Spiritual Retreat Notation
Notation of the Spiritual Retreat
Documenting your spiritual retreat will help you to discover what God wants to reveal to you. It will also help in concentrating and recollecting your thoughts – preventing them from scattering throughout the duration of the retreat.
Documenting your spiritual retreat is one of the organizing factors of encouragement, it is also a part of the daily spiritual routine. It will serve as a reminder to you ever morning. Furthermore, it will help reveal your shortcomings if you do fall, so that you can rise again and start again in your spiritualties.
It will help reveal to you how long you have been disjoined from the Lord.
In addition, keeping a spiritual diary during your spiritual retreat will keep you busy from having to interact with others negatively. It will be a useful reminder that serves to remind you on how you spent your time with the Lord, so that you will have no difficulty in interacting with others and following the same path throughout their retreats as well.
Thus, we have prepared a daily spiritual notebook that you may request from our publications office, and you can use it to record and document your spiritual stay in it.
The notebook is divided over the days in the year and you will find the following on each page:
1) An upper rectangular shape that is divided into:
a- A small square to mark with the “+” sign when you review the memory verses.
b- A large rectangular shape in the middle and has the spiritual retreat’s slogan for the day. i.e. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark1:35)
c- A small rectangular shape to the right where the new verse reference can be written and added to the list of memory verses. (Dedicate a day during the week to memorize a new verse).
2) Day and Date: Write the date of the spiritual retreat, for it will encourage your attendance (to retreats). Be attentive to practice your spiritual schedule on a daily basis.
3) Written Chapters: Document your reading of the Bible Books during your day.
4) Contemplation on verse: write the verse that caught your attention throughoutyour reading and through which you felt God spoke to you. Be sure to record its reference.
5) Paraphrase the Verse: To be able to understand the verse well and to apply it, it is good to refer to another reliable translation of the Bible especially if it was translated from its original languages (Hebrew or Greek). These can also serve as an accurate reference point for you.
The authentic languages of the Bible will benefit you in clarifying the meaning of the verse. If it is not possible to refer to other languages, rewrite the verse in your own words.
6) The main idea: Summarize the main idea of the verse in a short sentence. This will help remind you of the verse throughout the whole day.
7) The effect of the verse in its application: Document the effect that the verse had on you, and which you will eventually live by the whole day. Also, try to see how this will help you resemble the Lord.
The effect could be:
a- A warning about a sin to avoid.
b- An order to fulfill a commandment.
c- A privilege to thank God for.
d- A promise to pray and ask God through.
e- One of God’s attributes to praise Him for.
f- A good example to follow.
8) Prayers: Write down what you will pray for during your spiritual retreat:
a- The verse: write a summary of your prayer to apply the verse.
b- Other subjects: Such as prayers for your brethren, relatives, friends, the church, the world and problems…etc.
c- The day’s schedule: Put your spiritual schedule in front of the Lord in your prayer because all of your time is for the Lord and so you will be asked to give an account of it.Therefore, present to the Lord your time and ask Him how He wants you to use it for His Glory. Organization will give you an opportunity to control time which often times is lost. But when you are tied to a schedule and specific times, you will adhere to them especially that you have put them in God’s hands.
You will find many things to do during the day and you will be confused on what to do, especially if your time doesn’t not allow you to do everything.
You should always prioritize: do the most important and then move to the less important items. If you run out of time, then you should postpone tasks to another day, because priority should be always be given to the ‘most important’ and through this you can accomplish your tasks accurately and wisely.
Note:
1- Be aware to use your notebook routinely because it is there to help you to stay focused on God.
2- Be aware that documenting your spiritual retreat becomes your goal. It is only to encourage you to be organized and for consistency.
3- You may share with your friends what the Lord spoke in your heart through your spiritual notebook documentation.
4- You will find sample spiritual retreat notes written in a chapter by itself.