DIY Personal Spiritual Retreat Kit by Arabah Joy
DIY Personal Spiritual Retreat Kit 2016 Arabah Joy. All Rights Reserved. This workbook is intended for personal use only and may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from Arabah Joy. You are, however, authorized to download and print this book for individual personal use. For group use, participants must purchase their own copy from www. arabahjoy.com. (For permission pertaining to quotes, email us at arabahjoy@gmail.com and include the quote you would like to use.)
Welcome! In our day and age, we talk a lot about taking breaks and serving ourselves. But the spiritual retreat I m referring to here is NOT the serve yourself, you deserve it kind of thing we hear about all the time. Neither am I talking about a girl s night out or trip to the spa or attending a women s conference. I m talking about a time of retreating from the busyness, people, and noise of every day life in order to connect with the Lord for an extended period of time. This much needed time of solitude enables you to re-connect with the Lord and hear clearly from Him for an un-rushed and un-interrupted period of time. I ll be honest. These retreats are difficult for me, for a number of reasons. Yet I ve discovered they are necessary in order for me to stay in a place dependence upon the Lord, to deeply refresh my spirit, and to maintain a sense of well-being which enables me to serve my family and community. Jesus frequently retreated to a solitary place. From His life, we see how important it is to make these times happen. He would even go without sleep to make sure He got away with His Father. If the Son of God needed to make sure He got alone with His Father, we certainly need it! We can t rest and replenish when we are on the go all the time, multi-tasking, constantly bombarded with noise, always having someone in our face, and always on call. So let s talk about how to make a personal spiritual retreat happen.
How? If you have kids, one of your greatest challenges is likely finding care for your children while you take off. There are several things you can try. 1. You can hire a babysitter. 2. You can swap with your spouse. 3. You can trade with a friend. I personally love this idea because it gives you and her both time to retreat. One thing I ve done living overseas away from friends and family is swap with my spouse. I would go away for the morning and he would go in the afternoon on the same day. In this way, we both had time to meet with the Lord in an unrushed way while knowing our kids were being taken care of. It will take some planning. It may cost a little. It won t always be convenient. But taking a retreat is well worth it, so do what it takes to make it happen! Here are 4 steps to planning your retreat: Step One: Select a date. Yes, go ahead and do it now. If you wait until you find the time, you ll never take one so stop right now, choose a date and put it on your calendar. Do this at the beginning of every month and stick with it. Be intentional! Step Two: Arrange for babysitting (if you have children). This can be a spouse, a trade off with a friend, or hire it out. Step Three: Decide where your retreat will be. This is the fun part! There are several options for this and the best one will depend on your situation. You can Go to a coffee shop for a few hours. Go overnight to a hotel in town. Lock yourself in a room at home for a set period of time {While your spouse or babysitter is in another area of the house or out with the kids of course!} Step Four: Plan for your retreat. Remember the goal for your retreat is first
and foremost to connect with the Lord, rest and rejuvenate. I also like to reflect and gain direction for the new week or month ahead. Here are some suggested guidelines for your time: Completely unplug (no phones or computers allowed!) Take your journal and Bible. Begin by Journaling your thoughts and prayers. Pray (ask God what it is He wants to show you, what direction you need to take) Spend some time in confession. You want to hear God clearly and un-confessed sin hinders your ability to hear. Focus on a short passage of scripture to read and meditate on. Rest and reflect (review where you have been, where you want to go, and what you need to do to get there.) Set one FOCUS goal based on what you ve heard from the Lord. There are many things you could do on a retreat but remember, the goal is to come back rested, restored, and connected to Christ so be intentional about your time! If you only have a couple hours, prioritize the activities that will meet your goals for your time away. If you have to choose, focus on connecting with Christ above setting goals. REST is always the priority. This kit contains everything you need to have a meaningful personal retreat. Just print this packet and take it along with your Bible for a ready-made retreat. This kit will walk you through 4 main activities during your retreat. 1. Contemplate- First you ll conduct a spiritual inventory by asking Where am I with the Lord? The guided questions in this section will help
you assess and evaluate where the Lord may be working in your life. 2. Confess- You ll spend time confessing thought patterns, deeply held beliefs, and habits/choices that are sinful. I ve included scriptures you can pray during your time of confession. 3. Connect- The goal of this section is to commune with God by using the Lectio Divina method of reading and meditating on scripture. I ve included suggested passages to use as well as the steps to take as you work through your passage. 4. Clarify- Finally, you ll nail down one thing the Lord is prompting you to do or a change He is prompting you to make. Here is where you ll move from being a hearer of His word to a doer. I can t wait for you to get started! Welcome to your retreat! May the Lord richly bless your time. In Him, AJ
C ontemplate The first step is to prayerfully ask the Lord to reveal the intentions of your heart and divide asunder the motivations that compel you. Invite Him to do a spiritual work of conviction, reproof and restoration during your time together.
Use these questions to assess where you are spiritually and where you might need to allow the Lord to do a deeper work. 1. What is the overall trajectory of my life in the following areas? Marriage Home Life/Parenting Friendships
Finances Relationship with God Church Community Ministry
Job/Work How I spend my free time
2. Are there any red alert areas? i.e. Areas which, without a shift in direction, are headed towards a dangerous place? 3. For those areas identified above, what key attitudes, beliefs, habits, or choices have put me on the trajectory I m on?
C onfess Based on what you uncovered in the first section, spend some time confessing any sinful attitudes, beliefs, and choices to God. The scriptures below can also be used as prayers during your time of confession. Proverbs 28:13 Psalm 32:5 I John 1:9 Psalm 51:10
My Prayer of C onfession
C onnect The next step is to connect with God through His word. You might begin this time with a song of worship and surrender. For this step, I like to use Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading and simply involves combining scripture reading with prayer and meditation. In her book, Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, Ruth Haley Barton says, The practice of Lectio Divina is rooted in the belief that through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures are indeed alive and active as we engage them for spiritual transformation. She goes on to say, We need a way of approaching Scripture that will move us very concretely from our overreliance on information gathering to an experience of Scripture as a place of intimate encounter. Lectio Divina provides us with just such a way.
First you ll want to choose a short passage of Scripture. This can be any selection but keep the number of verses to roughly eight. Here are some suggested passages: Psalm 1 Isaiah 35:4-10 Galatians 5:1-8 Ephesians 1: 3-12 Psalm 103:1-5 Luke 10:38-42 My selected passage: After you ve selected your passage, work through the following process of engaging with God s word:
PREPARATION (SILENCIO) Begin by quieting your heart and your body. Close your eyes, relax your body, and invite the Lord to speak. Become consciously aware of God s presence with you. READ (LECTIO) Turn to your selected passage and slowly read it. Allow the words to sink in by pausing between phrases and sentences. Listen for the word or phrase that God has for you. When a word or phrase strikes you, repeat it and savor it, allowing it to marinate in your heart. REFLECT (MEDITATIO) Once you ve discovered your word, read the passage again while asking how the passage connects with your life. Ponder and ruminate on the passage and your phrase or word in particular. RESPOND (ORATIO) Read the passage again, this time giving the Lord your honest heart response to His word. Pour out your heart while paying attention to how God is inviting you to respond. Journal your response if that is helpful for you. REST (CONTEMPLATIO) In this final reading, move into a time of waiting and resting in God s presence. Posture yourself in surrender and yieldedness to your Lord and Savior.
My Lectio Divina
C larify Now it s time to act on what the Lord has spoken to you today. In this section you will summarize what the Lord has spoken and determine the practical steps you need to take to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.
Summary of what the Lord has spoken to me today: What 1-2 changes do I need to make in obedience to the Lord? What ONE goal will I set this month to see those changes?
Notes
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