Part 6: Liturgy

Self-Paced Retreats

This is Part 6 of our Let the Thirsty Come retreat series, which highlights different aspects of spending extended quality time with God.

In this retreat, we explore how to foster rhythms of turning our hearts, our eyes, and our minds back to the promises and reality of our ever-present, life-giving Savior. Josh unpacks how John 15 answers fears and hesitations we may have about pursuing this life of continuous connection with Jesus.

Retreat Activities

This retreat consists of 4 sections: Prayers of Others, Scripture Meditation, Your Own Prayers, and Continue Abiding. Each section may take you around 30 to 60 minutes. Don’t be concerned if a section take slightly longer or shorter to complete.

Prayers of Others

The goal of this section is for you to explore prayers and liturgies of other believers, and find at least one that resonates with your heart, mind, and life situation.

Transition activity (optional, choose any)

Morning Liturgy – Use this liturgy to transition and commit your retreat time to the Lord.

Personal Reflection Questions – As we explore integrating prayer and liturgy throughout our life rhythms, it may be helpful for you to start by pausing and checking in with yourself. What is at the forefront of your mind and heart right now? Using this set of questions can be a helpful primer for the rest of the retreat.

Main Activity

Take some time to explore the available liturgies and prayers in some of the following resources. Try to find a couple items that connect with where you’re at right now, or express something of your own heart to God. Once you have found a few liturgies or prayers that you would like to use, spend some time working through them and expressing them to God personally. You could read them as they are, line by line, as a personal prayer to God. You could also paraphrase or expand upon them in your own personal prayer.

Possible prayers and liturgies:

  • Prayers of the Saints – A few short prayers adapted from several different authors
  • The Valley of Vision – A large collection of prayers adapted from Puritan writings, journals, and devotions. The language of these prayers is more difficult than most of the others, but they are also beautifully rich.
  • Every Moment Holy – This is a 3-volume set of liturgies for using in the rhythms of life. Its particular strength is in seeking in every moment of our lives, even the mundane, to be dependent on and looking to our good Father.
  • Prayers from A.W. Tozer – In some of his works (The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy), Tozer includes a prayer with every chapter. While some of these are harder to engage with if you haven’t just read the relevant chapter, several of them are very meaningful and helpful as standalone prayers.
  • Other liturgies – These liturgies are taken from our own personal walks with the Lord and are usually themed on a specific topic or desire, or based from a book that we found particularly helpful.
  • Feel free to explore liturgies and written prayers from other books or sources that you may have.

Closing Activity (optional)

Journaling Break – take a few minutes to journal about engaging with God through the prayers and liturgies of others. Are there any of these prayers that would be helpful in your daily or weekly rhythms? Would it be helpful to write any of these liturgies or prayers in your own words for future use?

Scripture Meditation

Transition Activity

Ideas for Rest – Use a few minutes to take a break before the next main activity

Main Activity

The Word in Our Hearts – For this month’s Scripture meditation you will choose a short passage to dwell on and spend time in both memorizing and meditating on God’s Word. This way, your meditation on the word does not stop with the retreat, but can continue into the coming days.

Your Own Prayers

In this section, rather than looking at the written prayers of others, the activities center on helping you to express your own heart in the form of a written prayer or personal liturgy.

Transition Activity

Ideas for Rest – Take a few minutes to take a break before the next main activity

Main Activity (choose 1)

Writing a Personal Liturgy – A personal liturgy often summarizes and brings together Scripture passages, quotes, songs, and ideas that have been meaningful to you recently. It is a helpful way of continuing to dwell on the lessons and ways that you have seen God working in your life.

Writing a Liturgy of the Moment – Composing a very short prayer that you can memorize and use in the context of specific daily life circumstances.

Writing a Book Liturgy – This is a great way of pulling together key themes or quotes from a book that you have read, reminding yourself of the truths that impacted you and praying these back to God.

Continue Abiding

With whatever time remains for your spiritual retreat, use the following possibilities to rest in Jesus and turn your heart to him.

Sing Praise – Another great way of setting your heart on Jesus throughout the moments of each day is to sing songs of praise. Take some time now to sing a few.

Journal – Write down some of your thoughts, reflections, or prayers. Is there anything that you want to remember or hold onto from this time spent with God?

Walk with the Lord – Go outside to a place you enjoy, where you can see the beauty of God’s creation. Walk slowly with your heart set on your good God and Savior. Rest your heart in God and turn it to him in love and praise. This can be a time of prayer, of praise, or of stillness – a restful heart rejoicing in the goodness of your Savior.

Mini Meditation – Revisit the passage that you meditated on earlier in the retreat. Do a short meditation on this passage using the format of Time with a Text or Walking with a Text. If you do Time with a Text, we recommend setting a three-minute timer for silence and a five minute timer for meditation. If you do Walking with a Text go for a 10 to 15 minute walk.

Read a Devotional Chapter – read a chapter of a book that helps you see the beauty of living in the fullness of daily communion with Jesus. Possible chapters:

When You Have Extra Time – A few additional possibilities for restful time with God

Closing Activity (optional)

Close in Prayer – Revisit and pray through one of the liturgies from today’s retreat. Close your time of retreat in prayer.

Example Retreats

These activities can be done in two short, 1-hour retreats, or as a single 2- to 3-hour retreat. All of the following are just suggestions – change them and customize them with activities you find most helpful.

Short Retreat, Part 1

  • Morning Liturgy
  • Prayers of Others – explore available liturgies
  • Sing a song of praise

Short Retreat, Part 2

Two- to Three-Hour Retreat

Tips and Reminders

Key Attitude – Know Yourself

What helps you engage more deeply with God? Pursue those things you have found helpful before, while also being willing to try something new. The body of Christ has great diversity in its members. While there are general patterns of how God works in his children, we should not expect our relationship with our Father to look exactly like someone else’s. Knowing yourself is vital in this journey. 

For a time of prayer, is it helpful for you to sit or walk? Write or speak out loud? Is it more helpful for you to be inside or outside? Alone or with others? Know yourself and engage in ways that are helpful to you, while still being willing, at times, to try something new.

Rest in the Truth

Abiding in Jesus is not founded on us trying to keep ourselves close to Jesus or even feeling close to Jesus. Abiding in Christ is founded on the reality that we are one with Christ, we are in Christ. This is true whether we feel it or not. It is true because of the gospel. Through trusting in Christ, we are once and for all time united with him. Abiding is not making this reality true, but living actively in the fact that it is true.

As you seek to grow in walking more closely with Jesus moment by moment, remember first that God has already made you one with Jesus. Set your hope today and this moment on God’s strength to keep you and grow you as a branch in the vine.

“How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself is revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith… But looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.” – Hudson Taylor

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