Galatians 4:21 – 5:12

Ignatian Practice main page

1. Background

2. Prayer Labyrinth

On the following page is a prayer labyrinth. The idea is to trace it with your finger as you pray. Do three rounds. For each round, you will contemplate one thing as your finger traces the way in, another while pausing in the center, then another thing as your finger traces the way out.

Round One:
Going In: Confess sins in godly sorrow
Pausing In The Center: Sit in Jesus’ presence, He who is your Redeemer
Going Out: Gratefulness for Jesus’ forgiveness

Round Two:
Going In: Grieving (losses, persecution, fears, lost opportunities, broken relationships, instability, etc.)
Pausing In The Center: Sit in the Holy Spirit’s presence and feel His comfort
Going Out: Listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to give you in the midst of these griefs

Round Three:
Going In: Feel the excitement of going to meet God the Father (like a child excited on the car trip on the way to a grandparents’ house… stir up these excited anticipation feelings towards time with God)
Pausing In The Center: “Knock on God’s door” and tell Him you’re here… feel Him opening the door to you
Going Out: Sit with God the Father and ask Him what He wants to tell you

3. The Word

Thank God for your time in prayer, and ask him to direct your attention as you study the passage for today.
Read through the passage slowly and thoughtfully, as many times as you need.

4. Meditate

How do the ideas of this passage connect to each other?
What words or phrases are jumping out more strongly to me?
How does this passage relate to me and my life today?
What is God revealing to me through this passage?

5. Application

In what areas of my life do I compromise and conform my beliefs to the world around me?
In what areas of my life do I feel like I need to earn my salvation or righteousness before God?
In what ways do I feel like God’s acceptance of me is conditional?
What does living in the freedom in Christ look life in my life today?

6. Examen

Place yourself in God’s presence, and thank God for his great love for you.
Pray for grace to be able to see God’s acting in your life.
Review your day yesterday. Recall specific moments and how you felt at that time.
Reflect on what you did, said, or thought in those instances. Were you drawing closer to or further away from God?
Look toward your day today. Think about how you might more effectively collaborate with God’s plan. Be specific.

7. Pray

Pray this prayer to conclude:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom,
And the power, and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen.

(To make the maze more tactile and easier to follow, trace the black lines in white Elmer’s glue a couple hours before using.) 

Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. ²³ His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
²⁴ These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written:
“Be glad, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.”[ ]
²⁸ Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”[ ] ³¹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Freedom in Christ

¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
⁷ You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” ¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. ¹² As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
 

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