“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
Saint Augustine
We live in a non-stop world. We are often over-stretched and run ragged. Our constant state of urgency not only squeezes the joy out of life – it also squeezes the God of grace out of our lives too.
We are often running in circles around the life and love of Jesus, when He is always inviting us to slow down and come to Him. He wants us to let Him recover our lives and teach us to take a real rest. The life and love of Jesus are marked by unforced, unhurried rhythms of grace.
This is why we want to invite you to put into practice the weekly rhythm of Sabbath.
From the very beginning, God has woven a pattern of rest into the very fabric of creation.
On the seventh day, God took a rest, or a Sabbath. Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word ‘Shabbat’, which means simply, to stop.
God rested.
You can rest too.
On Sabbath days, we are to stop work, mark holy time, and rest in the love of God. Sabbath is to be the best day of our weeks as we create space for joy, for laughter, for good company, for napping, for nature, for prayer, for brunch, and for slowing right the way down as we allow our souls to catch up with our bodies. Ultimately, this day in our week is to be set apart for:
REST
WORSHIP
DELIGHT
Sabbath is one of God’s greatest gifts, for it changes not only a day, but also our lives. In the words of Walter Bruggemann, “People who keep Sabbath live all of their days differently.”
AS YOU RECEIVE THE GIFT OF SABBATH, WE HAVE CREATED A PRACTICE WALKTHROUGH VIDEO WHICH WILL HELP YOU PLACE THIS PRACTICE INTO THE RHYTHM OF YOUR WEEKS.
DAILY RHYTHMS SABBATH | PRACTICE WALKTHROUGH
SCRIPTURE
The word of God is alive and active.
Hebrews 4:12
As disciples of Jesus, we are invited to take on His lifestyle, His own habits, and weave them into the rhythm of our everyday lives. His practices not only draw us into a reunion with Him, but they also create the conditions for His Spirit to transform us.
We want to equip you with the practice of scripture reading by introducing you to an ancient and an unhurried way of reading the Bible that opens us up to the life and activity of God in the rhythm of our daily lives.
This way of daily reading is not for gaining more information. It is for our formation. God wants to meet us in His Word; all we need to do is slow down, savour the Scriptures, and be open to Him speaking directly to us.
Based on Lectio Divina, or ‘Divine Reading’, this Spirit-filled practice invites us to listen for God as He personally speaks to us through His Word. Through the movements of resting, reading, reflection, and response, we can become open and available to God everyday.
We have created a Practice Guide that will walk you through how you can read the Scriptures in this way. The Guide also includes a daily reading plan for 2025. Copies of the Practice Guide are available in the Church Venue and via the link below:
DAILY RHYTHMS SCRIPTURE | PRACTICE GUIDE + 2025 DAILY READING PLAN
Blessed is the one
whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
And whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 1: 1-3
PRAYER
“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17
We want to invite you into a rhythm of daily prayer, by forming a habit of communicating with God in the morning, the afternoon and in the evening.
You can pick up a copy of the Daily Rhythms: Prayer Practice Guide in the Church Venue – Please feel free to take a copy, or use the digital booklets linked below instead!
DAILY RHYTHMS PRAYER | PRACTICE GUIDE
DAILY RHYTHMS PRAYER | PRACTICE WALKTHROUGH
In this video Stu walks us through what a daily rhythm of prayer will look like in our every day.
LOOKING FOR MORE?
At whatever stage you are at on the discipleship journey, if you are looking for additional practice pointers or want to explore other ways to engage with the Scriptures (i.e. through Biblical study, theology, praying the Psalms, memorisation, or journaling) we would love to hear from you!
You can reach out to Stu to begin a conversation around developing habits around the Bible by emailing: stuart@laganvalleyvineyard.com