| 1. Find someone outside the congregation to | | | | distance is essential for the discernment |
| serve as a spiritual sounding board. This can be a | | | | necessary to be a spiritual leader. |
| spiritual director or a spiritual friend or a mentor. | | | | 7. Find the way that you pray best and practice it. |
| 2. Pray for your congregation. This is part of your | | | | Go with the flow, and do what works for you. |
| work. | | | | 8. Do some spiritual practice. It almost does not |
| 3. Practice prayer for yourself. It is impossible to | | | | matter what it is, whether prayer, silence, Bible |
| sustain the work of ministry over time without | | | | study, or devotional reading, as long as you do it |
| spiritual sustenance. | | | | regularly. |
| 4. Look for a way of prayer and worship that fits | | | | 9. Try some new practice or discipline. If you are |
| for you. Plenty of people will give advice on how | | | | inclined to contemplative prayer or if your tradition |
| to do it (contemplative prayer, charismatic prayer, | | | | uses only informal prayers, try using written |
| walks in the woods). There is no right way to | | | | prayers. If you always use written prayers, |
| pray. Just do it, and you will get better at it. | | | | practice pouring your heart out to God. If you |
| 5. Read some Scripture devotionally. It does not | | | | love silence, join a prayer group. This is about |
| have to be a lot, but it needs to be something | | | | developing your spiritual repertoire. |
| that is not related to sermon preparation. One | | | | 10. Go out into nature sometimes. Do this |
| verse a day is better than none, and it may be | | | | whether or not you are an outdoor person. |
| better than a whole chapter. | | | | Seeing trees, hearing birds, and smelling earth will |
| 6. Get out of town for a spiritual retreat. | | | | help shift your perspective. |
| Overnight is better, but a day will do. Some | | | | |