Worship and pray

What does that look like?

• setting aside regular time to interact with God through
  • Suppressing the multi-media flood of information and distraction
  • Bible meditation
  • Bible reading
  • Listening to or playing worship music
  • Talking to God in prayer
  • Prayer structures
  • Journalling
  • Creative arts
  • Liturgies for personal use
  • Fasting
  • Listening to bible-based talks as podcasts while travelling
  • Small and large group events
  • Retreats and festivals
• nurturing personal intimacy with the Lord throughout the day by
  • Practising the presence of God in the "times between times"
  • Having a set of reminders to pray in your daily environment
  • Calling to mind God's priorities in each situation
  • Frequently asking God what he is doing in each situation
• describing specific interactions with God to other individuals inside and outside the church, and in group settings

How does it come about?

• Teaching, explaining and describing these practices
• Trying these practices in small and big group settings
• A culture that values the devotional life and considers it normal through
  • the stories we tell
• Avoiding the deadening pressure of legalism

Serendipity Bible Studies

• Spiritual basics - Becoming a Christian (Serendipity Felt-need course 43, page M45)
• Maturing in Christ - Called to discipleship (Serendipity Felt-need course 44, page M46)
• Coming home - Pilgrims on their way back (Serendipity Felt-need course 48, page M50)

Nooma videos

• Nooma 005 | Noise: "Why is silence so hard to deal with?"
• Nooma 011 | Rhythm: "What does it mean to have a relationship with God?"

Visual activities

Related talks and articles   Come as you are - to worship The bible describes all sorts of worshippers. This is a study in the Psalms to see how everyone can come as they are to worship. More ... David Flowers Creating Sanctuary Part 2 - silence and contemplation The first step in creating sanctuary is silence and contemplation - it's like laying down the floor of the house. More ... David Flowers James 5:13-18 - confession and prayer James ends his letter with an encouragement to pray. These verses paint a picture of a praying community. More ... David Flowers Making space for life 1: Making space for God. Using early monastic communities as an inspiration, Erik looks at how we make space for God in the middle of everyday life, and what can happen as a result. More ... Erik Peeters Making Space for Life 4: Worship Looking at Romans 12 we see that, to fully worship God, we need to take our everyday, ordinary life - our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. More ... Nik Gee Meditation Minicab 1 looked at three ways of doing Bible meditation that all ages can join in with: * Lectio divina * Walking meditation * Art meditation More ... Why Do I Fast? False comforts The bible encourages us to fast but is not prescriptive about how we should do it nor indeed what it is. People fast in different ways and for different reasons. Here is one of the reasons I fast. More ... David Flowers Why Do I Fast? Going for gold The only way an athlete wins gold is by disciplining and controlling their body. This is another reason why I fast. More ... Why Do I Fast? Remembering a broken world Jesus was sometimes criticised for not fasting - or at least his disciples were. Why did he fast sometimes and not at other times? Because there are situations where justice has still to be done. More ... Why Do I Fast? To pray in His name The spiritual discipline of fasting gives God the opportunity to teach, train and heal us. It is not a way of earning answers to prayer but of learning how to pray. More ...

Recent Media Uploads   Creating Sanctuary Part 5 - life, death and hope (download) Our sanctuary needs an altar. Somewhere to sacrifice and allow God to make us holy, clean, ready for him. Facing death and hearing the truth about the hope we have is our altar of sacrifice. David Flowers, 28/10/2007 Creating Sanctuary Part 3 - obedience & humility (download) After laying a floor of silence and prayer we think about who we choose to obey and who we are. We build the walls of the sanctuary by choosing to listen to the Father's voice and understanding what it is to be humble. David Flowers, 14/10/2007 Creating Sanctuary Part 2 - silence & contemplation (download) Learning silence, contemplation and prayer helps lay a floor as we seek to create a sanctuary in our lives. David Flowers, 16/09/2007 Creating Sanctuary Part 1 - introduction (download) An introduction to a series on creating sanctuary in a busy world David Flowers, 09/09/2007

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