On occasion, I will get asked the question, “what do you do for spiritual renewal?” That is a hard one to answer. Most of my days are filled with the stuff that makes all of our lives busy. I balance work, motherhood, a marriage, currently four part time jobs and my own ministry. That does not allow for many moments of peace. In fact, when I was finishing my clinical hours for my Chaplaincy degree, I responded to the question with an answer that included my car, loud music, and long drives. That hasn’t really changed. I have a little sports car; at times I get in turn on some great tunes and find some awesome backroads.
But that is not true or deep spiritual space with God. For those moments, I often dig out a book on prayer. In a quiet place I will open it up and choose a style of prayer in which to indulge. That sounds sort of weird. Yet, some of the times in which I have felt the Lord move in my life has been in these unique opportunities.
I have drawn trees in deep prayer. As I move my pencil along the paper, I open up the day or the pressures of life for God to come in. For me the physical picture reminds me of what I forget when I close my eyes at the end of the day. The leaves or branches tend to take on some serious concerns. The trunk gets inundated with thoughts that flow out of my brain or heart onto the paper.
Do you know what I think stands above all the rest when choosing an option for spiritual renewal? That you do it. The how or the how often are not as important. Although, I would say that the frequency of renewal can be related to the Sabbath. The point is that you need to be alone with God on a regular basis. In those events, you need to release your heart and mind to him so that he can restore you.
There are numerous options. Prayer styles, fasting, scripture readings and reflections, worship through music. Regardless how you find God, find him. I could give you the best formatted design for renewal, but it is not all that important. For sure there are spaces that are ideal for resting. In these settings we often can release pressures of life and turn our attention to God. I do spiritual retreats for a living. I know that this is true. What believers take away from retreats are equivalent to this renewal we are talking about. Yet, those are restricted to times and places. God and renewal are available in every second of a day. You just have to discover in what ways that happens best for you.
Monica Swank 