Category: Prayer and Reflection

For each of the following passages look at: Luke 4:1-15 — Temptation in the wilderness Mark 1:32-39 — Early in the morning Luke 5:12-16 — Great crowds Luke 6:12-16 — Choosing the apostles Matthew 14:10-23 — Death of John the Baptist and feeding the 5000 (also Mark 6:30-46) Luke 22:39-46 — Before His death

Today, we take time to have a look at what we are “carrying” with us in life. The backpack is a picture to help you bring your whole life before God in prayer. Before beginning your retreat time, please print out a full-page hard copy of the backpack using the PDF below, so you can...

Take some time to prayerfully reflect on the following questions and use them to pray through what is currently on your mind and heart.

The Psalms are a rich treasure for our times of prayer and communion with God. In them, we find the psalmists calling out to God in the midst of every kind of situation — whether their hearts are joyful, angry, afraid, sorrowful, doubting, discouraged, rejoicing, mourning, troubled, or singing praise. Because of this, the Psalms...

While most of the activities in this book focus on quieter, often internal, ways of engaging with God (reading, writing, speaking, listening, etc.), there can also be great value in incorporating more creative or interactive aspects into our time with God. This acknowledges and lives in the reality that God made us creative, dynamic people,...

Outside the Psalms there are many examples of God’s sons and daughters calling out to him in prayer. These can fuel and guide our prayers for ourselves or for others. Below are a few examples of prayers in Scripture — and there are many more! Choose a prayer that relates to how you would like...

Use the prayers of those who have gone before us to help prompt and inspire prayer. In addition to the prayers quoted below, there are also very good books that compile prayers and liturgies. Two possibilities include: The Valley of Vision edited by Arthur Bennett, and Every Moment Holy by Douglas Kaine McKelvey. Some devotional...

Which of the following would be most helpful to you for remembering, processing, and praying over your reflections? For any of the following possibilities, you could cut out words and pictures to make a collage, make a scrapbook page, or use art supplies like markers, colored pencils, paints, etc. Ebenezer “til now the Lord has...

The following reflection questions and prayer time are intended to help close a time of spiritual retreat or extended alone time with God. Take a few minutes to prayerfully journal your responses. Feel free to adapt the questions, as helpful. 1. How am I doing and how am I feeling after this time spent with...

In this activity, we use the Lord’s Prayer as a template for looking to God and depending on him for our core needs. When Jesus instructs his disciples to pray, he reminds them to beware of two dangers: praying to impress others and praying to impress God. Instead, he calls his disciples to pray in...