I pray you will be provoked. Wait! What? That’s right, I pray you be provoked! Doesn’t provocation lead to conflict? Maybe. Stay with me here.
A few weeks ago, a friend strongly recommended I spend significant time in the New Testament book of Jude. Jude only has 25 verses in total. Because I greatly respect the friend who recommended Jude and because it is so short, I decided to go through Jude praying each verse, phrase-by-phrase, in the manner of Lectio Divina. I read a phrase out loud, take several deep breaths, read it again, and then read it one more time. I let the sound of the words settle on me. Then, I write in my journal what I hear. It took me a week just to get through Jude 1:3, but that’s the whole point. I am taking my time; and being provoked.