Prayer for a New Academic Semester

25Jan

We began a new semester this week, in which I’m teaching Romans, 1 Corinthians, and New Testament Biblical Theology–I’m seriously living the dream!

With every new semester, I think of this prayer for Bible study from the BCP. I used it to begin our NT Biblical Theology class last night.

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

3 thoughts on “Prayer for a New Academic Semester”

Andrew Gordon
January 25, 2013 at 10:43 am

Thanks, Dr. Gombis. I’ve been keeping up on your posts on prayer. They have been words of encouragement and exhortation to me. I was in one of those classes when you asked about writing out prayers 🙂 Prison Epistles 2008! Always a good time!

Here is an additional thought about writing prayers and how you often delivered your chapel messages by reading them. Though I do not doubt the power of God’s Spirit in men who pray and speak from memory or more extemporaneously, I have to say, engaging reading from a carefully prayed-over text helps provide trust that the speaker is not speaking merely from selfish soapboxes. Put simply, I found you and others to be easy to trust because of this style (not that my personal approval was your goal, but that was my opinion as one of your students and one among your chapel audiences). To prepare and pray/preach this way, you show tangibly the prayerful preparation that goes into handling the Word of God when leading a group before the throne to worship our Great God.

Thanks TG,

Andrew

Reply
1. timgombis
  January 25, 2013 at 3:23 pm
  
  Thanks so much for that, Andrew — totally remember that Prison Epistles class! It was a serious refreshment for me at a pretty tough time. Great group of people I’ve kept up with here and there.
  
  Reply
2. timgombis
  January 25, 2013 at 3:25 pm
  
  And just to add, there may indeed be people who can speak well without a text, but I am NOT one of them. I would rather craft a well-worded presentation over time and practice delivering it, working on cadence, forms of expression, flow of logic, etc., than have a general idea of what I want to say and get up and let ‘er rip. That mode just doesn’t work for me.
  
  For me, the Spirit works in the study and not in the pulpit. Maybe not for everyone, but . . .
  
  Reply