Below are some of the principles we aim to stay aware of, as we meet in our effort to honour the process that the Word as the Lord is in our midst. The Word is the ‘where’, the ‘what’, and the ‘how’, when we meet together as a Logopraxis Life Group.  

Listen to one another with attention and His love. Be open to receiving whatever is offered without any expectations of what you think you might be or should be hearing. Approach and read the Text this way too. What you hear and what another hears will be different but the Text allows you each a space in which to meet the Lord in each other.  In this space is the Word’s stillness where we can receive the Lord in each other with inner silence.   Where this becomes difficult for you, your work is to consciously give attention to the quality of what’s arising within, in your thoughts and affections and try to exercise as much objectivity as you can to see what you are being given to see.

Let all the earth keep silent before Him …

When another is speaking your work is to keep your own verbal, facial and bodily responses to a minimum and as neutral as possible. This supports the speaker’s connection to the Word within them so that their speech will be directed inwardly, towards what is authentic, rather than being pulled outwardly and redirected in response to visual and verbal cues. This takes work, as it requires an effort to curtail the natural desire to interrupt or affirm the speaker. In working in this way the proprium’s efforts to be recognised and affirmed in both the speaker and the listeners can be seen. By remaining neutral in the exchange we support the speaker to take any opportunities to attend to their state whilst speaking.

Now, being true, in love we should be making all grow into Him, Who is the Head – Christ”

When you are speaking, try to stay awake to the content of what is being spoken. Speaking in the context of a Life group is done with a clear purpose to make the Lord visible and it is thus an act of worship. We come together to work to strengthen the Word in each other.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Do not speak for the sake of it – to fill in silence or because you feel like you ‘should’ have something to offer.  Try to stay mindful of the content that you are offering, keep it real and relevant to your process of the Word working in your life. We are seeking to offer our living experience of the Word as the Lord. The details of how we got there aren’t as important as the insights that we have arrived at.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight

The nature of Sacred Text is such that it seeks to awaken you. Sacred texts seek to bring you before your ‘self’, but for that to happen you must work to stay awake to the Lord’s presence in the Word.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

When we approach the Text and hear the Lord speaking our initial excitement can give way to resistance… this is part of the process. It is the hellish proprium that gets bored with the Text and looks for excuses to not engage with it and to the degree that we are identified with it as our self, then to that degree, we remain unconscious of what the Lord as the Word is seeking to communicate to us.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Lord invites us to read the Text actively.  We are always invited to enter into the Text not as a passive spectator but with our full attention, with the will and understanding engaged. Willing to respond from the understanding that the Text will show us the quality of our thoughts and affections.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

Humility cannot be commanded or produced through force of will. It is present when we submit to the authority of the Word in our life, to listen and have it lead us.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

We read the Text so that we might hear what the spirit of the Word is saying to His church within us. 

Let those who have ears to hear, hear what the spirit is saying to the Churches

The infernal proprium, cannot be dealt with, or eliminated, or reformed through resolutions, or by the sheer force of one’s will, or by good intentions, which are often nothing more than wishful thinking. In spiritual work, the goal is not one of getting rid of anything but is, rather, to have our sense of self transferred from its identification with what is lower to that which is higher. This is only possible through conscious work to have our mental structures transformed through working with the Word.  We work from what is offered from the Word to see that which opposes the life of heaven. Through the Word, our sense of self is lifted out of the hellish proprium and transplanted into a new heavenly proprium in which the Lord is acknowledged.

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.