September 2026 – Week One
Open In Prayer
Begin by praying together – taking some intentional time to breathe, be still, and invite the Holy Spirit to be with you all as you set aside time to be together.
Holy Spirit, make us aware of the reality that You are here with us. We want You here. Speak to us. Make Your love real to us. Amen.
Around The Table & Reflect On Last Gathering’s Practice
This is space during your gathering to share a meal, build relationships, and enjoy one another.
What’s a compliment you’ve received that lives rent free in your head?
Read This Aloud Together: Important Reminders
We are continuing to learn and practice the ancient Christian practice of spiritual direction together. This is why:
We are doing this to become more aware of God in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us.
Spiritual direction is NOT… | Spiritual direction IS… |
Counseling or therapy (ie: it’s not crisis oriented, aimed at solving a problem) | Noticing how God is working, calling, and inviting through every season…your ordinary life is the material |
A Bible study (ie: centered on mastering a text) | Centered on a person’s lived experience of God, with Scripture as our anchor |
Advice giving or fixing (ie: here’s what you should do”) | Listening, asking honest questions, and trusting the Spirit to speak |
A performance (ie: needing to sound wise, spiritual, or put together) | A safe place to be heard exactly where you are |
Read This Aloud Together: Our Agreements
To make this a safe place for everyone, we agree together:
Confidentiality: what is shared here stays here
No fixing, no advising, no rescuing. We ask questions and we listen. We do not solve.
Silence is welcome and required. Pauses are not awkward gaps to fill, they are spaces for the Spirit to work.
Everyone shares only what they choose. There is no pressure to go deeper than you are ready to go.
We hold each other’s stories with reverence. Being trusted with someone’s inner life is holy ground.
No advice in disguise. Advice doesn’t stop being advice when dressed in spiritual clothes (ie: “I just feel like God wants you to know you should…”) and a Scripture verse offered as a solution is still fixing. Remember, Job’s friends sounded religious too.
We give our facilitator (ie: Community leaders) permission to redirect. If the group drifts into fixing or advising, the facilitator will gently say, “Let’s hold that, and return to a moment of quiet”. No one should feel shamed by this…we will all need it at some point as we’re all learning and agreeing to it now is what makes it kind later.
If something heavy surfaces: at some point, someone may share something weighty (ie: a marriage in crisis, deep grief, past harm, a mental health struggle). When that happens, we agree to:
In the moment: the group’s job does not change. Stay present, listen, and pray. Do not switch into counseling mode - presence, not treatment, is what we offer.
Afterward: your Community leaders will follow up with the person privately and, where it’s needed, help them take a next step toward pastoral care or counseling.
Open Together in Scripture: Luke 19:1-10
(You should give around 10 minutes for this practice before beginning in group spiritual direction)
Sit comfortably and quietly. Breathe deeply. Try to let go of the anxieties of your day. Focus your attention on the Spirit of God within you.
Now, listen to the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus
(Community leader to read Luke 19:1-10)
Spend a few minutes reflecting on how you might have experienced a similar encounter with Jesus. In your own imagination, picture a place you go to often (ie: your home, office, neighborhood, etc). Imagine yourself looking in on whatever is happening there, as Zaccehaes looked down from the tree in Jericho.
Who do you see in your picture? What are they doing or talking about?
Picture Jesus entering the scene of your imagination. What does He do or say?
Now gently enter the room or place you’re picturing in your imagination. How do you feel about being there?
Is there anything you want to ask Jesus about what’s going on?
What does Jesus say to you?
If Jesus wanted to engage in your life today (as He did with Zacchaeus), how might you expect to encounter Him?
Group Spiritual Direction Flow
A reminder, that you should’ve created a schedule for when each person is going. You should account for ~20-30 minutes per person, which means you will only have time for a maximum of two people per gathering.
You may choose to begin by lighting a candle…this is regularly practiced within spiritual direction as a tangible representation of the reality that God is with us / we are not alone.
Opening Time of Quiet – 5 minutes
(Even though this is a time of quiet, you may choose to utilize William Augusto’s instrumental tracks to help ease the group into becoming more comfortable with silence)
The person sharing begins to share uninterrupted about what’s been going on in their life with God recently – 10 minutes
You may choose to reference these questions to help them get started in sharing.
Time of silence – 1 minute
Group responds and interacts with the one sharing – 10 minutes
You may choose to reference these questions in your interactions and utilizing the “Words for Listening” tools listed above
Time of silent prayer for the person sharing – 2 minutes
Time for the one sharing to debrief about how the experience felt – 1 minute
Practice: Listening Well
In your ordinary conversations these next two weeks (ie: with your spouse, a coworker, a friend, your kids) practice listening without fixing, advising, or turning the conversation back to yourself.
A few tools to try when it’s your turn to respond:
Repeat back what the person said with an implied question mark, inviting them to say more. If they say, “Life is so busy right now, I’m having a hard time noticing God,” you might respond, “It’s hard to notice God in your life right now?”
Ask for more: “Could you say more about that?”
Describe what you’re hearing, then ask if that’s right: “It sounds like… am I hearing you correctly?”
Say nothing. Nod. Keep eye contact. Wait. Presence is a response.
And notice the urge. When you feel the pull to fix, advise, explain, or share your own story…don’t judge yourself. Just notice it. That noticing is the practice. We’ll compare notes when we gather next.
A practical note: you don’t need to announce that you’re practicing ;). Just listen. Ordinary conversations are the training ground.
Listen to God, not just people. We cannot help others notice God if we aren’t practicing noticing Him ourselves.
So each day this week, take five minutes of quiet with God. No agenda, no performance. Sit down, breathe, and ask two simple questions:
When today was I most aware of God’s presence? When was I least aware? That’s it. Five minutes of paying attention is worth more than an hour of technique.
End in Prayer
Before you conclude, spend some time as a Community praying for one another.
Below is an optional liturgy you could pray:
Lord Jesus, There is no greater prayer than yours — make us one as you are one, in devotion, in living, in love. Amen.