The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Week 6 | Silence and Solitude | Part 1

 
 

READ CHAPTER 7: p100 and silence and solitude p120

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REFLECT | 'What is going on in our life right now?’

Discuss

  • Did you manage to implement the ONE THING you said you were going to do differently this week? Why/Why not? (Not supposed to be condemning, just an acknowledgement)

  • Have you been bored this week?

ENGAGE | ‘How do we engage with what God is saying to us?

Discuss

  • How do you usually read the gospels? Do you read it like JMC mentions, a biography of Jesus

  • How do you respond to the words ‘Spiritual Disciplines’?

    • What if we called them practices of Jesus, does that change the way we approach them?

  • Do you like boredom?

  • Discuss, ‘distraction robs us of the ability to to be present’. (p121)

    • Present to God

    • Present to other people

    • Present to al that is good, beautiful, and true in our world

    • Present to our own souls

  • Is there a way of Jesus that could help in being present?

    • What did Jesus do at each of these moments

      • Matthew 4: 1-3 - Jesus headed for the desert

      • Mark 1: 36-38

      • Mark 6: 31-35, 45-47

      • Luke 5: 15-16

  • Do you like, ‘external silence’ (no noise)?

  • Why does JMC ask the question that maybe we use external noise to drown out the internal noise?

What is the difference between solitude and isolation? (p133/p144)

PRACTICAL EXERCISE | Silence and Solitude, Exercise 1 | Breathing Prayer

  • Click here for the JMC’s thoughts on doing this.

  • Take time to go through this

  • A a few minutes everyday over the next three weeks to practice this.

INSPIRE | - 'How do we inspire change in each other? What are we going to do / change / do differently this week?'

Discuss

  • What ONE thing am I going to do differently this week?

  • How can we INSPIRE each other to practice the ‘Breathing Prayer’ this week?

Go Deeper

To reflect on this week

What is the purpose of a ‘trellis?’ Do the habits, practices, or Spiritual disciplines that I have in place achieve this?

John Mark Comer writes, ‘As we said earlier, many scholars argue a better translation of Jesus’ original language is “Apprentice under me.” Here’s another option: “Copy the details of my life. Take the template of my day-to day life as your own.” (p113) What would it look like to take and use Jesus’ template for our lives?

Jesus isn’t anti-command, not by a long shot. But for Jesus, leadership isn’t about coercion and control; it’s about example and invitation (p114)

All those little moments of boredom were potential portals to prayer. Little moments throughout our days to wake up to the reality of God all around us. To wake up to our own souls. To draw our minds’ attention (and with it, devotion) back to God; to come off the hurry drug and come home to awareness. (120)