Session I - Part 3c Heptagon Prayer Stations

To help us think through, and pray through, the areas of our spiritual life we've talked about with the Heptagon, I created prayer stations throughout the church. Most of these ideas originated with materials designed by Janelle Hendrickson (who attended our church while her husband was in seminary) for teaching the Heptagon to different ages, but some I developed on my own. If you weren't at church that day, try to adapt these to your own environment. We may do them again later in the year, and we definitely will be checking in with each other on how we are doing in these different areas in the future, so it remains a good thing to be praying through, wherever you are.

A few ground rules:

*Please observe silence throughout this exercise; you should be talking to God rather than to each other.
*One person per station at a time; the exception being the MOVEMENT Station as you will be moving whenever you are traveling from one station to another. If you see a station is occupied, keep moving.
*Don't monopolize a station; obviously, you may need to pray through one area of your life more than others, but please remember there are others who also need time there.

1. MOVEMENT Station - Throughout the church. Whenever you are not at one of the other stations, consider yourself in this station. At certain points think about:

a. Destination - "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2). "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:10-14). Christ is the goal; where are you headed? Do you need to recalibrate your spiritual GPS?

b. Direction - "Thus says the Lord: 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls'" (Jerermiah 6:16). How can you tell you are headed the right direction in order to reach your destination? "There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death" (Proverbs 14:12). What maps, compass, or people (Luke 6:39) can you trust to give you good directions?

c. Luggage - Jesus told the Twelve when he sent them out, "You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food" (Matt. 10:8b-10), and to the Seventy-two he said, "Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road" (Luke 10:4). What kinds of "excess baggage" might you be carrying on your spiritual journey, and how could you lighten the load?

d. Detours - "And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them" (Isaiah 42:16a). Often we think we know the way, but find the way we know is blocked and we are forced to go another way, try something different, go outside our comfort zone. Have there been times in your life when you have had to go a different way? Were there things you saw or learned that you wouldn't have without the detour?

e. Accidents - "This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme" (1 Timothy 1:18-20). Have you ever seen someone make a wreck of their faith? Whether national celebrities or little known folk in the local parish, church scandals are nothing new. Has your life been affected by anyone who has lost their faith or whose lives have been revealed to be hypocritical? Have such incidents caused you to go off the road, become more cautious in your own journey, or caused you to take the law into your own hands?

2. RESPIRATION Station - The Living Room. “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10). "Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18b-20). Spend some time resting in God's presence, opening yourself to his Spirit. Practice breathing prayer: Inhale saying "Lord Jesus Christ, Song of God" and exhale saying "Have mercy on me a sinner" or inhale saying "More of Jesus" and exhale saying "Less of me" (or something similar). Read Ezekiel 37 or Acts 2 and pray for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).

3. SENSITIVITY Station - Prayer Room (back right classroom). "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.'" (Genesis 28:16). "Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Matthew 13:14-17). "These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). How do we become aware of God's presence? How do we hear his voice and sense his Spirit's leading? Think about the different names for God (flip through the book, Wonderful Names of Our Wonderful Lord by Hurlburt and Horton), especially concrete images such as "God is our Rock," "the Lamb of God," "He is my shield," "the light of the world," "my glory and the lifter of my head," "a mighty rushing wind," "a consuming fire," the bread and the wine. How does God use our senses to communicate to us?

Look also at the world around you. Proverbs 21:13 warns, "Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered." Scripture tells us repeatedly that God is compassionate (Exodus 22:27, Psalm 78:38, James 5:11), Jesus had compassion on the crowds (Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32), and we are likewise to be compassionate (Colossians 3:12). Look at the pictures and read the facts posted on the wall regarding the needs of the world (or check out Operation World), think about the needs of your community and those around you, and pray as you become sensitized to such needs.

4. GROWTH Station - front stairwell. Unlike Alec Bings in The Phantom Tollbooth, we are not born in the air at our full height and then have our legs grow down to the ground; we start short and grow taller, and as we gain in height, our perspective changes. Think of this as you slowly climb the stairs, looking out the front doors and windows. How does your perspective change with each step. How do you view things more maturely as you "grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15)? How is the "Fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23) growing in you, and how are you doing at "abiding in the vine" (John 15)? At the top of the stairs are some seeds, soil, and water; plant something, take it home and watch it grow as a reminder of how you need to cultivate your spiritual life!

5. REPRODUCTION Station - Copy Room. "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). Disciples make other disciples, and others will follow us as we follow Christ. What are some Christ-like qualities already in your life, or lessons you have learned, which you would like to pass on to others? Make photocopies of your hands, write on the hands those things you'd like to share, cut out the hands and clip them to other hands, creating a chain reaching across the room.

6. EXCRETION Station - Top Floor Bathroom. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). There is a place for confessing our sins to another human being (James 5:16), but for the purposes of this exercise, it is between you and the Lord. Ask him to call to mind any "spiritual toxins" you need to deal with and get out of your system (Psalm 139:23-24). Write them down on sheets of toilet paper, confess them to God, and flush them away! The Ambridge Sewage System may not take them "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12), but rest assured that God in his forgiveness will banish your sins that far, and remember them no more (Hebrews 8:12)!

7. NUTRITION Station - Kitchen. All bodies need food in order to produce energy which enables them to grow, move, and do all of these other things necessary to life. There are water and juices in the fridge and nutrition bars on counter. As you consume these, thank God for your "daily bread" (Luke 11:3), for "the word of God" which feeds our spirits (Matthew 4:4, Jeremiah 15:16), and Christ's body and blood given to us in order that we may live eternally (John 6:51-58). Commit yourself to a nutritious diet--physically and spiritually!

Session I - Part 3a: "Dead to sin and alive to God" (Romans 6:11)

What does it mean to be alive? Mike Breen and his team at 3DM say that scientists have determined there are seven traits which all living things share, and in their LifeShapes curriculum, they use a Heptagon to help us remember what those are. The other thing they use is the acronymn MRS GREN, which combines the initial letters of each trait into a woman's name. Their concern, of course, is not with natural biology, but with applying the principles of the natural life to spiritual life, and give us a way of understanding how "alive" we are in Christ (and what areas of our spiritual life may be in some degree of danger).

1. The first of these traits is MOVEMENT. All living things must move. Obvious examples are predator and prey; the predator must track and eventually capture its prey if it is to eat to stay alive--and the prey must FLEE if IT is to stay alive! Herbivores must move to find food as well, as they will overgraze, ruin their habitat, and starve if they stay in one place. Some animals migrate to avoid extreme temperatures, find foliage, or find a mate. But even on the microscopic level, living creatures move.

The Bible is full of moving stories, some of the most memorable being Abraham sojourning in the land of promise, going to a land God would show him (Genesis 12:1-3). When Abraham's descendants had spent many years in Egypt and were freed by Moses, they moved through the Wilderness, following God's guidance in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Numbers 9:15-23). In the Exile, God sent his people away, but then he called them back to himself, and back to the land of promise (Isaiah 35:8-10). Jesus did extensive traveling, and he sent his disciples out, both during his earthly ministry and at his ascension in what we call "The Great Commission" (Matt. 28:18-20). Other passages use movement in a metaphorical sense, describing our life of faith as a journey or a race, with Christ as the goal (Philippians 3:7-14, Hebrews 12:1-12).

2. RESPIRATION -- all living things need to breathe in some fashion. When we come across something or someone we think might be dead, this is one of the first tests we use to determine if there is still life in the body. When we breathe in, we take in oxygen, which is needed by all of our cells, and when we breathe out, we rid our bodies of carbon dioxide (which is harmful to us, but needed by plants), and we must balance breathing in and breathing out regularly.

In both Hebrew and Greek (the languages of the Bible), "Breath" "Wind" and "Spirit" are possible translations for one word. It was when God breathed into Adam that he became a "living creature" (Gen. 2:4-9), and Ezekiel was told to "Prophesy to the wind" (or breath, or spirit) to come upon the dry bones and make them live again (Ezek. 37:1-14). We need to constantly be taking in the refreshing inspiration of the Spirit of God, which manifested itself as "a mighty rushing wind" on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), and ridding ourselves of "hot air" (or pride). We must also balance rest with work, and work with rest.

3. SENSITIVITY is the third trait shared by all living things. In order to find food, avoid danger, and generally stay alive and healthy, a creature must be sensitive to its environment, seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, an tasting in order to be aware of what is helpful and harmful to life. Spiritually, we must also be sensitive to our surroundings, and to what God is doing in the world around us. When the disciples asked Jesus why most people didn't "get" his parables, he said:

Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
For this people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

-- Matthew 13:14-16

In the Gospels and in Revelation, Jesus frequently admonishes his audience, saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." The clear implication is that people grow insensitive to God's truth and the Spirit's voice. And not only are we insensitive towards God, we are also often insensitive to the needs of those around us. Jesus had compassion on the crowds, and he expects us to show compassion as well, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan. John reproves anyone who sees his brother in need and "closes his heart" (1 John 3:17--literally "locks up his intestines," the idea being that seeing the suffering of those without adequate food and shelter should be "gut-wrenching"). May God soften our hearts so that we can truly love God and our neighbor as we should!

[to be continued...]