Module 1:
Prayer and Spirituality
Session 1
Introduction
Here are some guidelines to help you adjust to the type of study this course encourages.
We all learn best when we are able to use our experience. Adults have much experience, in fact too much to examine in detail. Good courses help the learner select which experiences will be most helpful in their learning. This course does that by providing some material to read in the Study Guides. Each of the sessions in the module has a Study Guide to read before coming to the sessions. We have decided to call the sessions, tutorials. This is because there will be a tutor who will help you learn from the reading and writing you have done before the session.
Some people are put off by the idea of writing things down, but we are encouraging you to have a go at doing this for the following reasons, amongst others:
- It records your thoughts for the future
- It makes you sit and think
- It will be useful when it comes to talking about the subject with others in the tutorial
- It helps you to reflect on what you have thought about
However, if you can’t fill in a box in any of the study guides, don’t worry. Just leave it and pass on. You won’t be ‘put on the spot’ by the tutor.
About Study Guide 1
Study guide 1 covers three components of spirituality: Jesus’ tradition, action and prayer. At the end of each section you will find activities, which you should complete. Try to answer all the questions that are set. In the future, your tutor may advise you of the particular areas which will be discussed in more depth at the next tutorial. However, you may find that one question makes you think a great deal more than the others, in which case you should talk with your tutor about considering this question at the tutorial. When you first meet, your tutor will help you to share with the rest of the group the work you have prepared.
There will also be other activities when you meet together and your tutor will tell you about them.
This guide will enable you to begin to understand the tradition that Jesus was born and brought up in. It will lead you to look at some biblical passages that demonstrate Jesus’ own spirituality and prayer. Thirdly, it will concentrate on the Lord’s own prayer given as a gift for us today.
Looking at the Lord’s Prayer will form an important part of the next few weeks as you will be asked to visit a place with the phrases and principles of the prayer in mind in order to compare the world today with Christian longings.