Comments on: What Does Spiritual Partnership Look Like? http://heapofstones.com/discipleship/what-does-spiritual-partnership-look-like Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:14:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Rob http://heapofstones.com/discipleship/what-does-spiritual-partnership-look-like/comment-page-1#comment-205 Rob Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:37:40 +0000 http://heapofstones.com/?p=543#comment-205 Ray, a great question! And like anyone else I've struggled with that tendency too. I've found two very simple disciplines that have helped me in my spiritual partnerships. First, always ask each other meaningful life questions and listen attentively to each other's responses. Be real and transparent. These could be questions that arise from small talk or as follow up questions to something your spiritual partner says. If a question seems awkward, just say so: "This is awkward for me to ask but..." Ask questions like, "What is God doing in your life right now?" "What is God showing you from his Word?" "Tell me about your walk with God." "How are you integrating your relationship with Christ with your job, or marriage, or other relationships?" "If there's one thing stealing your joy in Christ right now, what is it?" "How can I pray for you?" The second discipline is to always pray for each other--together--out loud! Talk with God together conversationally and call upon his wisdom and power to lead and provide for each other. Pray in accord with the responses to the questions you asked each other. In prayer, celebrate what God is doing in each other's lives. I hope that helps! Ray, a great question! And like anyone else I’ve struggled with that tendency too. I’ve found two very simple disciplines that have helped me in my spiritual partnerships. First, always ask each other meaningful life questions and listen attentively to each other’s responses. Be real and transparent. These could be questions that arise from small talk or as follow up questions to something your spiritual partner says. If a question seems awkward, just say so: “This is awkward for me to ask but…”

Ask questions like, “What is God doing in your life right now?” “What is God showing you from his Word?” “Tell me about your walk with God.” “How are you integrating your relationship with Christ with your job, or marriage, or other relationships?” “If there’s one thing stealing your joy in Christ right now, what is it?” “How can I pray for you?”

The second discipline is to always pray for each other–together–out loud! Talk with God together conversationally and call upon his wisdom and power to lead and provide for each other. Pray in accord with the responses to the questions you asked each other. In prayer, celebrate what God is doing in each other’s lives.

I hope that helps!

]]> By: Ray Edwards http://heapofstones.com/discipleship/what-does-spiritual-partnership-look-like/comment-page-1#comment-204 Ray Edwards Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:34:21 +0000 http://heapofstones.com/?p=543#comment-204 Rob, do you have specific suggestions about how to BE a good spiritual partner? How do we prevent our meetings from becoming mere "chat sessions"? Rob, do you have specific suggestions about how to BE a good spiritual partner? How do we prevent our meetings from becoming mere “chat sessions”?

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