The Basics
Following on from our Practice Makes Progress series in fall 2022, we explore The Basics: Practices for Spiritual Growth — disciplines of worship, community, and mission that Christians have leaned on for hundreds of years to enable them to experience and share the “life to the full” that Jesus promised (John 10:10).
Here are some resources to check out as we explore spiritual disciplines together. As you engage in these practices, we would encourage you to try something that comes easy and try something that stretches you. Try something on your own and try something with someone(s) else. Start where you are. Start simple. But do start.
Prayer
Prayer of Examen
Examen has its roots in Ignatian Spirituality and encourages prayerful reflection on the events of the day by pausing to consider God’s presence and discern where God calls us.
Find examples of examen here and here.
Listening Prayer
Listening to God is an indispensable part of prayer; it tunes us into what God is doing, it alerts us to what God might be saying, and, perhaps most importantly, it puts us in the right posture to receive from God.
Learn more about listening prayer and practice it here.
Pray as You Go
Pray-as-you-go.org (run by Jesuits in Great Britain) offers a daily, guided scripture reflection on their website and app.
The Lord’s Prayer
Pray the prayer that Jesus taught his followers to pray. Find the version we use in our Sunday liturgy here.
Scripture
Lectio Divina
Lectio divina is a Latin phrase that can be translated “divine reading” or “holy reading.” One way of looking at is as a combination of prayer and reading the Bible. It builds on the knowledge we gain through inductive Bible study in order that we might not only hear but receive God’s word through Scripture.
Learn more about lectio divina here. Find Christ City’s lectio divina podcast here.
Apps for Study & Praying Scripture
Lectio 365 is an app for daily prayer through scripture.
The Bible Project is a website and app with resources for studying scripture.