Getting Into God's Word

^‘Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.’ (2 Timothy 3:16 CEV)

Let’s be honest, we all know that as Christian’s reading the Bible is something we should do every single day, but the reality is that many of us don’t. Research conducted by the Bible Society revealed that 35% of Christians claim to read the Bible daily, and 25% several times a week, but that still leaves 40% of Christians unaccounted for!  For a small but significant number of Christians, the only time they get to read the Bible is when they attend a service in church.  It’s important to remember that the Bible is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions!

Fortunately with modern technology, it has never been easier to have access to Scripture. You can now download for free numerous differentversions of the Bible onto your tablet or smart phone, many of which come with helpful reading plans. Then there are helpful apps such as ‘Pray As You Go’ (click here for the android app, and here for iOS app) which provide a daily reflection on a passage of scripture, and for children there is the excellent ‘Bible App For Kids’.  There are also numerous Bible reading notes available, which you can have posted directly to your home.

To enrich my own study of the Bible, I have recently purchased the complete NIV Audio Bible narrated by David Suchet (available from Amazon). This 80 hour recording comes on six MP3 CD’s, which you can transfer onto your computer, smartphone, MP3 player, or tablet, so you can listen to it when and wherever you like. 

We’re used to the Bible being divided into chapters and verses, but that wasn’t how the Bible was written. Chapters were only introduced in the thirteenth century and verses in the sixteenth century.  Rather than listening to the Bible in small bite size chunks (a few verses here and there), I’m using the audio CD’s to listen to longer sections of the Bible. This I find is giving me a new appreciation of scripture, and opening up the word of God in a new and wonderful way.  It’s not taken the place of reading the Bible by myself, but I find it complements my study of scripture, and it is something that I would commend to others, especially if you are someone who finds reading the Bible difficult.

However you read the Bible, the important thing is that you do it, and remember that the primary purpose of reading the Bible is not to know the Bible but to know God.

God bless

Simon

Reflections from St Beuno's: What I will take away

As my time at St Beuno's draws to a close I have been reflecting on the experiences of the last week.  

When I arrived at St Beuno's I said that one of the things I hoped to get out of the week, was to focus again on God, and reorientate myself to him.  I think over the week this has happened.  

The things that I will take away from me from this time include:

SILENCE
I need to create more space for silence in my life, to cut out some of the noise that can be a distraction from listening to God and listening to others - this includes spending less time on Facebook & Twitter!  I've also come to realise how much I value silence in prayer, and that I need to build more quiet times in my prayer life so I can listen to the still small voice of God.

PRAYER
Prayer for me often feels more like a chore than a pleasure, but during this week I have valued the time I have spent in prayer, and I have been reminded of how important prayer is to me, and how vital it is for my relationship with God.  I hope to create more space in my life for prayer.

REFLECTION ON SCRIPTURE
Each day I have been given a passage of Scripture to reflect on.  Through imaginative contemplation, as taught by St Ignatius Loyola, it is a way of bringing alive Scripture (particularly the Gospel stories), and a way of praying with the Gospel stories.

Although this is something I've done before, I've found it a helpful way of allowing God to speak to me through the stories, and a useful aid to prayer.

This is the advice given by St Beuno's on imaginative contemplation:

Use a story from scripture that allows you to be part of the action.  As in dreams, you might find interesting and unexpected things come up.

• Choose a passage and familiarise yourself with the story
• You are in the presence of God, acknowledge this.  Offer yourself, your time and your imagination to God.
• Ask God for what you need today, what you desire.This could be for a greater understanding of Jesus, in words such as: Jesus, may I know you clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly.  On the other hand it could be something quiet different such as 'grant me more patience'.
• Set the scene from your scripture passage.  Take you time, see all that is around, hear, feel, taste, smell.
• What is the setting of the story in your imagination?  Become a character in the story.  Who are you?  It may be a central character or someone on the sidelines.
• Let the scene unfold naturally.  You may imagine it in the present day, or 2000 years ago. You may find it includes people you know.  The story might depart from the gospel scene and take on a life of its own.  That's fine, trust God, everything human is appropriate material for prayer.  Let the scene unfold naturally - what feels right.
• When the story has ended you may want to take in your own words to Jesus or another of the characters.
• End the pray with a formal prayer like the 'Our Father'.

When you have finished, look back over the prayer.

See how you reacted and felt.

Is this saying anything about you, the way you see others or God?

Did anything surprise you?

Is there anything that needs healing?

Is there anything you need to pray about in future?

TAKING MORE TIME FOR RETREATS

I have come to realise that I need to take time for regular 'mini' retreats, going away somewhere for the day to pray, read and reflect.  Ideally this is something I should attempt to do at least once a month.

TAKING MORE TIME TO READ

During this last week at St Beuno's I've enjoyed taking time to read a number of books.  I've realised I need to make time in my diary for regular theological and spiritual reading.

MAKING TIME FOR THE FAMILY

The people who often suffer the most with the lack of my attention is sadly my family.  I've realised that I need to prioritise spending more time with them, this means being more focused when I do work, so I don't waste this time, and end up working during family time (which is what usually happens!)  I realise how blessed I am to have such a loving and supportive family, and want them to have the best of me, not what is left!