The Scripture Practice

The Scripture Practice

Welcome

Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?

—Luke 24v32

At the center of human history is a person—Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Until very recently, much of the world measured time itself by the years leading up to and following his birth. And since the earliest days of the community of Jesus, the library of writings called the Bible have been central to the lives of Jesus’ followers.

Written over more than a thousand years, by dozens of different authors, and in multiple languages and genres of literature, the Bible can sometimes feel like a bewildering maze of history and poetry and laws and letters and more.

Yet when you put it all together, you realize this collection of writings tells one long, cohesive story that leads us to Jesus.

But we don’t read this library the way we read the daily news or a social media caption or even other books. In fact, the digital age has rewired our brains, making it very difficult for us to read Scripture the way it was designed to be read—slowly, deeply, prayerfully. At times, communally.

We created this Practice to help you learn how to read Scripture as a spiritual discipline, as a way of meeting God on every page and opening your spirit to his Spirit to heal and change you from the inside out.

This will require us to learn to read Scripture as apprentices of Jesus, not just for information, but also for formation. It will require us to rewire our brains so they can deeply attune to God’s speaking voice as we read. And it will require us to make immersing our minds and hearts in Scripture a practice, a daily discipline of love.


The Nine Practices

The Scripture Practice is just one of nine core Practices in the body of resources available from Practicing the Way. The Practices are spiritual disciplines centered around the life rhythms of Jesus. They are designed not to add even more to your already overbusy life, but to slow you down and create space for the Spirit of God to form you to be with Jesus, become like him, and do what he did. Ultimately, they are a way to experience the love of God.

To run another Practice or learn more, turn to page 108.


How to Use This Guide

A few things you need to know

This Practice is designed to be done in community, whether with a few friends around a table, within your small group, in a larger class format, or with your entire church.

The Practice is four sessions long. We recommend meeting together every week or every other week. For those of you who want to spend more time on this Practice, we’ve included an additional four weeks of bonus conversations in the appendix to go deeper in Scripture and discussion. You are welcome to pause for these conversations in between sessions or skip over them.

You will all need a copy of this Companion Guide. You can purchase a print or ebook version from your preferred book retailer. We recommend the print version so you can stay away from your devices during the Practices, as well as take notes during each session. But we realize that digital works better for some.

Each session should take about one to two hours, depending on how long you set aside for discussion and whether or not you begin with a meal. See the sample session on the following page.

Are you a group leader or facilitator? See page 112 for helpful information and additional ideas and tips on running this Practice.

Our Practices are designed to work in a variety of group sizes and environments. For that reason, your gatherings may include additional elements like meals or worship time, or may follow a structure slightly different from the following sample. Please adapt as you see fit.


Sample Session

Here is what a typical session could look like.

Welcome

Welcome the group and open in prayer.

Introduction (2–3 min.)

Watch the introduction and pause the video when indicated for your first discussion.

Discussion 01: Practice reflection in triads (15–20 min.)

Process your previous week’s spiritual exercise in smaller groups of three to five people with the questions in the Guide.

Teaching (20 min.)

Watch the teaching portion of the video.

Discussion 02: Group conversation (15–30 min.)

Pause the video when indicated for a group—wide conversation.

Testimony and tutorial (5–10 min.)

Watch the rest of the video.

Prayer to close

Close by praying the liturgy in the Guide, or however you choose.


The Weekly Rhythm

The four sessions of this Practice are designed to follow a four-part rhythm that is based on our model of spiritual formation.

Learn

Gather together as a community for an interactive experience of learning about the Way of Jesus through teaching, storytelling, and discussion. Bring your Guide to the session and follow along.

Practice

On your own, before the next session, go and “put it into practice,” as Jesus himself said. We will provide weekly spiritual exercises to integrate this Practice into your everyday life, as well as recommended resources to go deeper.

Reflect

Reflection is key to spiritual formation. After your practice and before the next session, set aside 10–15 minutes to reflect on your experience. Reflection questions are included in this Guide at the end of each session.

Process together

When you come back together, watch the introduction, and then start by sharing your reflections with your group. This moment is crucial because we need each other to process our lives before God and make sense of our stories. If you are meeting in a larger group, you will need to break into smaller subgroups for this conversation so everyone has a chance to share.


Tips on Beginning a New Practice

This Guide is full of spiritual exercises, time-tested strategies, and good advice on reading Scripture as a spiritual practice.

But it’s important to note that the Practices are not formulaic. We can’t use them to control our spiritual formation or even our relationship with God. Sometimes they don’t even work very well. Over the coming weeks, there may be some days when you feel God’s voice leap off the page and into your heart, and others when you just feel bored, distracted, and confused. That’s normal.

The key with all the spiritual disciplines is to let go of outcomes and just offer them up to Jesus in love.

Because it’s so easy to lose sight of the ultimate aim of a Practice, here are a few tips to keep in mind as you engage with Scripture.

Start small

Start where you are, not where you “should” be. It’s counterintuitive, but the smaller the start, the better chance you have of really sticking to it and growing over time. It’s better to read one or two verses every single day, slowly and in a meditative mode, than to try to read through the Bible in three months and crash and burn on day five.

Think subtraction, not addition

Don’t try to add Scripture into your already overbusy life. You are likely already overwhelmed. Instead, think, How can I simplify my daily routine to make space for what matters most—being with God and listening for his voice? Formation is about less, not more. About slowing down and simplifying your life around what’s most important: life with Jesus.

You get out what you put in

The more fully you give yourself to this Practice, the more life-changing it will be; the more you just dabble in it, the more shortcuts you take, the less of an effect it will have on your transformation. It’s up to you: We make invitations; you make decisions.

Remember the J curve

Experts on learning tell us that whenever we set out to master a new skill, it tends to follow a J-shaped curve; we tend to get worse before we get better. Reading Scripture can be difficult and intimidating. Like all great literature, at times it’s not easy to understand. And when it is, it’s even harder to live out. That’s okay. Expect it to be a bit difficult at first; it will get easier in time. Just stay with the Practice.

There is no formation without repetition

Spiritual formation is slow, deep, cumulative work that happens over years, not weeks. The goal of this four-week experience is just to get you started on a journey of a lifetime. Upon completion of this Practice, you will have a map for the journey ahead and hopefully some possible companions for the Way.

But what you do next is up to you.