try out doing Spiritual Reading together!

Music is "White Waves" by Lama House.

Some people have talked about the Bible being like a love letter from God to us. What they mean is that through every chapter of the Bible, God wants to be with us and love us. How cool is that!? How come when I read the Bible, sometimes it just seems confusing or boring? How can we learn to read the Bible to experience God's presence and love and hear his voice speaking to us? 

Well, what if we started combining some of these Spiritual Disciplines together? See, for thousands of years, Christians have found that when they learn to combine things like Reading the Bible, with Contemplation and Prayer, and other Disciplines, they find themselves opening up and being more aware of God's presence. 

Christians have found that as they do just a few simple steps while reading the Bible, they experience the Bible in a whole new way, feeling the Holy Spirit guiding them and bringing God's love deep into their hearts.

Intro music is "Brooklyn" by Matthias Andreasson.

Spiritual Reading is also known as Lectio Divina. But despite these names, and despite it being an ancient art developed by monks and mystics, Spiritual Reading is NOT ONLY for the elite. Spiritual Reading is for EVERYBODY.

Because it is an art, it takes some practice to get a feel for it. However, the good news is that Spiritual Reading is simply about learning to read the Bible with the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is involved (and, isn't he always?) we can trust him to take over and guide the process so that we find ourselves being read by scripture even as we are reading it. 

Spiritual Reading is alot like learning a dance with a partner who knows the dance very well! The steps are easy: Read, Reflect, Respond, Rest, React. In each step, God is there in Scripture and in us, guiding us further into himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, this is a pretty powerful discipline.

Parents and Kids, let's try out praying the Examen together!

Music is "Forget" by Jakob Ahlbom.

You know how you often talk about how your day was with your parents? Well, imagine you did this with God, except instead of just ranting about your day, you stopped to hear from God about what HE saw happening in your day? I mean, he's been present for all the parts that you remember, and he even saw the things that you missed! 

Do you think he might have some good thoughts about what you did today? How do you think he felt about the things that happened to you? Where do you think he was at work, and you didn't even notice!? Do you think there were any gifts that he tried to give you that you missed because you were too distracted??? 

Why don't we ask and find out!?

Intro music is "Brooklyn" by Matthias Andreasson.

So many things happen in a day. Much of the good that happens we soon forget or completely overlook, while much of the bad stands out and sticks with us like glue. What is worse is that we are so often completely unaware of where God was present and at work in our day.

The Examen not only helps us be more "mindful" (as the kids call it these days). Though it does help us remember and receive the good that happened, as well as weed out and relieve us of the bad that happened. But most importantly, the Examen is like a guided tour of your day, completely directed by God, who was present for every moment and saw it more clearly than you did. So, any mindfulness practice without God would be useless, as he is the source of all that is good, and he is the end to which we direct all that is bad. 

Parents and Kids, let's try out doing Contemplative Prayer together!

Intro music is "Brooklyn" by Matthias Andreasson.

Music for prayer is "Forget" by Jakob Ahlbom.

How might you live differently if you remembered that the God of the universe is living in you? What would it look like to take a minute (or three!) to pause, put away all distractions, all our thoughts, feelings, and words, and simply spent time trying to be present with the God who is always present with us and who loves to have our attention!?

Intro music is "Brooklyn" by Matthias Andreasson.

Contemplative Prayer is probably the simplest Spiritual discipline there is. Yet it might be one of the hardest ones to learn because it flies in the face of how we have been unknowingly shaped by the hectic pace of our culture where "doing", "achieving", and "productivity" have become idols that we slavishly serve. 

Contemplative Prayer works to set us free from these idols by teaching us to rest in God's presence and let him work. It's precisely because it is so difficult for us to learn that it is probably one of the most important disciplines that we ought to learn for the sake of our own health, and for the sake of our kids!

Parents and kids, lets read try out reading the Bible together!

Intro music is "Brooklyn" by Matthias Andreasson.