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Introduction

Millions of people, longing for something more, hunger for God. This hunger is as evident in the church as it is in the culture. Christians are tired of playing church and believe that the time has come either to get with it or get out. The desire for solid, spiritual formation is greater now than at any other period in my lifetime. Institutional religion has proven itself impotent to provide abundant life. We desire something more.

We are people of the Book. We take our cues and receive our marching orders from scripture. We believe God speaks the ultimate word (revelation) and we respond. We are not interested in a spirituality foreign to or isolated from the Bible. At the same time, however, we believe God has spoken through tradition. We believe the great cloud of witnesses is filled with saints whose lives and teachings illumine our path and help us interpret the Book as we apply its timeless truths to ourselves and our situation.

One such person is John Wesley. By examining his life and ministry we can uncover rich, practical ideas for strengthening our devotional lives. This workbook is designed to provide you with personal enrichment as you use Wesley as a window through whom to view the spiritual life. If you stop with him, you will miss the point. If you pass through him into Christ, you will be blessed. If you use him as a guru, you will be disappointed. If you use him as a guide, you will find yourself delighted.

If Wesley could say anything about the spiritual life to contemporary Christians, it might well be, “God does not call you to have a devotional time; God calls you to live a devotional life.” A look at his massive writings reveals that, for him, the devotional life was much more related to the entirety of his experiences than to specific prayer times. Without question Wesley observed fixed times of devotion—and did so for more than sixty years! But to define his spiritual life by those times alone would miss the full picture of his spirituality. For him, every moment was a God moment, an occasion for God to reveal and for him to respond. As you begin this workbook, you will have many moments in which to reflect personally and deeply on your spiritual life.

A word of caution: One of the greatest dangers in contemporary spiritual formation is the temptation to turn it into another program. We are so good at this in the church. But if we attempt to make the spiritual life an event, it will die. And it should. For we will have reduced the life of God in the human soul to rules and regulations, fads and emphases, lists and techniques. We will have forgotten the key element Wesley would want us to remember: the spiritual life is not a part of life; it is life.

So use this workbook as a means, not an end. Use it as an opportunity, not as a compartment. Use it as an avenue of grace, not a measurement of maturity. Only then will you know devotional life in the Wesleyan tradition.

The Formative Process

Spiritual formation cannot be programmed, but it can be directed. This workbook is designed to encourage and facilitate a formative experience for you. It is contemporary in format, yet related to ancient practices that have proven their value. Each day will follow a fourfold path of reading, reflecting, recording, and relating.

You will begin each day by reading a brief text that highlights some aspect of devotional life in the Wesleyan tradition. The reading is intended to center and focus you in a rich, but limited, aspect of the spiritual life. It will normally reveal some insight from Wesley, but its primary purpose is to enrich your walk with God. As you read each day’s text, be constantly reading through or beyond it. Put yourself into the material; do not read it merely as the witness of a Christian who lived more than two hundred years ago.

Following each day’s reading, various exercises will guide you to personal reflection. This is closely akin to biblical meditation that ruminates and “walks around” a text until a particular “God word” emerges. The reflection exercises are designed to help you answer the question, What is God saying to me through what I have just read? Do not force this. Do not try to make something happen. Reflection is not magic or automatic. On some days, the personal “God word” will not surface. That is okay. In fact, if you try too hard to find it, it will only elude you more. Relax. Accept the absence when it occurs. It too is part of the formative process. True spiritual formation says, “God’s word, at God’s time, in God’s way.”

On most days, however, the reflection phase will yield some meaningful impression. It may be an idea or an emotion; it does not matter. It may emerge rather complete in itself, or it might appear quite unformed and fragmentary;

either way is all right. The time for recording is at hand, and this is the third step on your daily path in the workbook. One writer has called a journal or workbook a “blessing catcher.” That is the point of the reflection phase. It provides you the means to store the impression so that it is not lost. At a later time you can reflect further on the impression.

Some people record in prose, others in poetry. Still others will draw a picture or write out a personal conversation with God. Styles to record your impression are many. Use what works best for you. Be creative and experiment with new ways of recording. You may find along the way that you have some fresh ways to reflect and record your experiences with God. Recording is simply the phase in which the insights (the “God word”) are captured and considered.

The final phase is relating. It reminds us that we do not come to any moment with God empty-handed. We always have something worthwhile to share. The relating phase occurs in two ways in this workbook. First, each day’s exercises will lead you to relate what you have just experienced with some previous discovery. Think of it like adding links to a chain. Each day’s emphasis is part of a larger picture and progression. By relating your present discovery to your past experiences, you allow the Holy Spirit to unify and harmonize your spiritual growth. You allow God to set your experience in its proper, larger context of formation and maturation.

The second aspect of relating is the weekly group meeting. You do not have to form a group to use this workbook, but I hope you will. John Wesley called this “Christian Conference.” He believed God uses community and interaction to instruct us in ways that would not occur if we kept things to ourselves. At the end of each week, a guide for the group is suggested. Use it as a tool to help you, not as a tether to restrict you. Obviously, I have no way of knowing how God may have worked in your life or the lives of the group members. Honor what is happening in the group so that the dynamic presence of the Spirit is not lost. At the same time, do not discount the group guide. Some groups allow too much open discussion and the result is meandering, freewheeling, and domination by people who talk too much! Pay attention to the “How to Have a Good Group” section that follows.

By reading, reflecting, recording, and relating I believe you will find this seven-week process to be formative. It will be an occasion for positive spiritual training that will strengthen your desire and ability to approach all of life as devotional. This workbook will come alive when it enables you to make Wesley’s teachings a way of life more than a course of study. God bless you as you seek that above everything else!

How to Have a Good Group

Group experiences vary widely. Because they are a means of grace, we want to make them as positive and open to the Spirit as we can. The following guidelines are meant to help you do that. If you have not led or been part of a small group before, these guidelines are especially important. For all of us, however, they are valuable reminders of things that help groups go well.

First, take the attitude that you want to learn from others. None of us joins a group to impose our views or tastes on others. We come to contribute, to learn, and to grow. Mutual edification is a mark of healthy groups. A spirit of humility should characterize each member. We are all students in Christ’s school. We want to experience personal enrichment, and we want to sense that the group as a whole is growing.

Second, do not talk too much. No one person should dominate the discussion. Everyone should be encouraged to contribute ideas and experiences. There are no right comments and no experts in healthy groups. Rather, the Spirit inspires and informs through the totality of input. A good group is like a puzzle with each piece adding to the overall picture.

Third, be open to discussing any ideas. Vital groups open people’s minds and hearts. No one can completely predict what will become important for a group to explore. This does not mean that a group should chase random ideas all over the place, but it does mean that the group is open and respectful of anyone’s need to relate the group process to some significant aspect in his or her life. This may even include the raising of sensitive or controversial ideas. At such times, it is important to realize that you are not making decisions; you are just talking.

Fourth, do not tell long stories. If your personal study causes you to feel you have something important to contribute to the group when it meets, consider how to share it in a minute or two. People often come to groups excited to share something, but because they have not tempered that excitement, they get lost in their own stories. If the experience is important to share, it is important enough to think about, organize, and prepare to present.

Fifth, negotiate the leadership style for the group. This workbook is designed to allow every person to be a potential leader. The guidelines for weekly group meetings are specific and clear enough for anyone to follow. Nevertheless, no one should feel pressured to lead a group session. Talk openly about how you want to arrange weekly leadership. Your group may be comfortable with one person facilitating (not dominating or defining) the sessions. Or, the group may want shared or rotated leadership. Either way, the group must be clear about this early on so that you do not meet with a “who wants to start us off?” mentality. Someone should come to each group session prepared to launch the group and guide persons through the issues—issues that the workbook may suggest or ones that may emerge from the group dynamic.

Finally, be a good steward of time. Believe it or not, unbridled enthusiasm is deadly for group life. It may seem perfectly natural to exceed your time when things are really happening. But to evolve into a group that does not know when to quit is ultimately destructive. The old adage that it is better to end too soon than too late applies to healthy groups. It is better to leave a little hungry than to leave feeling stuffed!

There are more group dynamics than these, but the ones mentioned are essential qualities for a good group experience. These qualities should not be enforced as rules so much as integrated naturally into the atmosphere of weekly group meetings. By actually printing the guidelines in the workbook, every member can see and appreciate them. Leaders can be sensitive to see that they are being observed. Most of all, the Holy Spirit will work in and through vital groups. And as you will discover later on in the workbook, the Wesleyan concept of “Christian Conference” is a significant means of grace.

The Initial Group Meeting

Groups work best when they are formed by people who feel a common need to grow along mutually beneficial lines. You do not have to be well acquainted, but you do need to be unified in hope and purpose. Assuming you have at least one other person (and no more than eight) who shares a desire to use this workbook as a means of spiritual formation, the following ideas are provided to guide your first meeting.

The initial meeting is a time of orientation. Begin by handing out the workbook and browsing through it. You might want to read the introduction together as a means of centering the group. Allow every person to get comfortable with the material. Be alert for any hesitation or anxiety, and invite honest, open discussion about the process you are beginning. Do not dwell on the possibility that some may decide not to participate, but make it clear that any such decision is not interpreted as a lack of spirituality. It is natural to opt out of some things after knowing a little more about them. The initial group meeting may cause some to think, “This is not what I thought it was going to be; I am not sure I should commit to this.”

Explain that each week’s meeting will last no longer than ninety minutes. Emphasize that part of the covenant is to begin and end on time. This is not a mechanical way to limit the Spirit; it is merely a good-faith commitment that honors the other dimensions and responsibilities of life. If group life spills over the time period, assure the members that you will still end on time and determine how best to process the “extra blessings” that are occurring. Just as we keep faith with the time, we also trust God to guide us in knowing how to respond to what is happening in the group.

Rather than lay out a one-size-fits-all group plan, turn to page 37 (“Day Seven: The Group Meeting”). Use this outline for your first discussion as an example of the type of format members can expect each week. This will help members get a feel for where they are headed, as well as have a sense of confidence that the group dynamic is not threatening. As you browse through the session, make clear that any and all comments made in the meeting will be strictly confidential. Ask this question and call for response, “Are you committed to the discipline of confidentiality as part of the group experience?” (If you sense hesitation or if there are questions about this, simply point out that confidentiality is an ancient spiritual discipline that some groups have adopted as part of their covenant and that John Wesley promoted in his group meetings.)

Next, turn to page 21 (“Day One: Man of Challenge”). Walk through this section and explain the process as people familiarize themselves with the material. Ask if the format is clear. Again, give time (without moving too slowly) for everyone to feel at home with what is going on. In most cases, silence, nods, or eye contact will let you know that everyone is in agreement. Explain that Day One begins tomorrow, and Day Six is the day before the group meeting. Day Seven is intended to be a day of rest, reflection, and preparation for the weekly group meeting on that day. Do not get bogged down, but do not rush this orientation either. The goal of the initial meeting is to let people know that the group is safe, the material is friendly, the leadership is nonthreatening, and the process is positive.

Finally, ask each person to write the names of all group members inside the front cover. Use this list as a reminder to pray for one another during the week. If you are the group leader, include your telephone number along with your name, so that people can contact you between meetings. Let the group know that the weekly sessions are not a prayer meeting as such, but that opportunity to share prayer requests will be given—even if there is not enough time for formal prayer. Also make it clear that no one will be expected to share or pray aloud as a condition for group participation. The central purpose is not to learn to pray, but to grow in grace.

This part of the initial meeting should take about thirty minutes. Likely, one hour will be enough for the session. With the remaining half hour, use about fifteen minutes for group members to tell about their happiest moment in the past couple of weeks. When all who wish to speak have done so, sing the “Doxology.” Use the final fifteen minutes to allow members to tell briefly their expectations for the group—why they are looking forward to the opportunity of using the workbook privately and meeting corporately. End this time with a prayer of thanksgiving and a request for God’s guidance. You might say words such as, “It is good to believe God has brought us together. It is good to anticipate that our meetings will be times of special insight and blessing. It is good to know that as we go, we go in the love of God, in the name of Jesus, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

As the group closes, say something like this: “Remember, our next meeting is ______, at ______(place)______, from ______to______. I look forward to seeing you then. Call me if you have any questions.”