Retreat in Daily Life
For many people, the idea of taking a week, or even a weekend to go on retreat seems like an unattainable luxury. Life is busy for all of us. But we also know the value of spending time to spend in God’s Word and in prayer. That is why the experience of a Retreat in Daily Life is so valuable.
The Retreat in Daily Life is a retreat undertaken while still carrying on with your daily routine, setting aside time for guided prayer and visiting with a spiritual director for 30 minutes each day.
The Retreat in Daily Life takes place over a five-day period, which includes two group gatherings (opening and closing) and five individual sessions with a director. The opening session familiarizes retreatants with the forms of contemplative prayer that will be introduced to them in their guided prayer times and allows the retreatants to meet their directors. The closing session provides an opportunity for group spiritual direction, as well as allowing retreatants to offer experiences and God encounters with the larger group. There is also an opportunity for sharing Communion together.
During the retreat experience, retreatants are given a list of prayer passages and accompanying thoughts to guide their prayer, for each of the five days. Each day, the retreatant meets with a specifically assigned spiritual director at the same agreed upon time. We have been amazed at God’s incredible work in so many lives, over just five days. God is so good and provides beautifully for his people.
Prayerfully consider attending our next Retreat in Daily Life.
Spiritual Practices
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Read the Bible
The Bible is a profoundly relational book, as it draws us into deeper communion with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Bible reading is meant to be relational and transformational.
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Pray Daily
Time in prayer can revive our hearts, renew our minds, and guide us in daily life. He always hears us when we pray! You can start your conversation with Jesus using our “Five Days of Prayer” guide.
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Practice Fasting
God can sustain you in a way that nothing in the world can. Fasting is a voluntary and practical way to say no to your appetites and focus your dependence on God. Discover more with our “Fasting” resource.
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Use Your Spiritual Gifts
No matter what your natural skills and abilities are, at the moment of you choose to follow Jesus the Holy Spirit graciously gives you a spiritual gift to serve the Church. Find out more about your gifts.
Dive deeper into teaching!
With Talking Points and other resources you can go deeper into the Sunday morning teaching series. Reflect on your own or use our series as a home group study.
Additional Resources
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Letting Go
There are many things that vie for our attention and devotion. It is easy to develop a hurried heart, stuffed schedule, and cluttered soul. It’s common for people to feel weighed down by family relationships, financial pressures, the demand of work, the load of worry and burden of regret. God’s desire is that we would be spiritually free, unencumbered and focused. Download our resource to find out more about how we can let go.
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Listening to God’s Word
Reading the Bible for transformation is a way of holy listening that requires us to engage the written Word of God with our mind, our heart, our emotions, our body, our curiosity, our imagination, and our will. When we read the Bible this way, we make it a priority to listen to God in the context of a personal relationship with Him. Download our resource to find out more about this spiritual exercise and various ways we can listen.
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Gospel Contemplation
Jesus reveals himself to us through the written and authoritative Word of God, the Bible. The Holy Spirit not only inspired the writers of Scripture but is also at work applying the truth of the Bible into our lives as readers and hearers. Gospel contemplation invites us to engage imaginatively with the whole story and scene. Our resource includes more about this spiritual exercise, download by clicking the button below.
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Inviting and Responding
God is all around us, revealing himself in truth and beauty, art, and nature but we often go about our days in such a way as to miss his invitation to see him and respond. Visio Divina is a form of Christian prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into a picture, image or piece of art, in silence, to see what God might have to say or reveal to us. Our resource takes you step-by-step through this practice.
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Writing a Spiritual Blessing
As Christians, we are the recipients of God’s ongoing blessing and we are called to share that blessing with others (our parents, spouse, children, friends, strangers, even our enemies). Words of blessing are powerful because they impart the endowment of God’s goodness, grace, and favour in someone’s life. Discover the steps to writing a spiritual blessing by downloading our resource today!
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Developing Sabbath
Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Explore with delight the development of your own Sabbath-keeping practices with our downloadable worksheet. Discover what should be included to make your Sabbath more than just and ordinary day off.
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Holy Week
Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday and ends with the celebration of the Resurrection on the following Sunday morning. This is not simply another week – it is a resource designed to focus our attention on Jesus final days and the struggle for the salvation of the world. There are many ways through which Holy Week devotion can be practiced personally and corporately. Uncover more about Holy Week with this special resource.