2P8225 Spiritual Formation Session 6 Big Idea #5 Fostering Spiritual Transformation

Fostering Spiritual Transformation Through structured spontaneity… - We can look at life as a spiritual improvisation - Structure and practice are still key. “Tipping points” come to those who have furnished their soul, who have made it ready to receive Christ. As A.W. Tozer said, “God gives us the dignity of causality.” - We need to put order in place, put knowledge and principles to work, and we need to practice.

Fostering Spiritual Transformation Through relational connections Sharing our stories is an important way to harmonize head knowledge with gut knowledge. Furnishing the soul requires bringing together the two ways of knowing – That happens partly as we check the truthfulness of the data we are processing. It also happens as we share our stories, share our experiences in life.

Our relational connection with God Is expressed through our storying with God Is expressed through the spiritual disciplines God’s Word, prayer, etc. Spiritual disciplines ARE the order, the knowledge, the principles and the practice that will facilitate not just the connection, but personal transformation.

Our relational connection with others Is expressed through community. (storying with others) Spiritual community tells the larger story of God. Spiritual community is an enactment of the kingdom of God. Spiritual community bridges the back-and-forth process of knowing/experiencing.

Secure attachment filter REVIEW Secure attachment filter Consciously acknowledge emotional distress Tend to solve problems actively and effectively

Distant (preoccupied) attachment filter Preoccupied with unresolved emotional pain Have easy access to their own painful emotions But have difficulty regulating them Will disclose indiscriminately, often to anyone available With God, tend toward “clingy” forms of prayer

Distant (dismissing) attachment filter Comfort themselves without relationships Distance themselves from distress Are self-reliant Are less aware of their emotions Tend to engage in prayers that minimize closeness with God

Anxious (Fearful) attachment filter A combination of preoccupied and dismissing Also experience cascading undifferentiated painful emotions (like preoccupied) But they don’t disclose to others (like dismissing) Afraid to be alone, afraid to be close to others Also avoid close contact with God

Tipping Points in Spiritual Formation Tend to be contagious Small changes have big effects Change is unpredictable and irregular Gut level code is complex

Furnishing the Soul for Transformation Life as a spiritual improvisation… Is not as spontaneous as it looks Imagine a baseball, basketball or hockey player practicing different drills over and over again. Those practiced skills will allow him to make a “spontaneous” play during the game. But without the skills and practice, the play would fail. Spiritual transformation, like sports skills and their hours of practice, is “structured spontaneity”

A related quote from Dr. Todd Hall…

- excerpted from “The Connected Life Workbook” (11), Dr - excerpted from “The Connected Life Workbook” (11), Dr. Todd Hall, 2011.

You may not be able to directly control your spiritual transformation… But you can influence the structure that guides spontaneity Tipping points (breakthroughs) come to those who furnish their minds and hearts with the components required to produce breakthroughs

YOU HAVE CONTROL over and ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR furnishing your soul Luke 18:1-6 The widow’s input became the raw material for a breakthrough Prayer can also be input Particularly the prayer of examen Psalm 139:23-24… Don’t just send God on a search – meet him at the spot where he wants to do some work!

STORYING Telling our stories about our experiences in relationships is the closest we can come to verbally communicating the emotional meanings of our attachment filters Sharing our stories brings our filters into contact with God and others