Tuesday, November 22, 2016

REFLECTION EXERCISES ON THE RULE OF LIFE: Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life

 
Movement: Ponder
Read the following excerpt from Invitation & Commitments: A Rule of Life.



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5.3.1 In silence, solitude, and the contemplative life there is an invitation to know God and to know ourselves.

5.3.2 We seek silence because we want to hear from God.

5.3.3 We seek solitude because we know that we are attached to so much. In solitude, we find out what (and who) we long for when those things are not present. This longing reveals our attachments and the things that have power over us. We offer these attachments to God and ask that he make our desires rightly ordered.

5.3.4 The contemplative life is lived with the intention and willingness to hear God speak. We cooperate with God’s grace and the Holy Spirit in order to be open to hearing whatever it is that God would speak, through the means of our daily lives. In prayer, in silence, in work, and in relationship – God is speaking and inviting us into his great love and into his way. The contemplative life is a life that is listening.


Re-read the excerpt, underlining key phrases that stand out to you, and write any personal notes below about what this commitment area entails.


Movement: Respond
Reflect on the implications to your life of the commitment area of Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life by answering the questions provided in the book Invitations & Commitments: A Rule of Life.


What is God saying to me when I am silent?






What do I think about when everything is quiet?





 
 
How do I feel when I am alone?








Who am I with when I feel most alive to God?







Movement: Recognize

Recognize God’s work in your life and listen as He speaks to your heart by responding to the following questions.


What is God Already Doing?

Write down bullet points or notes about ways God is already working in your life to fulfil the above commitment area of Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life?









Step Two: What is God Already Saying?

Write down bullet points or notes of things God has already been speaking to you about in terms of your quiet life over the last several months to a year? What practices has he been leading you into that you have not been able to realize fully as of yet?










Step Three: Where is God Going?
Read the section from Invitations & Commitments over a few times. As you read, note what areas God is pointing His finger on as an area of opportunity? What would you like Him to do in your life in this area? Do you feel convicted about falling short in any of the areas mentioned? What would it look like if this commitment was fully realized in your life? Write down any notes related to these questions.












Pray over the above growth areas. Ask God to show you how you can incorporate these practices into your prayer life. Wait on the Lord for a few minutes to listen to what He wants to say to you about this. Write down any insights or next steps you hear from the Lord.









Movement: Pray

Read over the last four pages slowly, allowing the state of your soul to reflect back to you as in a mirror. Quiet your spirit before the Lord and open yourself to sense His presence.

Write down 2-5 categories or themes that encompass your current and desired state for Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life.










Using the themes on the previous page as a guide, write a reflective prayer to God asking for his help, guidance and forgiveness for these areas. This prayer should be applicable to varying practices and situations so it can be used over and over throughout time as you grow and develop in this commitment area. The prayer should not be a checklist, but an intimate heart’s cry to the Lover of your Soul to invite Him into this area of your life and spiritual practice.


















Sample of a reflective prayer:
Precious Holy Spirit, life is a maze of decisions, changes of direction, and an exercise in frustration. Lift me out of the maze and remind me that I’m more than a mouse being used in an experiment. Protect my scheduled times of prayer, silence, solitude and contemplation from the enemy’s attempts to distract, disrupt and defeat. As I sit in your presence, I ask for your healing, encouragement, direction, wisdom and peace to pervade my whole being. Remind me continually that true rest, refreshment and re-energizing only comes when I faithfully and regularly pull aside and pause and be still. Attune my ear to your still, small voice. Quiet my mind so that I can fill it with your words. – Beloved Servant




Jesus: Nurturing Intimacy with the Father

Some might say that Jesus’ practice of solitude was a waste of time. Mankind only had the Lord’s earthly ministry for three short years. Surely every minute is precious and should be spent in God’s work. What we fail to see is that the times Jesus spent in solitude, which were many (Luke 5:16), was just as important to God’s plan as the time He spent healing the sick and raising the dead. These were times spent sorting through the voices speaking to Him: the Father, the Devil, and the Scriptures. These were times spent wrestling through all the questions of His life. Who am I (Mark 9:2-8)? Why am I here (Matt. 10:5-8)? Where am I going (Luke 4:38-44)? Who has the Father chosen to go with me (Luke 6:12-16)?


Meditation: Time Well Spent

Meditate on the following scripture passage where Jesus Christ demonstrated the commitment area of Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life in real life scenarios.

Movement: Reflect

Read Luke 4:1-15
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry .

3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’"

5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’"
 
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:"‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’" 12 Jesus answered, "It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"

13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. 14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

Digest
 
Sit in silence for a few minutes and let your heart and thoughts linger on the passage.


Movement: Consider

Open your heart to consider how the scripture passage personifies the commitment area of Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life.
Re-read Luke 4:1-15


Underline any key phrases and write your own meditative notes about the passage.
















Sample of a reflective meditation:
It is hard for us to imagine that Jesus faced temptation. He is God after all and can change things with just a word. Yet it was that very attribute of His nature which the Devil used to tempt Him. For Jesus, the way to overcoming temptation was to resist using His power for self-gratification. Jesus’ mission was about self-denial and self-sacrifice. He resisted the temptation to change the stones to bread for Himself, but loosed that power when feeding the multitudes. He resisted the temptation to test the limits of the self-preservation of His body, but released the floodgates of it upon the crowds of people who were sick, broken, and bloodied. He resisted the temptation of self-aggrandizement, but readily lifted up the lowly, encouraged the meek, and rescued the oppressed. He resisted the temptation to stay hidden and bask in His own power. Rather, he left the wilderness and threw out the treasures of Heaven like seed blowing on the wind. – Beloved Servant


Movement: Apply

Examine yourself in light of the principles demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ and apply them to your own life history and situations.


Jesus went into the wilderness because the Holy Spirit led Him there (vs. 1). What was does God use to let you know that you need some time of solitude?








In the wilderness, Jesus and the Devil argued about the proper interpretation of Scripture. How do times of contemplation help you better understand the Bible and its application to your life?






In what ways do your times of silence help you refocus your energies from yourself to the benefit of others?







Meditation: Finding the Way Through

Meditate on the following scripture passage where Jesus Christ demonstrated the commitment area of Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life in real life scenarios.


Movement: Reflect
Read Luke 22:14-53



14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!"

23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. 24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33 But he replied,
"Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." 34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

35 Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they answered. 36 He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." 38 The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That’s enough!" he replied.

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns."

Digest
 
Sit in silence for a few minutes and let your heart and thoughts linger on the passage.



Movement: Consider

Open your heart to consider how the scripture passage personifies the commitment area of Silence, Solitude & the Contemplative Life.

Re-read Luke 22:14-53


Underline any key phrases and write your own meditative notes about the passage.














Sample of a reflective meditation:
The Last Supper was a time of intimacy for Jesus and His disciples, yet thoughts of betrayal, denial and an argument among the twelve tainted the experience for Jesus. He turned the direction of the conversation into a sermon about suffering and servanthood.

Jesus enjoyed the fellowship of His disciples, but sometimes He just had to get away. Sometimes, like this night in the garden, He took Peter, James and John with him as those whom He most connected with on this earth. Jesus said to the disciples that their prayers this night would help them not enter into temptation. This time of shared retreat helped prepare them all for the day ahead.

In His spirit, Jesus knew this Passover was different. This year, He was the Lamb that would be slaughtered on the altar. The struggle ahead loomed large. It would be His greatest temptation ever to deny His power and submit to the atrocious acts of fallen man. The author of all life was asked to surrender to the power of death. The hope of all men was asked to submit to the depths of despair. The purest of all hearts was asked to bend to the will of the most corrupt evil. For Jesus, He preferred to skip it and to take matters in hand against sin some other way.

Yet He could not deny the Father’s wisdom that the only way out is through. He endured His trial, scourging, and crucifixion as a man, setting aside His divine power so He could die in our stead. He leashed His wrath and thirst for justice so that He could unleash His love and forgiveness. He curbed His disappointment so that He could identify with our weakness. He counted Himself among the transgressors so we could be overcomers. He gave His all for us. What have we given for Him?
 
 
Beloved Servant



Movement: Apply

Examine yourself in light of the principles demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ and apply them to your own life history and situations.


When have you experienced an unwelcome disruption when you tried to spend time in solitude and silence with Jesus? Were you able to refocus and, if so, how did you do it?









How do times of solitude and silence help you to deal with temptation proactively? Does a lack of quiet time make you more susceptible to the power of sin?











Jesus’ prayer of submission to the Father’s will was agonizing. Reflect on a time when your time of prayer was not pleasant. Did you later find that time of solitude and silence essential in some way despite the struggle?