The final episode of this season of Friends in Formation covers listener questions on why spiritual formation "clicks" at certain ages, whether we should pray the prayer "Disturb me, Lord" (Sir Frances Drake), and knowing when to take a break from something.

Want to Sug­gest a Question?
To sub­mit a ques­tion for James, Richel­la, and Nate to con­sid­er dis­cussing on Friends in For­ma­tion, email friends@​renovare.​org.

Listener questions guide our hosts into a fruitful discussion about moving from theory to practice in the discipline of Sabbath, exploring historic Christian writers both inside and outside of your own tradition, and learning to pray for others.

Three listener questions—

1. I've become a John Mark Comer fan, thanks to your recommendation of his book, The Ruthless Elimination Hurry, on one of your earliest podcasts over the past year or two. That book and some other resources of his have piqued my interest in practicing Sabbath. Could each of you share what your Sabbath looks like—the practical aspects of it. When? How long? What do you do? I want to take this from an idea to a habit and would love to hear how y'all do this. I love the podcast. It always inspires me to draw closer to Jesus. Thanks.

2. I’ve been a Protestant Christian many years. I'm definitely not averse to spiritual wisdom from believers in other traditions. I've had a spiritual director for about six years, and she always points me to resources by Roman Catholics. It kind of bothers me that it seems that there is relatively little by Protestants on deep spiritual formation. Is it just my lack of knowledge or are Protestants much less likely to explore these sorts of issues? I feel almost guilty to be reading all these things outside of my tradition. Do Protestants not care about the issues that Roman Catholic writers address?

3. Hi friends. How do you pray for one? I hear people talk about the power of prayer, and I'm interested in going deeper in prayer, but I've wondered how specific I should be in my prayer request, and how do I know whether I should trust someone with my prayer request?

Resources:

• The Ruthless Elimination Hurry, by John Mark Comer

• Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians, by James G Lawson

• A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, by William Law - 158pp

• Hearing God, by Dallas Willard

• Spiritual Classics, Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin

• Devotional Classics, Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith

• Other writers recommended on this episode:
  • Martin Luther

  • John Wesley

  • Corrie ten Boom

  • Catherine Marshall

  • Frank Laubach

  • Thomas Kelly

  • John Ortberg

  • James Brian Smith

  • Nathan Foster

  • Richella Parham

  • James Catford

  • John Bunyan

  • Louisa May Alcott

Want to Suggest a Question?

To submit a question for James, Richella, and Nate to consider discussing on Friends in Formation, email friends@renovare.org.

Show Notes
In this month’s episode of Friends in Formation, Richella, Nate, and James answer listener questions about Dallas Willard’s version of The Lord’s Prayer, what things get the goat of our hosts, and how to measure progress in one’s spiritual formation.

Three listener questions—

• Question 1: I've been working on praying without ceasing using Dallas' version of The Lord's Prayer. I like his modern translation very much. But when I got to the part that reads "please don't put us through trials" it made me pause. Because the Bible says that ordinary trials, while difficult, build endurance, strengthen us, help us to build character and to grow in faith. Ordinary trials are part of Dallas' golden triangle of spiritual formation. So why do you think Dallas chose the word "trials" instead of "temptations" in his version of the prayer?

• Question 2: You all sound peaceful, reflective, open, yet humble on Friends in Formation! But could you share what repeatedly 'gets your goat' or trips you up? How do you turn to the Lord each time, how do you think you're being formed through those moments and do you (or should you) see any 'end' to that particular niggle.

• Question 3: Is it possible to ‘measure’ or ‘assess’ progress in Christian formation either in oneself or in others (if we have some pastoral oversight of them)?

Resources

• The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard
• Mirror for the Soul: A Christian Guide to the Enneagram, by Alice Fryling
• The Spiritual Formation Workbook, by James Bryan Smith and Lynda Graybeal
• Streams of Living Water, by Richard Foster
• Renewing the Christian Mind, by Dallas Willard and Gary Black, Jr.
• Renovaré Institute