One of the members of Hope recently shared with me that he is in the process of listening to the whole Bible on CD. He is amazed at how it is shaping him and drawing him into a journey of new understanding. He said when he gets to the end he expects to start again at the beginning to listen for things he missed. When people of faith take seriously the notion that God really speaks to us in the story of the Bible and then takes the time to listen to that story they are transformed in wonderful ways.
  
If your Bible is neglected you are missing something essential in your life. I know that there are a lot of things demanding our attention every day and that it is easy to avoid the disciplines of prayer and scripture reading, but none of those things are more important than spending time in God’s word and conversation with God.
  
When Martin Luther's barber (and friend) asked him how to pray, Luther wrote a small treatise--A Simple Way to Pray for a Good Friend. Luther said prayer is like a garland of four twisted strands. Each strand is a question that we can ask of a text to better listen to what God might be saying to us. These are the four questions Luther recommended bringing to a text:

1. What is the teaching/meaning in the text for me?
2. What prayer of thanksgiving does this text prompt?
3. What confession or lament does this text evoke?
4. What prayer petition does this text prompt?

   I use a version of Luther's Four-Stranded Garland with every text on which I preach. Over time I have found it was helpful to add other questions: Is there anything in this text that makes me afraid? And, is there anything that makes me angry? I commend Luther's questions to you as a beginning place for prayer. Please open your Bibles and open your hearts to communication with God. Blessings on your Advent journey and celebration of the Word made flesh.
                                                                                                                            - Pastor Steve