I still hope to host a group retreat sometime this fall, but in the meantime here are some simple tips on how you can have your private spiritual retreat.

• Find a place where you can be alone and uninterrupted.  You may be able to do so at home, but you may find that you need to go somewhere away.  Perhaps a park or retreat center.
• Do not plan a lot of activity.  Retreats are for experiencing rest and re-energizing.  It is tempting to try and schedule lost of things and have lofty goals, but try to limit the way you spend your time to simply resting with God.
• Prepare the night before by asking God to bless the time you are about to devote to spending alone with Him.  Tell Him that you want to devote the time to Him and begin to open yourself to whatever God may want to work on in you.
• Bring your Bible and a journal.  Resist the temptation to bring a lot of extra reading material.
• Spend time reading and meditating on Scripture.  Ask God to speak to you through His word and try to really listen.  Journal the things that you sense God is telling you.
• Spend time in prayer.  Be sure to balance your prayer time with both listening and speaking.
• Sleep.  Really, take a nap and rest with God.
• Take a walk.  Talk with God while you walk.  Take notice of all of God’s creation and thank Him for it.
• At the end of your retreat, write down all that you have experienced with God.  What did He speak to you about?  Also, take a memento from your retreat.  Something simple like a stone, that will help you to remember this special time alone with God.

Retreats are not meant to be complicated.  They are meant to be just simple times when we disengage from the noise of everyday life and give God our undivided attention.

Have you ever had a spiritual retreat?  What was the experience like for you?  

Trackback URI | Comments RSS