Welcome! Whether Spiritual Direction is new or familiar to you, may the following serve as a summary of the roots, definitions, approaches, and benefits of Spiritual Direction for the modern believer. 

The Origins of Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction is a centuries-old practice of meeting regularly with a Spiritual Director to help you deepen your relationship with God. The roots of this ministry can be found in Paul’s letters to the early church. The desert fathers and mothers of the 4th and 5th centuries, followed by Ignatius of Loyola and other monastics, clarified the inner work. It’s been held close by the contemplative stream of the Catholic Church for several hundred years, only recently spreading into Protestant traditions. 

Meeting a Deep Need

Faith is best lived in community. A believer needs many helpers along her journey. When in pain, counseling and inner healing help us find the root of that pain and move forward into wholeness. Discipleship and teaching is integral to believers being established in the Word and understanding their place in the kingdom and family of God. Pastoral guidance is helpful when looking for advice and accountability in the face of decisions. Mentoring is also a beautiful and formational experience for those young in faith longing to know the way they should go. And friendship is, in my opinion, the most beautiful source of personal encouragement one can give and receive.

Even with all these rich resources, a space is left empty: the space where we are known, yet free of obligation to know the other. The space where we can take the time to process the confusion of life circumstances illumined by the presence of Jesus. The space where we can freely ask the questions we don’t dare voice to family or clergy, unafraid of sounding heretical or jaded. The space where we can sit in silence and JUST BE  in God’s presence, but not be alone. The space to vocalize our inner life without being judged or lectured or neatly answered or fixed or interrupted. Because if we just had the time and space, we could sort out lots of things, and get to the question behind all the questions. The space where we can explore the meeting of our true selves and the God who knows us better than we know ourselves. The space to go down deeper into the intimate places of divine connection and our deepest needs. 

This is an important space. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a companion holding the time and place for you to be intentional about exploring your inner life with God?

That’s what a Spiritual Director does. She helps others attend to God’s presence and revelation and prepare to respond to him. 

My Spiritual Director friend Dane Anthony states the premise in this way: 

“Spiritual Direction is rooted in two basic convictions: 1) that our relationship with God is of primary and fundamental importance to our life; and 2) that our relationship with God invades and informs all aspects of our lives and world, there is—ultimately—no separation.” 

Who Can Benefit from Spiritual Direction?

A mature believer who longs to be intentional in her faith and connect with God. Perhaps she has hit a wall, or a new season, or faces a decision, or sees a shift in the ways she used to understand herself or her God, and could use a little help processing the change. Perhaps she is simply longing for more.

Spiritual Direction Defined

So how does this come about? There is no formula for Spiritual Direction; no one method. But such mystery and freedom is exactly what draws me toward this work, because it is a ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is all about mystery and freedom. A director friend of mine tells me he’s been working on his elevator speech for fifteen years and still doesn’t have it figured out!

That being said, here’s an attempted answer to the question, “What is Spiritual Direction?”

The simplest definition is this: 

In Spiritual Direction, one attunes to the presence of God.

The program I studied under, Sustainable Faith, describes it as “a form of pastoral guidance that fosters in the believer an intimate communion with God. Growth in this communion is shaped through contemplation of Jesus, guided by the Spirit, and nurtured through a prayerful response to the invitation of God. Through regular meetings of conversation and prayer, the spiritual director helps another to notice the work of God in his life and respond to it as promptly, vigorously, joyfully and consistently as possible.”

Dr. Larry Crabb framed it this way:

“It is to encourage Christians to consider the enormous value of spiritual direction and to equip a handful of selected people to engage in meaningful, powerful, soul-shaping conversations with folks who long to move through life’s challenges into a deeper relationship with God.

“I am persuaded that the absence of such conversations in so many of our lives is significantly responsible for the all too common distance and shallowness in our experience of God. Paul speaks of a NEW WAY to live in Romans 7:6. He calls it the “new way of the Spirit”. I understand spiritual direction to involve the supernatural work of relating to others in a way that guides them into the new way to think, live, and relate that the gospel makes possible.

“As we conceive it, Spiritual Direction is the process of exploring and understanding the interior world of another, recognizing both the work of the flesh and the work of the Spirit, and following the Spirit’s work in transforming the person’s interior world to become more like Christ.”

And here’s Richard Foster’s summary:

• Spiritual direction is an interpersonal relationship in which we learn how to grow, live, and love in the spiritual life.
• Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.
• Discernment is a crucial gift in the work of spiritual direction.
• In spiritual direction there is absolutely no domination or control.
• The spiritual director/mentor/pastor guides another in spiritual things through the spiritual world by spiritual means.
• God has ordained that there be spiritual directors/mentors/pastors among his people. This is the structure of love in practice.
• Supremely, spiritual directors/mentors/pastors are persons who have a sense of being “established” in God. Otherwise they are too dangerous to be allowed into the soul space of others. But spiritual direction in a sense doesn’t begin with a problem. Spiritual direction deals much more out of health and an identity of Christian holiness, so I think it’s an obvious response to the failure to transcend.

Emily P. Freeman’s podcast is a great audio introduction.

Spiritual Direction is different than counseling in a couple key ways. The focus is not on a problem; it’s on the Spirit’s workings within the life of the directee, and her relationship with God. The role of director is much less central than that of a counselor. The Spiritual Director does not have the answers and is not trying to fix anything; the Holy Spirit is our guide and both directee and director attune to its leading.

Spiritual Direction is also unique from discipleship in that it is not advice-driven. It is more Spirit-centered than Word-centered. It’s more about questions than answers. 

What does a Spiritual Director do?

She holds the space. Mostly, she listens. For the directee’s truest heart, and for the Lord’s ways laced within it.

A director also asks questions. Questions like, “Who is God to you? How do you engage with Father, Son, Holy Spirit? What is prayer to you? How do you hear God’s voice? What does His presence feel like? How do you approach scripture right now? What does wilderness look like in your life, and what’s your What do you really need from God?” 

Spiritual Direction is compassionate, attentive, and confidential. Which is a good thing, because it is deep and personal. Spiritual Directors help people notice and cultivate ways of knowing and being known by God. God is the true director. Therefore, Spiritual Directors are servants of the holy, listeners with the job of being attentive to God, with and for the sake of another. 

Spiritual Direction is mining for more in the treasure cave of the soul. The directee holds the pic-axe and does the work while the director holds the flashlight, illumining the jewel-laden corners of the heart the directee might not have noticed.

“The whole purpose of spiritual direction is to penetrate beneath the surface of a person’s life, to get behind the façade of conventional gestures and attitudes which one presents to the world, and to bring out one’s inner spiritual freedom, one’s inmost truth, which is what [Christians] call the likeness of Christ in one’s soul.  This is an entirely supernatural (spiritual) thing, for the work of rescuing the inner person from automatism belongs first of all to the Holy Spirit.” Thomas Merton

“Director” is actually a bit of a mis-nomer; the role is much less heavy-handed than that. God is the true Director. Spiritual Directors are “servants of the holy, listeners with the job of being attentive to God, with and for the sake of another.” (Susan Phillips, Candlelight)

A few more descriptors for Spiritual Director:

Sacred Companion. 

Soul-tender. 

Host. 

Holy Listener. 

Trail Guide. 

And my favorite, Spiritual Midwife.

Margaret Guenther describes this analogy beautifully in Holy Listening.

“Much of spiritual direction is in the company of those who are waiting, who cannot be fixed, repaired, or made right, and the spiritual director does well to emulate the midwife’s restraint. The midwife understands the process of birthing… she knows when she can assist and interpret and when she should merely be present. She intervenes only when necessary and helpful, never for the sake of “doing something.”

“ The midwife is present to another in a time of vulnerability, working in areas that are deep and intimate. It is a relationship of trust and mutual respect. She does things with, not to, the person giving birth. A midwife sees clearly what the birthgiver cannot see. She can encourage and interpret when the birth-giver feels she has lost control and failed.

“Spiritual direction is not a crisis ministry, even though the initial impulse to seek out a director may arise from a sense of urgent personal need. The midwife of the spirit is not an expert called in for the dramatic moments… She works with the whole person and is present throughout the whole process. She has time.  She offers support through every stage and waits with the birth-giver when “nothing is happening.”

My personal experience receiving Spiritual Direction has been incredibly rich. In the same way seeing a therapist privides accountability and direction in doing deeper work, Spiritual Direction has brought an intentionality and perceptiveness to my faith that nothing else has in my 35 years of walking with Jesus. 

Click here for a brief FAQ page. 

Are You Interested in Spiritual Direction?

Whether worldwide through Zoom, or in person at my Franklin, TN home, I am currently available for Spiritual Direction and would love to hear from you!