The G.P.S. (Grow - Pray - Study) Guide is an invitation each week to be in God's Word on a daily basis.
This will saturate you with Scripture and build the centrality of God’s Word in your life.
In addition, the G.P.S. will give you some questions to answer, and to consider to ponder throughout the day. You can also discuss these on our Christ Lutheran La Mesa Facebook page.
Each day follow these four steps:
- Begin with prayer:
- Ask God to meet as you study His Word. Go deep with a little, rather then reading a lot.
- Take one thought or verse and live with it.
- Respond to the prompting of God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit as it works in you.
This is a simplified version of a practice called Lectio Divina. Here are some resources on Lectio Divina that might be useful:
- Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Barton
- American Bible Study
- Sound Witness
- Pressure Points (April 2012)
- Listen to this audio example from 2013
And here is a more detailed outline:
Lectio Divina is a spiritual practice that Christians have used for listening to God through His Word for centuries. Lectio divina is more than reading God’s Word; it is reading and listening for God’s Voice. It is seeking to have a conversation with God. You speak, but you also listen. You go back and forth between speaking to God and listening to him.
Preparation/Silencio: With your eyes closed, let your body relax, and allow yourself to become consciously aware of God’s presence with you. Express your willingness to hear from God by using a brief prayer such as "Come Lord Jesus" or “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Read/Lectio: Listen for the word or phrase that is addressed to you. Turn to the passage and begin to read slowly, pausing between phrases and sentences. As you read, listen for a word or phrase that strikes you or catches your attention. Allow a moment of silence, repeating that word or phrase softly to yourself, pondering it and savoring it as though pondering the word of a loved one. Choose your word/phrase.
Reflect/Meditatio: How is my life touched by this word? What is it in my life right now that needs to hear this word? If the passage is a story, perhaps ask yourself: Where am I in this scene? What do I hear as I imagine myself in the story or hear these words addressed specifically to me? How do the dynamics of this story connect with my own life experience?
Respond/Oratio: What is my response to God based on what I have read and encountered Read the passage one more time, listening for your own deepest and truest response. In silence after the reading, allow your prayer to flow spontaneously from your heart as you enter a personal dialogue with God.
Rest/Contemplatio: Rest in the Word of God. In this final reading, you are invited to release and return to a place of rest in God.
Resolve/Incarnatio: Incarnate (live out) the Word of God. As you emerge from this place of personal encounter with God to life in the company of others, resolve to carry this word with you and to live it out in the context of daily life and activity.
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