Lent is a time of introspection and prayer when we seek God's guidance for our lives. Many things can come from that guidance and wisdom which will enrich our lives. One word we can use to describe this is discernment - to perceive, detect, to recognize or comprehend mentally. Today we will look at scriptures from James which speak to discernment:
James 1:5-8 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
· How many times this past month have you felt like "you didn't know what you are doing"? What did you feel like when this happened? How did you handle it? Were you happy with the outcome?
· What is the writer of James' advice to us? When is the most likely time we will turn to prayer for guidance in dealing with a situation? What are some reasons that we might forget this advice?
· Has your reliance on this advice changed as you have matured in your faith life? What are some things that reinforced your instinct to turn to prayer?
· What are we told about God? Are there people you know who seem to love to help? What about them makes them helpful? How do you feel about them? Do you ever feel a sense of God's "hands on" in a situation?
· How does this assertion square with your experience with prayer? What do you ask for when you are facing a dilemma? What do you typically receive when you pray in these situations? What have you learned about God and the ways God’s gives us help?
· How are we to pray? What might be included in or left out of the kind of prayer the writer wants us to avoid? But what is we are not sure what to pray for - is that OK? Paul has some thoughts in Romans 8:
...God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves...
· Do you think that Paul is right? Is this a sign of a God "who loves to help"?
· Do you think that your faith community has taken James' advice as it makes decisions and sets priorities? Looking back what would you cite as examples of prayerful discernment? Do you think that it has missed any opportunities for seeking the one "who loves to help"?
· Isaiah 43 is a Lectionary scripture for today and it seems to speak to what might need to happen to allow God's Spirit to act in our personal or congregational life. What needs to happen before something new can happen? How hard is it to let go of things that in our minds were priorities, things that go unquestioned, voices that were relevant to conditions in the past:
James 1:5-8 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
· How many times this past month have you felt like "you didn't know what you are doing"? What did you feel like when this happened? How did you handle it? Were you happy with the outcome?
· What is the writer of James' advice to us? When is the most likely time we will turn to prayer for guidance in dealing with a situation? What are some reasons that we might forget this advice?
· Has your reliance on this advice changed as you have matured in your faith life? What are some things that reinforced your instinct to turn to prayer?
· What are we told about God? Are there people you know who seem to love to help? What about them makes them helpful? How do you feel about them? Do you ever feel a sense of God's "hands on" in a situation?
· How does this assertion square with your experience with prayer? What do you ask for when you are facing a dilemma? What do you typically receive when you pray in these situations? What have you learned about God and the ways God’s gives us help?
· How are we to pray? What might be included in or left out of the kind of prayer the writer wants us to avoid? But what is we are not sure what to pray for - is that OK? Paul has some thoughts in Romans 8:
...God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves...
· Do you think that Paul is right? Is this a sign of a God "who loves to help"?
· Do you think that your faith community has taken James' advice as it makes decisions and sets priorities? Looking back what would you cite as examples of prayerful discernment? Do you think that it has missed any opportunities for seeking the one "who loves to help"?
· Isaiah 43 is a Lectionary scripture for today and it seems to speak to what might need to happen to allow God's Spirit to act in our personal or congregational life. What needs to happen before something new can happen? How hard is it to let go of things that in our minds were priorities, things that go unquestioned, voices that were relevant to conditions in the past:
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 43:18-19
The writer now speaks to the counterintuitive idea that challenges are a good thing:
James 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
· How do you feel about the sentiments in the first sentence? Have "tests and challenges" ever been something that was in fact a gift for you? When do tests and challenges go from being a gift to something very different?
· The second sentence speaks to our faith-life in the face of a challenge. Do you relate to this statement? How might strengths or deficiencies in our faith live become apparent in times of testing?
· How might these thoughts hold true for the collective faith life of a congregation? Can times of testing be a good thing for a congregation? What happens if we live a life based on avoiding tests and challenges?
· Have you grown by taking on difficulties that you could have avoided or put off ? How important is taking them on to the growth of our spiritual lives?
Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56
The writer now speaks to the counterintuitive idea that challenges are a good thing:
James 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
· How do you feel about the sentiments in the first sentence? Have "tests and challenges" ever been something that was in fact a gift for you? When do tests and challenges go from being a gift to something very different?
· The second sentence speaks to our faith-life in the face of a challenge. Do you relate to this statement? How might strengths or deficiencies in our faith live become apparent in times of testing?
· How might these thoughts hold true for the collective faith life of a congregation? Can times of testing be a good thing for a congregation? What happens if we live a life based on avoiding tests and challenges?
· Have you grown by taking on difficulties that you could have avoided or put off ? How important is taking them on to the growth of our spiritual lives?
Closing Prayer
Be blessed, God;
train me in your ways of wise living.
I’ll transfer to my lips
all the counsel that comes from your mouth...
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
I attentively watch how you’ve done it.
I relish everything you’ve told me of life,
I won’t forget a word of it.
Amen
Psalm 119:12-16
Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56
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