Chapter 7 (Hearing God’s whisper in community, creation and culture)
Chapter 8 (The Word, the whisper, and the way)
Welcome to our final session of The Lectio Course.
Each session of the course is designed to take around an hour and features:
• A teaching video with Pete Greig and a special interview guest
• Discussion questions for groups
• A practical activity to do together
It can be tempting to linger on the questions or keep the discussion going, but we really recommend prioritising the practical activity; it will help you as a group to practise what’s being explored in each video session. You might find that there are more discussion questions than you have time for: if that’s the case, choose the ones that feel most appropriate and helpful for your group context.
Hearing God is a concept that many Christians are familiar with, and others are brand new to. We recommend paying attention to the dynamic of your group and being aware of the varying levels of understanding and experience. Unfortunately, some people have negative experiences in this area too, and we recommend being sensitive and aware of this as you lead through the session. We’d love to hear how you’re finding the course: please do share your experiences with us.
5 mins
In this session, we’ll explore moving from meditation and conversation to contemplation, encountering God beyond the text in the whole of life.
Do you seek to encounter God in every part of your life? Do you place any conscious or unconscious restrictions on where you may encounter God?
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” – Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
15 mins
Summary
“Contemplation is the form of prayer that helps us to hear God and see God in the whole of his creation.”
“We’ve realised afresh the invitation from the Lord Jesus Christ to hear His word in the Bible, to encounter Him day by day, walking with Him more nearly, loving Him more dearly and hearing Him more clearly as we pray.” – Pete Greig
25 mins
Q. What did you find most helpful or most challenging in the video?
Q. What does the word “contemplation” make you think of? Does this match or differ from the content of this final session?
Q. What would be different if you expected to encounter Jesus in every part of your life?
Q. Pete shared the story of Kumbuka the gorilla – what ‘spiritual sugar rush’ traps can we fall into as Christians?
Q. Pete says that the more we find God in His Word, the more our eyes are primed to see Him in the world. How does reading the Bible impact the way that you see the world?
Q. Teresa of Avila describes contemplative prayer as “an intimate sharing between friends”. How could you foster this attitude in your prayer life?
Q. What has been your biggest revelation or learning from The Lectio Course? What impact will it have on your daily life?
15 mins
Practical prayer activity:
Use the four steps of Lectio Divina to reflect on Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand.
Decide on one thing you’re going to do so that you can learn to hear God in your daily life. You might like to set a reminder on your phone, or write a note in your diary. It can be helpful to find someone who can encourage you by checking in and seeing how your commitment is going.
