Grace Guidelines For A Safe Space

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right. Would you like me to do the grace guidelines?

SPEAKER_09 0:02

Yes, I would.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Okay. So the grace guidelines that we have are that we recognize that we all come from diverse branches of the Christian faith and that everyone is on their own transformational journey. So we are here to offer support and compassion to each other at whatever stage of your journey you happen to be. We accept that we are all learning and we lead by building wisdom together. So be open to feeling uncomfortable because all girls come with some discomfort. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you speak with love and grace. And remember that we're here to care for each other by listening and operating in our sage power.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

A five-minute contemplation and to have the opportunity to do some PQ reps to help us settle ourselves. And the scripture that I'm going to be using for this is Matthew 11, 28. Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. And we're also going to be incorporating Matthew 6, which says, But when you pray, go

Contemplation Entering The Inner Room

SPEAKER_03 1:21

into your room, close the door, and pray to your heavenly father who is unseen. So Matthew 11, 28, and Matthew 6, verse 6. So I'd like to invite you to close your eyes. If you want to go off camera, you can.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Just begin to settle yourselves.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

And another. Allow yourself to fully arrive in this moment. There is nowhere to go. Simply be here in this moment. Become aware of the chair supporting you. The floor beneath you. The breath moving in and out of your body. And gently become aware that God is already present. Not waiting for you to find him, but already here. Now hear the words of Jesus. Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Notice what Jesus does not say. Come to me when you fixed yourself. He does not say, Come to me when you figured everything out. He simply says, Come.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

What's driving? What pressure?

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Without judging or analysing it, simply notice it. And hear Christ's invitation again.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

Come to me.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Now imagine yourself standing before a simple door. This is the door of the inner room.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

The secret place Jesus spoke about.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Not a place of performance. Not a place of achievement. A place of presence. Notice that the door is already open. You do not have to force it open. You are simply invited to enter. As you step across the threshold, leave behind the need to control.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Leave behind the need to perform. Leave behind the need to strive.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Just for this moment. Enter as you are. Inside the room there is no urgency. No hurry. No demand. Only presence. The presence of the Father who sees. The presence of Christ who invites. The presence of the Holy Spirit who comforts. For a few moments, let's simply rest here. No words are required. No requests are necessary. Simply receive. Notice how quickly the mind wants to leave. How quickly it wants to solve, to plan, to manage, to achieve. Gently pause and release those thoughts and return to the presence. This is the invitation not merely to visit the inner room, but to learn how to remain, to carry this awareness into every conversation, every relationship, every coaching session, every ordinary moment. What if the goal was never simply transformation? What if the deeper invitation was communion? And as we come to a close, Lord Jesus, thank you for inviting us. Thank you for the rest that is found in your presence. May our hearts learn to recognize your presence. May our lives become rooted in your love. And may we discover that we have been seeking what we have been seeking has always been found in you.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 8:41

And as we return to the meeting, carry this question with you. What might it look like for me to move beyond visiting the inner room and begin living from it?

SPEAKER_09 9:10

And it was a wonderful contemplation. So I want to think about it this way. And as we begin to talk, can PQ, can the PQ journey lead us into something deeper, into a deeper communion with God? Over the last eight or nine months, we've been kind of flowing through this practice and a framework and identifying PQ as more than just a practice or a framework. What if at the center of all that we're doing in PQ, God is using it as an invitation to bringing us into something deeper, or what Jackie said earlier in the contemplation, into the inner room. And

From Visiting To Living The Inner Room

SPEAKER_09 10:02

for believers, we realize that that invitation is into something deeper. And the key here is what if the destination, however, you got to PQ, for me it was through an email. If you got it through an invite or a friend said, join this with me, however, you got here, what if the deaf destination was never simply just mental fitness

Is PQ A Door To God

SPEAKER_09 10:32

or personal growth? Or the growth of a practice or growing individually. What if the deeper invitation has always been intimacy with God? So as we prepare today, we just want to open the conversation to kind of see where are we as a as a group? What are you sensing? Are you sensing a deeper invitation? Are you sensing that you're coming to that place in PQ where you've reached the door and you're sensing that there is more, but what does that more look like? So let's begin with that question. What if PQ is leading us into something deeper for ourselves and the people we talk to or coach?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Anyone would like to share?

SPEAKER_04 11:48

I'll share. I think uh I love that invitation to the inner room in the door. Uh for me, that's just all I long for is to be in that door. But I'm I think today there's so much craziness going on, and there's so many things you have to take care of that it's very, very difficult to get into that inner inner room. But that is my desire. And PQ for me is more than just PQ, because like I'm retired now, and it's it's a daily tool in my life to be still. And I'm experiencing what you said, Julie. I've just been asked to be on the board at my church. And God, through my quiet times, telling me, Julie, it's not about doing, it's your presence. It's your presence is kind of like your superpower. Before I'm like a doer, I gotta do this, I gotta serve on the guest team, serve on parking, serve on the prayer team. It's doing, doing, doing, but now it's just like, no, it's just about presence. And you know, and the presence is just practicing the presence of being with God in the inner room.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Thank you, Julie. Anyone else? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_07 13:32

When I think about PQ and I think about the saboteurs, I think about these are the things in our lives that the enemy might use to rob, kill, and destroy, right? And so, and then switching over to sage brain and and whatnot, it gives us an opportunity to identify those things that take us further from the wholeness that God has for us. So if you imagine a wheel and the center is the hub with God in the center and us as the spokes. And as we experience wholeness, we are closer to what God intended for us in the very beginning. So for me, PQ does draw us into a deeper intimacy. God accepts us where

Presence Over Doing In Real Life

SPEAKER_07 14:38

we are, but the intimacy and the fellowship grows deeper as we experience the acceptance, but also the growth and the invitation to draw near.

SPEAKER_09 14:50

And I'm so glad you said that, Catherine, because there's some key points there that I think we we want to talk about. Because as believers, we come into PQ knowing from a spiritual perspective. We're spiritually awakened to knowing. PQ is not a spiritual framework, it was never designed to be a spiritual framework. And that's what I think is different for us. As we did PQ reps, we knew that we were inviting something larger than us into our sessions, something greater than us, right? And I and I love what what Catherine said about the saboteurs, right? To steal, kill, and destroy. We we know John 1010, right? We we know all about that. But in reality, what we started to notice, what PQ brought to the forefront, was it gave us a language. I don't know about you, but it gave me a language, and it helped us understand that those thoughts, let's put the enemy aside, the thoughts that were coming were not my thoughts. And I could learn a way to settle down those thoughts so that I could hear the still small, still small voice of God speaking in the midst of all of that noise. Because everybody hears it, everyone. So all humans hear the same saboteurs, right? But what we see in it is as we're going through the process, we're not going through it alone. And that's the key. So thank you for sharing that. What else? What else are you sensing? I mean, we've been doing this going on six years, and we've gone through a number of different cycles here, but what are you sensing? I love Julie's word. She said longing, right? And then she went to desire. For me, longing is something greater than a desire. It's like it's it's calling from from deep within, right? The scripture that says the deep calls out to the deep. So what else is going on for you?

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Go ahead, Lewis.

SPEAKER_05 17:25

I'm definitely in the beginning. My my journey began not with the Lord, but with PQ. And I took this on to understand more of a deeper sense from coaching perspective, not not to deepen my faith because I didn't think I needed it.

unknown 17:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 17:45

I I went through a period where PQ became an anchor, and almost the door that we're talking about to keep my prayers open with God, to keep my myself grounded in the word, because I went through surgery during PQ training. And it was not something I could continue. Like it was it was a struggle. I'm still in pain. And I use now almost to start it off, to be in the present, to be to kind of bring myself back into almost like a stillness that I have been struggling with my entire life. So all of us probably have, you know, if you've been a professional before, it's it's been a go, go, go, go, go mentality, and I'm still in that. But PQ became

PQ As An Anchor In Pain

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my entrance, not because the Lord didn't, but because I think he did use it as the invitation. For me at least, it's been an amazing way to just settle myself, even if I start with the little finger, you know, rubbing your fingers. It sounds silly, but I may start there and I end up praying to the Lord or seeking that which makes me more whole. I can't even say I believe transformation is one step at a time, and this is just my moment in transformation. And when I found this group, I was like, aha, this is one more door. I um I actually am trying to hold a women's session. It was supposed to be this Friday on EQ Day, Positive Emotional Intelligence Day, and to look at scripture on how it's been the basis of any scientific discovery of the brain and what we do with emotions, and how Jesus already was there, Jesus was transforming and all of us back then in his day, and he in our word of the Lord is just coming for me full circle, like saying the Bible has it. Science is just catching up to it. So for me, it's it's kind of bringing this all together. So I would love to know more about those stages you talked about because I do think they're they follow a flow.

SPEAKER_09 20:30

Okay, Luz, you you the what you're saying is is is beautiful. And I'm gonna use words like beautiful, profound, and for me, because you're you're you're touching at the heart of what I believe is happening in the world today. And I'm gonna first talk about your group that you're talking about. So I believe we are living in a time like never before that there is a sacred convergence that's happening. No, I mean the sciences, philosophies, neuroscience, theology, all of it is actually converging together to reveal what was already true. So you don't have to, and actually, you said Jesus was already doing it. Actually, you just go to Genesis, it started in Genesis. I just want to make sure that you're aware of that. Throughout our our faith, we see that God was doing something in humanity, and what happened was is they didn't have language for it. But in our timeline, we are actually getting language. Science is confirming and providing language for what Paul said be not transformed, but be renewed,

When Science Gives Scripture New Language

SPEAKER_09 21:51

right? Have your mind renewed, right? David said to be still and know that there is a peace that passes all understanding. All this stuff is all rooted and grounded in God. See, that's the key that we got to understand. So it's not, it's nothing new, it's God's framework of love. Love never fails. Love restores. Love renews. Love empowers. It's all there for us. So when you're talking to people, and especially if you're using the PQ framework and you're trying to bring Christianity in, you're going to get opposition. I'm going to tell you that up front. It's going to happen because they don't understand it. But I will challenge you to before you start talking about PQ and your Christianity, go back and read your Bible and identify the saboteurs. We see the first one show up in Genesis 3. The moment start looking away, the judge was present. We see the stickular, we see it all. It's all right there. And you'll start to notice because after the fall, the human condition changed. And therefore, it wasn't just God. It was also listening to itself and going after its own desires. So I will challenge, I've done it. And I challenge you to go in and to start looking at the Bible, looking at the saboteurs. So you identify how they show up. But can you see the saboteur in Abraham when God called him? Can you see which one shows up when Hagar is really there at tension? Can you see it when the brothers and the gospels are who's going to sit on the right, who's going to sit on the left? Right? It's all revealing to us right there. It's not in scripture, but it's implied because we now have a language for it. Can you see that? Anything else? Oh, and I will I'll challenge you on this one. I want you to have fun with this, okay? Because I did. Revelations, the seven churches. Go back and look and see the saboteurs that are inside of the seven churches. It's mind-blowing. You've left your first love, right? It's all there. You're lukewarm. You tolerate. It's all right there. It's like, oh my goodness. This it's and that's the thing, is that we as you start to identify the saboteurs that are operating in others, things become clearer for us to be able to use the gospel and to use love to bring people to a place of healing, not conversion. Did you hear what I said? So we're not out to try to convert people, we're out to bring people to the place of healing and to their belovedness first. People need to know that they are loved by God first before they believe. Okay, what else is coming up for you?

SPEAKER_06 25:56

You just mentioned healing. Can you all hear me now?

SPEAKER_09 25:59

Yeah, a little bit. Go ahead. Yep.

SPEAKER_06 26:01

And so I'm a health and wellness coach, and I do root cause healing because Jesus did root cause healing. Someone might come to him for one thing, but then he heals the absolute core need that they have. And PQ is a tool for identifying the root cause from you know emotional standpoint and even spiritual standpoint. So although people come to me, and I've been in practice for 10 years, so I've only have a couple years of the PQ with me, and I've only used it with current clients. But how it has worked to bring about sustainable healing for them has been dramatic.

SPEAKER_09 27:12

And you've heard me say this over and over again. I see PQ as a sacred

Healing And Belovedness Before Conversion

SPEAKER_09 27:18

tool, as a tool that we use. And because we're using it in that way, it becomes sacred. Not everyone, it's not a sacred tool to everyone, but it is a sacred tool to us. And I see PQ as a mirror and as a door. So it's a mirror that allows us to look into that mirror and we see ourselves. And we see what has been. That's the what is that we've been talking about. What is our identity, our reality? Right? And eventually we come to this door, which gives us the what if, the possibility, and the invitation. And at the same time, when you get to the door, you hand the mirror over. Because the thing is, when we're looking at the mirror and we're holding the mirror, we all have our best side. So we can show our best side in the mirror. But as soon as we hand the mirror over, now we get to see ourselves and God in the same mirror. How do we look through God's eyes? And it's amazing. And within those two things, the what is and the what if, there's tension. We call it the thin line tension. It's there. We live in it every moment of the day. And as a result of that tension, we step into accept or convert. Do you see how this is all flowing? And this is a rhythm. Now, here's what's different for us, Kong. I see you. What's different for us is our accepting or converting is not on what we desire to do. We grow into this, right? We may start out that it's us wanting to accept or convert, but eventually we know that we're walking with the Lord. So now we invite God into that, and God leads us into accepting or converting. You see the difference? And then out of accepting or converting, we transition into being and doing, not or doing. It's Mary and Martha. We live in both. We don't have to choose. It's the and or okay. Kong, I saw that you had your hand raised.

SPEAKER_08 29:50

Yes, I just want to, based on what Shannon and Donald, you just mentioned, like Shannon mentioned the root cause, and you also mentioned the mirror. So for PQ, as we have been in PQ like for a while, the mirror will help us to see it and to create the awareness. So lots of the time when we aware that and we know what to do, and we know either to convert or accept. But if at the moment we're lack of energy to convert or to accept, is that something from God? And is this the practical way praying? Or there is something else need to be healed, or something our subconscious, we just haven't able to see it. Whether this part belongs to PQ or God, I don't know.

SPEAKER_09 30:56

Kong, you are so on to something very deep here. And it's you asked if you're in that moment, right? Having the strength to convert, right?

unknown 31:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 31:10

And here's what

Finding Strength Through Stillness And Pause

SPEAKER_09 31:12

Jackie just did for us today. What it, what are we, what are we doing here? We're inviting you into the inner room. We're inviting you into what Catherine said, the core that holds the wheel together. And I believe we don't have enough strength because we're not in presence long enough. We don't stay in God's presence enough for God to give us the strength to be able to flow out. I want you to catch that because we you can see it, accept or convert. And what we've been doing is we've been making those decisions on our own. We all go through it. As believers, before we came to PQ, we all grew in how we made decisions. Or if we haven't grown, we are growing in those decisions. And as we spend more time being still in the presence of God, more of God fills us, and more of God is able to help us in making those decisions. And what happens is this space occurs. That's what PQ gave us, right? Between the saboteur and our response over time, if you practice PQ, the pause creates space between action. And guess what happens in the pause? You hear God, you sense God. Before this, it was so quick, like, okay, they yelled at me, I'm gonna yell back. There's no pause. Or they triggered me, I'm gonna protect. All of that's there. And as we create space through God's presence, or let me say it this way for PQ people, as we go into PQ and we're doing our PQ sessions and we're inviting God in there, God is already in the session. You're acknowledging now that God's there. That's what our contemplations are. Notice what Jackie said. God is always there and he's already there. We're inviting God in to do work. We don't need to say a lot, we don't need to do a lot, we don't need to ask. Can we sit in God's presence like the contemporatives of the first, second, and third and fourth and fifth and sixth century? They've been doing this work for thousands of years, and now we got a language to it that brought us to that understanding. God said, I've been doing this all along. Be still and know that I am God. But I think the answer to your question, Kong, or your statement is we don't have enough, or we're not, there's not enough spiritual sense or strength to be able to make that answer in the moment. And it's not a negative, it's just we have to constantly, okay. I want to use this as an example. Am I talking too much? And just let me know. Just if I'm not, okay, I want you to spend some time meditating on the miracle at Cana, Jesus' first miracle. Because what you see there is something that is profound that I think we miss. We see six empty jugs, right? And those jugs were designed for ceremonial purposes. Prior to Jesus, they were designed for ceremonial washing, right? For washing before people, right? Before people went into the table. Now, Jesus shows up, and those six jugs are empty. So, what is that saying to us? Were they not washing or were they waiting for what was better? And those six jugs, my understanding, I see those six jugs as the miracle, but it's also six is the number of man for humanity, and God is waiting for us to be emptied that he

Cana’s Empty Jars And Being Filled

SPEAKER_09 35:50

may fill us. That's where the water comes in. Oh, you'll get this. And as we sit in our appointed place, God does the work of removing and transforming. And then Jesus says, fill that, fill them, not not part of the way, not half the way. He said, fill them to the brim. And the water represents God, it represents agape. It's the love of God that fills us from head to toe. And what happened next? Jesus said, take out and bring it to the master of the ceremony. So God will lead us to where we need to go or where he wants us to go, that all that he has inside of us is given out to someone else. And what did the master of the ceremony say? You have saved the best for last. And then the scripture says that the glory of God was revealed and they believed. So it's about us remaining empty that we may be filled. Before our coaching sessions, are we doing enough time? Are we giving ourselves time to be empty before God that He can fill us for the person that we're about to go into the session? Or do we have so many back-to-back appointments that we're going on our own strength? Are we so concerned about what the outcome is going to be that we filled ourselves up to the brim and God can pour nothing out? I'm challenging you to invite God into your coaching practice and everything that you do in your calendar, in your coaching sessions, because the more you empty out what you want, God fills with what he wants, and everything else happens after that. I believe you're here for a reason. We have not been having these meetings just to come together. You have been led to PQ for a reason because through you, God can reveal his love to people that have not and won't receive it through the church. I hope y'all get an exciting because I I I sense this. I I mean, this is all around me. This is what's happening. So more. Anyone else? My goodness, we're about ready to end. Anything else you want to share?

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Because I was just gonna share something that because I do PQ reps, but it's centering prayer. It it always ends up as centering prayer. And I I use the format that you use, Donald, where I have a word that helps bring me back. And over the past week it was abide, abide. And the first time I I thought it, it's like, oh yeah. And my mind went to the the Emmaus remote and abide with us. Yes. Because the day is ending. And very distinctly, it was like, no, no, no, abide in, abide in, don't abide with, abide in. And it made me think about it as when I abide in, it is being completely surrounded and filled, and there's nothing of me there, it's all God, and it made it change the way I looked at things, and then yesterday a friend of mine just found out that she has stage four bone cancer,

Abiding Presence When Life Gets Hard

SPEAKER_01 40:04

and I took a meal to her house. And to what Julie said about presence, presence is so important. It's it's not about what I do, it's about being there, just being there for her and with her, and holding her hand. That's all it is. But abiding in his presence and taking that presence with me wherever I go.

SPEAKER_02 40:42

That's it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_09 41:04

Anyone else would like to share? Steph, we're gonna pray for your friend before we end this service for peace in God's presence. Anyone else like to share? So here's what I want to make sure I want to offer you, because I know most of you have been with us a while. I'm gonna challenge you now. I'm uh I'm gonna challenge you to something that you probably haven't thought about. I want you to go back to the podcast and start with January 9th, 2025. It's his walking through God's opening, open door, insights for 2025. And I want you to begin to listen to each one of those podcasts as they move forward to where we are today. Because I believe within those podcasts, you are going to not only sense where we've been going, but God will bring you up to speed on the journey that He's already taking us as PQ as Christian PQ coaches. You haven't lost anything. We started recording three years ago, and God did that so that when people come in, they can go back and they can get caught up. But I want I want you to listen to some of the titles of what came forward. So walking through the door, God's open door, insights for 2025, the bridge to something greater, when quieting the saboteurs

Follow The Podcast Trail Of Rhythm

SPEAKER_09 42:54

is not enough, embracing transformation through faith and PQ, the power of intention, discerning when intention is directed towards God, multiplication through subtraction, the paradox of divine increase, linking sacred intention to PQ prayer and practicing God's presence. Do you see how all this? And PQ is allowing us to understand this. And then there's so much more, but as you go through it, the last eight months we went through what I call the sacred rhythm. It's the it's the tension that we live in every day. What is, what if, the thin line tension, accept or convert, being and doing. It's not stages, it's a continuous process that we've been operating in. We've identified it now. But I just want you to know that if you are here, it's not from, it's not by coincidence. You were divinely led here. And be patient, don't rush, because a lot of times we rush into stuff and then we end up backing up. Allow God to direct your steps, allow God to share with you how he wants to use PQ in what he's building within you first and in your coaching practice. We all have great ideas, which might produce some results, but God's ideas causes the kingdom to expand. He used 12 people, 12, and look where we are today. So I challenge you to get into more of a presence or centering prayer. And I can send out, I did a teaching on centering prayer. I believe it's profound. It's exactly what PQ offers in a PQ session, but you're inviting God into it. So more to come. And I just I want to encourage you when the noise gets loud, it's time to pause and to go into presence. So the noise will continue to get louder, but are you going to accept it or convert it into an opportunity to go into presence? So thank you for joining us this month. And then we're gonna end right here, and I'll end it with the reading of scripture that I always do. And it's God is faithful, and God is the one that is at work within us, Philippians 2:13. To will and to do as he pleases until next time.