Preparing for
You might wonder what to say when you go to meet your spiritual director. Something obvious may come to your mind or you might think you have nothing of any significance to talk about! The times when we think there is very little happening spiritually are often the times when something surprising emerges!
Prayer
Prayer is one of the main means of connection between God and individuals: it is an expression of our relationship with God. Pray to the Holy Spirit to guide you and your director. Call to mind the real goal of all spiritual direction, which is to discover more clearly God’s action in your life, and to equip you to respond generously to what he is asking of you.
Reflection
Before you meet, take time to reflect on what has been happening in your life. Begin with a time of silence, preparing your heart to be receptive. The following reflection prompts may provide a topic you bring to your direction session.
Promts for self-reflection
• I am experiencing God in these ways …
• I have been thinking deeply about …
• I long for …
• I’d describe my life lately as …
• I sense God’s presence with me when…
• I sense God’s absence from me because…
• I have been troubled by …
• I have been discerning …
• I am stuck in …
Prioritize
Prioritize what you would like to use the hour for e.g. of several different moments of awareness of God, what was the most important to explore? OR which of your questions needs quality attention? This preparation will ensure that what is most important will be discussed, if you are being honest. Sometimes the most important things are also the most painful and for that reason are easily omitted.
Journal or Notebook
We can tend to think of our encounters with God as separate and disconnected events; yet, He is ever-present and always communicating His love to you. By keeping a journal or small notebook and recording these events, you begin to see that they are not fragmented messages, but parts of a larger conversation. Writing them down enables you to see patterns and these patterns can be brought into spiritual direction to discover, in a deeper sense, God’s plan for your life.
To Remember
After your session, take time to remember. record the major things that seemed to happen in your session.
Were there any God-surprises?
Was the session helpful?
Why or why not?
What did you learn?
Time spent reflecting on the session is time well spent. Like the preparation prior to the session, it will increasingly ensure that spiritual direction becomes a powerful means of deepening your relationship with God.