Why Wild on the path for Spiritual Direction?

Spiritual direction can provide care and guidance for you with:
​Experiencing union with God and His love for you • Personal and relational difficulties • Stress and discouragement • Family concerns • Discerning God’s leading • Becoming an Apprentice of Jesus • Navigating dry seasons in your walk on the Path of Jesus • Effectiveness in your ministry or work • As a child of your Heavenly Father, you have been given the Holy Spirit as a guide and comfort—and a spiritual director can help you experience the Spirit’s presence and encouragement in many ways. At Wild on the Path our top priority is to guide others into the practices and rhythms that will flow naturally out of the lives of those who apprentice Jesus.

How Can Spiritual Direction Help You?

A Spiritual Director offers you the opportunity to be heard we specialize in listening and reflecting Jesus’ love and empathy for others to help you experience God and follow the Spirit’s leading in your daily life, relationships, work, and prayers. In fact,  the real director of your spiritual direction process is not the person hosting the conversation, it’s the Holy Spirit. We simply serve as an ambassador of the Spirit by ministering God’s continual friendship to you. 2 Cor. 5:20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Spiritual Direction and What is it?

Overworking, screen fatigue, bad news in the world, health problems, relational conflicts, and missing loved ones can drain your soul of life. Often in Pastors it is the daily bombardment and tensions of tending to a flock. The needs of the sheep will always be with us. If we never learn to labor from rest then we will succumb to the needs of the culture God has called us to minister to with robust spiritual health and vitality.
Many of us feel over-stressed and hurried. Or trapped in a digital world void of human touch. We may go days without enjoying the beauty of nature or receiving empathy and prayer from a loved one.
Over time, Pastors can operate from the source of their own strength. Ultimately the experiences of joy that come from practicing a union with God become less of the very principles that we preach. Statistics show that as a result, pastors who enter the ministry today will on average exit the call God has placed on their lives in under 5 years.their
Our calling is to not only provide a trusting and healthy atmosphere for spiritual growth and direction, but to bring health back into a ministers life and ministry in the most natural of ways. We do this by offering practices that will help them develop their union with God, their conversation with God, the Kingdom of God, the outflow of the nature and personality of Jesus in our lives, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. We learn together through sacred companionships that will encourage a robust and vibrant walk on the Path of Jesus as we learn His rhythms, as we devote ourselves to the practice of an actual apprenticeship with our Good Shepherd, Jesus.
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What does meeting look like?
Meeting with a spiritual director offers you the ministry of holy listening, which can help you feel known and loved by God. It is safe to say that this statement is true of 100% of pastors at some time or another.
For those called to this ministry or to receive this kind of ministry, it is exciting to know that this is an ancient practice and a calling in which you can become renovated personally and equipped to provide effective apprenticeship in your churches!
Here we want to help pastors and leadership teams to discover and explore, What spiritual direction is (and is not), Examples of spiritual direction in the Bible, What happens in a spiritual direction session, How to find (or become) a Christian spiritual director.

​A Ministry of Holy Listening
The ministry of spiritual direction is an ancient Christian practice that has received more attention in recent years, but many people do not know or are fuzzy on understanding the art of spiritual direction. 

The History of Spiritual Direction
Christian spiritual direction was established by the desert fathers and mothers of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Then, in the centuries following, monks in monasteries developed this ministry further. The classic books of Christian devotion are a rich source of spiritual direction. Some of these are compilations of letters from spiritual directors to their disciples. A few examples include:
Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Piere de Caussade, The Complete Fenelon by Francois Fénelon, Story of a Soul by Therese of Liseux, Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank Laubach

What Spiritual Direction is Not
Spiritual direction is not the same as Christian discipleship methods, counseling, or coaching. While there can be areas of overlap, spiritual direction is unique. 
Apprenticeship usually follows a program of lessons or methods from the Bible on becoming more like Jesus.
Spiritual Direction does not follow a curriculum–it is customized to the person seeking God’s presence and guidance that ultimately fosters movement towards apprenticing Jesus.
Counseling focuses on resolving specific problems with mental health, compulsive behavior, and relational conflict. It’s natural for tensions, stress, and hurts to surface in spiritual direction, but the focus is less on solving those problems and more on understanding the person’s experience of God.
Coaching helps leaders and other people to set and realize their goals to advance their life or work. In spiritual direction the goals are to improve their relationship with God and become more like Jesus.
Ironically, spiritual direction is not directed. It’s not advice-giving, teaching, or trying to get people to believe and do the right things. Instead, it’s collaborative, empathetic, and prayerful.
Simply put, spiritual direction is a conversational and prayerful relationship of seeking God together through the journey of life. It focuses on the individual’s personal experiences of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit to renovate our soul.
It can foster apprenticeship to Jesus, emotional and relational health, and reaching God-inspired goals but, practices for growth come as we begin to identify the natural rhythms of our relationship with Jesus and sensitivity to the voice of His Spirit.

Definitions of Spiritual Direction
Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) was a Trappist monk who wrote Spiritual Direction and Meditation. He explained, “A spiritual director is… one who helps another to recognize and to follow the inspirations of grace in his life, in order to arrive at the end to which God is leading him” (p. 17). 
More recently, David Benner, a Christian psychologist and spiritual director, defined spiritual direction as “increasing awareness of God in the midst of life experiences and facilitating surrender to God” (Sacred Companions, p. 5).
In other words, the spiritual director offers the gift of holy listening—reflecting Jesus’ love and empathy for others to help them experience God and follow the Spirit’s leading, while providing guidance for their relationship with God. 
In fact, the real director of the spiritual direction process is not the person hosting the conversation, it’s the Holy Spirit. The human director simply serves as an ambassador to the Spirit of Christ by ministering God’s continual friendship (2 Cor. 5:20).

The Benefits of Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction can be helpful in many aspects of everyday life including: 
Experiencing God’s love.
Empathy for personal and relational difficulties.
Spiritually caring for children.
Engaging in soul talks with your spouse.
Praying for a hurting friend. 
Discerning God’s leading.
Care and guidance in the “Dark Night of the Soul” ie. Spiritual dryness, the absence of experiencing the presence of God, but also more generally "to describe an extremely difficult and painful period in one's life.
Becoming more effective in your ministry or work.
Experiencing Renovation and Vibrance in your Soul!

In fact, you’ll find that spiritual direction can strengthen your sense of calling as Christ’s ambassador, no matter your line of work. 
As a child of your Heavenly Father, you have been given the Holy Spirit as a guide and comfort –– and this same Spirit wants to pour out love and truth and comfort to those around you! 
In the ministry of spiritual direction you can entrust yourself to the Spirit of Jesus in a deep and personal way that provides you with comfort, guidance, and strength to joyfully serve God and love people.

Is Spiritual Direction Biblical?
All through the Bible we see examples of a friend, prophet, or teacher providing ministry similar to what we now call spiritual direction.   
Ruth and Naomi journeyed together to find Yahweh in a season of grief (Ruth 1:16-17).
David and Jonathan became soul friends, even though they were natural competitors (1 Samuel 18:1-3).
The Sons of Korah banded together to compose, pray, and sing Psalms of praise and lament and then they invited other people to join them (e.g., Psalms 42, 46, and 84).
Elizabeth listened and prayed with her young cousin Mary while they both were pregnant and formed a special bond (Luke 1:39-45).
Jesus spoke heart-to-heart with the Samaritan woman at the well and she drank the living water that he offered (John 4:4-42; 7:37-39).
Ananias ministered hospitality, listening, healing prayer, and encouragement to Saul (Paul) who just a few days earlier was prepared to kill him (Acts 9:10-18).
Mary Magdalene met with the eleven frightened apostles, waiting for the risen Christ to appear to them just as he had to her (John 20:11-23).
Paul wrote letters of spiritual nourishment and instruction to minister the grace and peace of Christ to people.
These Scriptural examples of spiritual companionship, hospitality, love, and friendship show us the whole spectrum of spiritual direction ministry and ultimately what the experience of community can look like in the Body of Christ as we apprentice Him.
You’ll notice how the examples from the Bible are unique, both situationally and in the way people related to one another. Indeed, since every person and every pastor have different needs and spiritual direction sessions are guided by the Spirit of Jesus, they can look different from person to person and session to session.

What Happens in a Spiritual Direction Session?
As we’ve said, the format of spiritual direction sessions is not a fixed program–it’s fluid and customized to meet the individuals needs. The goal of each gathering is to foster a healthy, safe setting for in this setting for a minister to explore and discover greater intimacy with Jesus and love for God and others. 
Here are some general guidelines for a “typical” session in spiritual direction.

Where do sessions take place?
Historically, spiritual directors often have met with clients in diverse locations like churches, monasteries, or retreat centers in which they serve, or in their offices or homes. However, as mentioned earlier, other times spiritual directors have provided soul care and guidance through corresponding by letter. 
With recent technological advances pushed forward by the challenges of the pandemic, spiritual direction sessions are often conducted through video conferencing. It has been remarkable to witness in recent years how the Spirit of Jesus has drawn people together over diverse geographic areas and time zones–God knows no bounds! 
All that being said, When we meet with pastors for spiritual direction and if at all possible; We love to get out of the normal daily surroundings that are familiar and bring spiritual direction in environments of discovery, exploration, adventure, new places and experiences that expand our appreciation for the work God has done on our behalf. What that looks like is totally up to you!

What does a session look like? 
Spiritual direction sessions may open with conversation, prayer, or a brief time of being quiet in God’s presence, depending on the comfort and desires of the of the individual. In any case, it is helpful for the spiritual director and and those receiving direction to “set apart” time from the busyness of the day. 
For the majority of the session, an individual shares with the director important life experiences, related to their relationship with God. 
Before the end of the session the director may recommend resources or spiritual discipline practices for the client to consider exploring. This is where we begin to explore the natural aspects of what apprenticing Jesus really looks like.
Often the director will conclude the session with a prayer of intercession or blessing.
What is most important to understand… At least as far as we are concerned at The Soul Renovation Project is that these sessions connect you with the work that Christ is doing in you. That it may bring Joy to your life.
Hebrews 1:9 says, Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness “more than any of His fellows.” That is, He had a gladness about Him that was unparalleled in any other person. Truly, whoever looks at the Lord cannot help but be impressed with Him. One would think however, that the secret to such attractiveness, effectiveness, and joy would be very complex. One would think that Jesus must have had the inside edge on some esoteric mysteries or that He implemented secret methodology only known to Him. But such is not the case, because throughout the scriptures, we see the simplicity of the secret Jesus understood that produced in Him the life that was so successful and so beautiful and so restful. What was this secret? The very foundational principle that governed His entire life was His relationship with His Father. If I were to question you about the defining principle of your life, you might say, “It’s my ministry,” or “It’s my family,” or, “It’s this vision,” or, “It’s this attempt to see the kingdom grow.”  You might on the other hand, define your story as one that is full of tragedy, fear, rejection, failure, and disappointment. Regardless of your personal triumph or despair and as valid as those things might be, they are insignificant in comparison to your relationship with the Father. When that’s all there is—no other agenda, no other failure, no other ministry, no other disappointment, no other vision, no other attempts to right all of the wrongs, and no other priority. That is what Jesus lives before us. By comparison to my own life and what has been my own tendencies, Jesus was so focused on His relationship with His Father that nothing else mattered. As a result, everything else fell into place beautifully. His life was fruitful. His relationships were special. His ministry was bountiful, and His story is amazing! A simplistic walk of faith, learning how to rest in Him and yoke with Him is the only thing that will get your story moving in the right direction!

What do you talk about?
The foundational spiritual direction question for the director to ask is, “How have you been experiencing God’s presence?” (The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William A. Barry and William J. Connolly).
But Dallas Willard suggested that a great spiritual direction question is simply, “What is bothering you?” That guards against the conversation being “spiritual” in an idealistic or intellectual way and promotes it being real and authentic to the pastors actual life. (Example) If you were to ask me what is bothering right now, or what could potentially distract my labor to rest or enjoy an Easy Yoke with Jesus. I would say “the Political state of our Nation!” How do I love in a political culture that inspires my hatred? My flesh says that it would be easier to hate but the Holy Spirit teaches me to love unconditionally. Not of my flesh but with a supernatural understanding of the power of God to work in this culture.
Some would say… “You are a Pastor! How can you be feeling these things?” My reply would be… It is time to be transparent with God and devoted to the works of Jesus. So I am going to accept the invitation of Jesus to have a real conversation about what goes on in my soul!”
Paul wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15). That’s wording for the empathy that invites the real talk that is the heart of a great spiritual direction relationship.

Getting started!

If you sense the need to be heard, known, encouraged in your spiritual growth and loved by a spiritual companion who will reflect the workings of the Spirit of Jesus in your life, take the first step by connecting with Wild on the Path.
Contact us at 541-621-8814 or email us at [email protected]

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