If you love and admire somebody, you want to spend time with
him or her. Because we love and admire Christ, we take seriously the challenge
of going on a prayer retreat.
Last time I tried a Q & A approach to explaining prayer
retreats. Today I have two more questions…
Q: What do you do on
a prayer retreat?
The idea is to pray, of course. But it helps to have an
outline of your time. Here's mine.
- Plan. I determine ahead of time why I’m going away. What’s my purpose for this retreat? It could be: to pray for my family; to seek God’s wisdom for a particular decision; to ask Him for guidance for the next season of my life.And of course I have to find a place (see below) and schedule time in my calendar to make it work.
- Unpack. When I finally arrive at my retreat center, I’m usually stressed and my mind is racing. I try to “unpack” mentally and emotionally. I make a list, randomly writing down anything that is rattling around in my head—personal problems, questions, fears, pressing assignments, upcoming decisions, family issues, everything. I spend anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour with this.
- Remember. I look back on how God has been working in my life. Making a list of His recent blessings might take only 20 or 30 minutes, but it puts me in a humble, grateful frame of mind.
- Read. I try to soak my mind in God’s word. I might read for an hour or even longer. I usually go for an entire New Testament epistle, a big chunk of the Psalms, or multiple chapters of Isaiah.
- Connect. My hope is to move into the presence of God. I confess my sins. I worship, perhaps with a CD of praise music. I also want to express to the Lord my submission to whatever He might have planned for my retreat (and for my life). Sometimes taking a walk helps me relax into His presence. All told this might be an hour or more.
- Listen. I might not get to this step until my second day. I take the list of “stuff” I unpacked, and begin to hold it before the Lord. “Listening” is about quieting my heart and waiting for His guidance. Maybe I’ll see a problem from a different angle or have new insight about a solution. Often I’ll think of Bible verses I read earlier, or passages I’ve studied or memorized, and see how they speak to my issues. Occasionally a sudden, pointed thought will emerge, almost as if the Lord is whispering it to me. I write all this down. This phase may last several hours.
- Wrap up. I finish the retreat with thanksgiving for what God has been showing me. I summarize what the Lord seems to have been saying, and develop a “to do” list to help me apply my retreat for the weeks and months ahead.
Q: Where do you go for
a prayer retreat? If you’ll commit to going on a prayer retreat, you’ll
find a place. Here are some suggestions:
- Motel-6 or similar inexpensive lodging. I’ve taken plenty of retreats at cheapo motels.
- Christian camps and retreat centers. They’ll often rent you an inexpensive room, and sometimes you can arrange meals.
- Campgrounds. Yes, you could take an RV or actually tent-camp.
- Arrange with out-of-town friends to stay at their place.
- All day at a public park is also do-able. Not as good as an overnight, but a shorter retreat is better than no retreat.
- I still insist it’s better to go away than go the “stay-cation” route. But in a pinch, you could hold up in your own house.
For more help, consider ordering the workbook “How toExperience an Effective Prayer Retreat," by Paul Becker. You might also check out the suggestions at Prayer Today Online.
The idea of going away for an overnight may seem daunting.
But if you had the chance to spend a day or two with Christ, just the two of
you, why wouldn’t you make the effort?
