The following are some ideas for how you could structure personal retreat times ranging from 1 hour to a whole day. Try starting small and slowly working your way to longer times alone with God. Don’t consider any of the following examples or templates as rigid — change them and rearrange them so that they work well for you. Some Scripture possibilities are given for your first few retreats, but after that feel free to meditate on whatever Scriptures seem helpful (see the chapter titled Choosing Passages for Meditation). Lastly, while rough time estimates are given for each activity, this is not meant to be a constraint. These are only given as general guidance for how long different activities might take. Don’t be overly constrained or worried about time — focus on Jesus and trust that our good God will bring fruit out of time spent seeking Him.
Activities listed in italics can be found in the
Table of Contents
One-Hour Retreats
If you have limited time, it is best to follow a fairly simple structure. Remember, trying to do more can often be detrimental — it is usually better to take your time and go deep with one activity. It can be very helpful to make a regular habit of short retreats, varying the main content from one time to the next (perhaps alternating between Scripture meditation and prayer/reflection).
Retreat 1
- Psalm 131
- Walking with a Text — Psalm 23 or Psalm 62:5-8
- Close with a song of praise/worship
Retreat 2
- Morning Liturgy
- Personal Reflection Questions or My Life Backpack
- Linger on a closing verse like Psalm 46:10-11
Retreat 3
- A few minutes of silence
- A song of praise
- Sitting with a Text — Mark 4:35-41 or John 10:7-15
- Closing prayer using one of the Prayers of the Saints
Retreat 4
- Psalm 131 or Morning Liturgy
- Being Present
- A song of praise
- A few minutes of closing prayer
Retreat 5
- A few minutes of silence
- One of the Prayers of the Saints
- Prayers in Scripture or Praying the Psalms
- Sit and rest outside for five minutes
Retreat 6
- Opening activity of your choice
- Confession — Quick Check-In
- Linger on a Gospel-centered verse for a few minutes
(see Next Steps After Confession) - Closing prayer
General One-Hour Retreat Template
- Opening activity for preparation/transition (10 minutes)
- Main activity (30 to 40 minutes)
- Journaling (10 minutes)
- Closing activity (5 minutes)
Possible Activities
Opening activities (choose 1)
- Psalm 131
- Morning Liturgy
- 3 minutes of silence and one song of praise
- A previously prepared Personal Liturgy
- 3 minutes of silence and one of the Prayers of the Saints
Main activities (choose 1, alternate type of activity from one retreat to the next)
Meditation
- Walking with a Text — Psalm 23 or Psalm 62:5-8
- Sitting with a Text — Mark 4:35-41 or John 10:7-15
- Journaling with a Text — Ephesians 2:1-10 or Micah 7:18-20
- Living Parables — Jeremiah 17:5-8 or Luke 12:22-34
- Time with a Text — 1 Peter 1:3-9 or Isaiah 30:15-18
Prayer and Reflection
- Personal Reflection Questions or My Life Backpack
- Prayers in Scripture
- Praying the Psalms
Other
- Confession — Quick Check-in
- Being Present
- Read a chapter from a devotional book
Closing activities (choose 1):
- Sing a song of praise
- 2 minutes of silence and a few minutes of closing prayer
- Prayers of the Saints (choose 1)
- Sit and rest outside for five minutes
- Linger on a closing verse like Psalm 46:10-11, 62:5, or 62:7
Two-Hour Retreats
Retreat 1
- Psalm 131 (15 minutes)
- Walking with a Text — Psalm 23 or Psalm 62:5-8 (45 minutes)
- My Life Backpack or Personal Reflection Questions (45 to 60 minutes)
- When You Have Extra Time (time permitting)
Retreat 2
- Morning Liturgy or a previously prepared Personal Liturgy (5 to 10 minutes)
- Sitting with a Text — Mark 4:35-41 or John 10:7-15 (45 minutes)
- Read a chapter from a devotional book (30 minutes)
- Journal (15 minutes)
- When You Have Extra Time (time permitting)
Retreat 3
- Rest in silence (3 to 5 minutes)
- Praise — choose 2 favorite songs (5 to 10 minutes)
- Prayers in Scripture or Praying the Psalms (45 minutes)
- Being Present (30 to 45 minutes)
- When You Have Extra Time (time permitting)
Retreat 4
- Rest in silence (3 to 5 minutes)
- Prayers of the Saints (choose 1; 5 to 10 minutes)
- Confession — Quick Check-in (30 to 45 minutes)
- Next Steps After Confession — read this chapter and briefly journal about helpful next steps for you (15 minutes)
- Journaling with a Text — Ephesians 2:1-10 or Micah 7:18-20 (45 minutes)
- When You Have Extra Time (time permitting)
General Two-Hour Retreat Templates
Template 1
- Time of preparation or silence (10 to 15 minutes)
- Scripture meditation (45 minutes)
- Prayer or reflection/confession (45 minutes)
- Journaling or When You Have Extra Time (15 minutes)
Template 2
- Prayer or liturgy (10 to 30 minutes)
- Scripture meditation (45 minutes)
- Read a chapter from a devotional book (30 minutes)
- Journaling or When You Have Extra Time (15+ minutes)
Four-Hour Retreats
Retreat 1
- Psalm 131 and Morning Liturgy (20 minutes)
- Sitting With a Text — Mark 4:35-41 or John 10:7-15 (45 minutes)
- My Life Backpack or Personal Reflection Questions (60 minutes)
- Go for a walk (30 to 60 minutes)
- Praying the Psalms or Prayers in Scripture (45 minutes)
- Journal (15 minutes)
- 2 songs of praise (10 minutes)
- A few minutes silence and closing prayer
Retreat 2
- 3 to 5 minutes of resting in silence
- Praise — choose 2 favorite songs (10 minutes)
- Prayers of the Saints (choose 1; 5 minutes)
- Confession — Search Me, O God (60-90 minutes)
- Do something active but restful (30 minutes)
- Next Steps After Confession, then journal about helpful next steps for you (15 minutes)
- Walking with a Text — Ephesians 2:1-10 or Micah 7:18-20 (45 minutes)
- When You Have Extra Time (time permitting)
Retreat 3
- 20 minutes of opening activities (see One-Hour Retreats)
- Living Parables — Jeremiah 17:5-8 or Luke 12:22-34 or Journaling With a Text — Psalm 23 or Psalm 62:5-8 (45 minutes)
- Go for a walk and pray (30 minutes)
- Read a chapter from a devotional book (30 minutes)
- Writing a Personal Liturgy (60 minutes)
- Go for a walk (20 minutes)
- Journal (15 minutes)
- Praise — choose a couple favorite songs (10 minutes)
- End by reading your personal liturgy out loud (5 minutes)
General Four-Hour Retreat Template
- Opening activities (Psalm 131/Morning Liturgy/silence/prayer/etc., 20 minutes)
- Scripture meditation (45 to 60 minutes)
- Do something active but restful (30 minutes)
- Prayer or reflection (45 minutes)
- Read a chapter of a devotional book (30 minutes)
- Journal (15+ minutes)
- Closing activities (10+ minutes)
Full-Day Retreats
If you want to plan a full-day or even multi-day retreat, it is important to set the right tone and pace. When a retreat is just a few hours long, it is possible to schedule the time fairly full with back-to-back activities. However, this is not recommended for full day or multi-day retreats. Trying to fit in lots of activities, one after another, can actually be counterproductive and may leave you more weary than encouraged.
Instead, I find that it is very important to go into longer retreats with a focus on setting a relaxed and restful pace and seeking to set our minds and hearts on God no matter what type of activity we are doing. You will notice that I have included significantly more rest time in my eight-hour retreat template — things like going for a walk, recreation, or taking a nap. Don’t consider such times as merely filler, but treat them as an integral part of the retreat. Just as God gives us His Word and prayer as gifts, He also gives His people the gifts of rest, beauty, good food, etc. Include these type of elements in longer retreats, and engage in them with thankful hearts set on God. As Scripture says, “Whether you eat or drink do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Lastly, with longer retreats, be both structured and flexible. Plan out in advance the things that you would like to do, including the specific activities for meditation, prayer etc. But be flexible. If partway through the retreat you feel like a slightly different activity would fit better, feel free to swap things out. Or you may find that you need more rest than you originally anticipated. On more than one occasion I have added a short nap in the afternoon during a longer retreat — muscling your way through meditation on Scripture when you are falling asleep will probably not yield a lot of fruit!
General Eight-Hour Retreat Template
- Opening activities and breakfast/snack (30 minutes)
- Scripture meditation (60 minutes)
- Prayer or reflection activity (30 to 60 minutes)
- Sing a song responding to your time with God so far
- Do something active and restful (30 minutes)
- Lunch (30 to 45 minutes)
- Liturgy or Prayers of the Saints (15 minutes)
- Take a nap (30 to 60 minutes)
- Read a chapter of a devotional book and journal afterwards (60 minutes)
- Do some light exercise/go for a hike/life-giving recreation (60 minutes)
- Scripture meditation or read an extended portion of Scripture (60 minutes)
- Journal or walk and pray (15+ minutes)
- Closing activities (10 to 20 minutes)