There are many ways to understand God's leading in our lives. One way, came as a helpful surprise during spiritual direction yesterday. My director asked me, "What is the Holy Spirit leading you to focus on at this time?" As a reflex, I reached over to my daily planner and quickly flipped back through the pages - the pattern was clear. Here's how it works for me.Using Father John's method of meditation from "The Better Part," there are several steps that lead to a sentence or two that I record each day. As a reminder, the four step process is, 1) concentrate, 2) consider, 3) converse, and 4) commit. Usually, by the "converse" step, I get an impression of what God is asking of me. At the "commit" step I translate what I am sensing into something actionable that I can look back on at noon each day (mid-day examen).
When I began the habit of meditation I used this list of questions to become more aware of His promptings:
- What is the Lord trying to tell me in this Gospel passage (or reading)?
- What resonance does it have in my heart?
- What implications does it entail for my life?
- How have I behaved up to now in this respect?
- How should I behave from now on?
- What difficulties will I need to overcome? What means do I need to use to do so?
At this point, the process is far less mechanical. However, occasionally I review this list and the method to ensure I stay on track.
The power of this approach, and any healthy journal writing habit, is the ability to see the patterns - to see God's leading. Though I had not thought of using my daily commitment notes this way - it proved to be a very encouraging, quick, and easy approach to seeing the clear pattern of God's movement in my life and prayer.
May your meditation be fruitful and may you hear His voice.
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Dear Friends - If you wish to submit a question to Father John, please see the "How can submit a question" post for guidelines. Your comments and feedback are more than welcome!