This is a guest post by Dr. Jim Conner as a follow up to last weekend’s message, How do I read the Bible?
There is a wonderful picture of an older woman seated at a table with her head bowed. When I was younger, I would’ve sworn that my grandmother posed for this at her kitchen table. Grandma Stromberg was a prayer warrior and incredibly disciplined in her study of the Bible.
It was at our kitchen table in Fort Worth that my wife read her Bible and faithfully prayed and read her large-print version of The Upper Room. All this is to say that I have been surrounded by incredible examples of those who have modeled making sacred time in a sacred space to seek out God’s Word and words for their daily living.
Truth be told, I have failed to do the same. Don’t get me wrong, I PRAY and I READ the Bible but it is often a little more haphazard than I would like to admit. Having moved to Mansfield last May, I had every intention of using that same kitchen table for my quiet time. But this picture attached is proof that this hasn’t happened yet. And it probably won’t be used for those purposes soon.
Instead, I have more of a portable sacred space. There is a card-table that I use when I am writing and I usually read at that table too. I also use that table when I am eating dinner or snacking during some event I am watching on TV.
Living alone, it is not hard to find a quiet place to study or pray or write. But many times it is not quiet that I am looking for when I turn in a very intentional way to listen for God’s leading. I have had some wonderful epiphanies when I am driving. And I still believe that I am a safe driver!
As for what I study, I spent most of my years as a preaching pastor and I would pour over the scriptures that were part of the lectionary or sermon series we had chosen for the given week. When I wasn’t prepping, I would most often turn to the Psalms, the Gospel of Luke, and Romans.
I am enjoying the sacred space that I have found here at this church and the ways that I have grown in my spiritual disciplines since I arrived.
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