This week on Friends in Formation, James and Tiana cover three listener questions on "traditional" church, minority voices in spiritual formation, and battling interior resistance to God.

Host James Catford, co-host Richella Parham, and guest contributor Grace Pouch discuss listener questions on discerning God’s voice, the temptation to judge others, and best practices for shepherding children’s spiritual formation.

Kicking off the relaunch of Friends In Formation, James, Richella—and new host Tiana Spencer—discuss three listener questions: how to stop measuring your spiritual life by the world's standards, why genuine adult friendship feels so rare (and how to find it), and how to break free from the overwhelm of too many books and courses.

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

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

Three Listener Questions—

[2:35] My question concerns a phrase I hear you use often in Renovaré — referring to people as “Image Bearers.” I must admit this always makes me sit up as it was not a phrase I had encountered much. At first I wondered if it was just a poetic way of referring to humanity, but am coming to realize it is an important truth and attitude but one I feel I have lacked - I think because my evangelical background had focused more on the 'depravity of Man' and begins viewing humanity (especially oneself) from a position of sinfulness, where the Image of God is lost and only restored in Christ. Specifically, HOW you have learnt to see yourself and others as Image Bearers, not just as a theological belief but in practice, and how doing this helps your spiritual formation.

[17:46] I am currently reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (and trying, reasonably, to take my time with it), and next on the list is Streams of Living Water. Some dear church friends have begun to visit the churches of other friends — ones they know have a true, deep relationship with God — who attend churches of different denominations, in order to gain a better appreciation and understanding of their traditions. I find myself wishing that we, too, had many friends of other denominations who could not only serve as our safeguards, but with whom we could afterward discuss their traditions and church’s values, and process those of our own more objectively and reflectively. We would greatly appreciate any suggestions you could offer as to how to go about this.

[31:33] From two different listeners in ministry positions:

• What do you do when you feel like you are in a setting that God hasn’t called you to? I’m a new, young clergy, I graduated seminary last year and feel like I’ve been placed (or have fallen into) a ministry appointment doing work that I’m not called to do but am doing because I have the skills to do this work. What can I do to not just survive during this difficult season but thrive? And have hope that God did indeed call me into a life of ministry and I’m here in this space for a reason?
• After serving several different churches as a pastor for about 9 years, I am almost 1 year removed from professional pastoral ministry. I chose to stop working as a pastor because the added strain of COVID left me burnt out, depressed, and codependent. I am very grateful to say that I am in a much better place now than I have been for quite some time. I am healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally. God has provided for my family financially. My family and I are connected to a wonderful church. I can definitely tell, even now, that God has brought me to this place as a blessing to provide me with the healing I desperately needed. At the same time, I am struggling with being “set aside” from ministry. I had a very clear calling experience a couple years before my pastoral ministry started. Being a pastor is the only real full-time job that I’ve had before now. I am currently working at a factory, and while it is a blessing in many ways, I find myself constantly looking to what might be next. Do you have any advice on how to better live into and accept where God has me right now? I have no doubt that I am where God wants me to be, but I still find myself constantly thinking about and planning for any and every possible “next thing.”

Resources

• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World, by John Mark Comer
• Streams of Living Water, by Richard Foster
• Clinging: The Experience of Prayer, by Emilie Griffin