7 Purposeful Activities in a Christian Retreat

A Christian retreat is a critical period.  Finding purposeful activities to engage, in a Christian retreat is a surefire way to host God. I understand that you are worried about how to navigate this.  Probably, you have questions like: How can I maximize my time with God?

Hey dear, I get it!

I am very glad to help you to navigate purposeful tasks for that much-talked-about Christian retreat. This works for personal and group retreats.

Do you need directions for your next retreat? I have compiled a detailed step-by-step guide to help your plan your time with God.

How do I do this? I  could become tired in the long run. I can’t pray for very long. I could end up sleeping all day. How can this activity be made more interesting? Will God enjoy my company?

A  Christian retreat is a time set aside for seeking God with an intention. It is a spiritual exercise and must be engaged likewise, for results. There are no hard and fast rules to this, else it tends towards being a fleshly activity. Interestingly, praying for 8 hours in a Christian retreat does not necessarily make one spiritually engaged in a retreat. What counts is the meaningful communion between you and God in diverse forms.

Heads up!!

You will want to have a guide (schedule) of activities for engaging God for the day. I advise you to do this to envision a mental picture of the retreat plan and how far one has progressed. However, our minds must be yielded, should the Holy Spirit lead otherwise.

For instance, I want to go on a Christian retreat to seek God’s direction regarding relocation.  An ideal outline of activities on this guide could be: thanksgiving, worship, prayers of inquiry, intensive study  of scriptures guiding relocation (Isaac, Ehlimelech, Jacob in {Genesis 46}, Abraham, etc.)

 

Engaging Activities in your Christian Retreat

Now, to the non-exhaustive list of activities  for a purposeful Christian  retreat, they include:

1. Praise

Praise means extolling God for Who He is. Thanksgiving means giving God thanks for what He has done. Therefore, one important activity in a Christian retreat is to acknowledge the greatness of God and His wonderful works. No doubt, engaging in praise and thanksgiving makes entrance into the throne room easier.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalms 100:4).

God inhabits in the praises of His people. Hence, starting a Christian retreat with praise and thanksgiving is just awesome. You sure don’t want to miss a good place to ruminate on God’s goodness. Above all, thank God with reckless abandon, as your joyful heart disposition is of great price!

2.   Pray with Purpose   in your Retreat 

I can assure you that you cannot go wrong when you offer sincere prayers to God. Prayer involves communication. This exercise must not necessarily be loud but we must pray by the leading of the Holy Ghost. It’s okay to begin praying without an initial thrust but as you continue in prayers, yielded to the promptings of God’s Spirit, He places certain impressions in your spirit. This helps one pray further. More still, we should avoid stereotypes. A rigid mind will limit God’s expressions.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).

Furthermore, yielded prayers allow God the needed space for expression. In a Christian retreat, a hurry is needless. Take extra time to savor the goodness of God’s Presence irrespective of whether time has been far spent and one should be reading the Bible at that time. Remember that flexibility is important. Freely discharge the heaviness of your mind appropriately as you pray. As a necessity, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you all the way.

3. Study God’s Word 

What is a Christian retreat without the activity of an intense study of God’s Word? Note that there is a difference between bible reading and bible study. The Holy Spirit can elaborate on the burden and the accompanying Bible verses obtained in course of planning a spiritual retreat.

An infant’s heart is golden at this time. In addition, rebuke, instruction, direction, and impartation are commonplace.

 Retreat to Receive the Rhema

Dear blog reader, choosing to retreat is choosing to learn. You are probably worn out with doing things your way. Therefore, you should assume the posture of a student; one who wishes to learn. Similarly, you have to discard that cloak of familiarity. Only empty cups can be filled up to overflow.

Hence, your writing materials must be handy to capture the Word (Rhema) as revealed and received by the Spirit of God to you. This is the basis for studying the Word of God. The Rhema received forms the template for your faith and convictions over that subject. For example, the faith formed from the Rhema in Exodus 23:25:

“And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

When you are armed with this revelation, you are bold and convinced of your freedom from sickness and cancer. As a result, the fear of cancer disappears. Christian literature and audio materials are helpful resources that serve as faith boosters. Therefore, Studying the bible’s perspective on healthy living can inspire me to design a personalized cookbook for healthy recipes for preventing cancer. The Word of God has practical applications in all facets of life. It pays to open our minds to the manifold truths therein

4.  The Practice of Meditation

Meditation involves an intentional act of deeply thinking about something. It can be done as we study God’s Word, sing, or pray. This exercise, when engaged in your retreat, creates room for inspiration, reminders, helpful tips, and wisdom from the Spirit of God. Certainly, meditation is  a valuable part of a Christian retreat because of its accompanying peace and serenity.

”And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming” (Genesis 24:63). 

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

Hence, the activity must be intentionally engaged. However, you should be careful to discern when it is God speaking to you as you meditate.  Sadly, you may not always enjoy this luxury, as you return to the hustle and bustle of life. Kindly ward off any imminent distraction, in form of erstwhile thoughts. In short, the keyword in meditation is called focus and perception.

5. You Retreat to Rest

Oh yes! Rest is important. Recall that Christian retreats are moments of withdrawal and rest. They also help you unwind and provide a refreshing to your mind. This way your mind can be emptied to receive fresh information. Usually, the constant activeness of the human mind is often a limitation especially when meditation seems difficult. Sometimes, sleep becomes a better option for God to communicate His intentions to us. More still, sleep is an important way of engaging God through your spirit-man. Sleeping off in course of a retreat is not necessarily a sin or a sign of indiscipline. God may need that stillness of your spirit to communicate His Will to you. He may even have to intercept your dreams.  We see Pharoah’s dreams in Genesis 41. Therefore, find time to rest too when you retreat. Nevertheless, this is not a license to binge on sleep at every given opportunity.

6. Intentional Worship

Worship is a total offering of oneself to God. As you retreat, plan for a lavish period of worship to God in psalms and spiritual songs to God. I recommend you make a melody to God from your heart.  Do well to download specific spirit-filled songs on your music device or recorder, before retreating to avoid internet-related distractions.

 

Quite honestly, your phone can be a distraction, except it can be put on flight mode, or switched off entirely. There is a plethora of worship songs across different subjects to be sung. Furthermore, let your worship rise to God in total reverence to the God of heaven and Earth.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name (Hebrews 13:15).

7. Reflect as you Retreat

I enjoy talking about reflections because of the sincere answers in my mind as I reflect. Personal reflections are modes of bringing back earlier thoughts or past happenings to one’s mind. They are great ways of reminding oneself of all that happened. You can do an honest evaluation of the thrust of your retreat (marriage, change of location/seasons, fruitfulness, end-of-year retreats). You could jot down possible areas of improvement in the positive aspects of your life and ways of eliminating the negative aspects.

Similarly, I encourage you to pray for God’s Grace in your areas of weakness. All in all, there are other helpful activities to be engaged in a Christian retreat. These are only a fraction. Most importantly,  let God lead you, at all times.

In conclusion, a Christian retreat is not a string of activities that must be followed to the letter. Prayerfully discern what the Holy Spirit will have you do in your retreat. Above all, open up your heart and be ready to obey when He speaks to you.

I hope you had a wonderful time on my blog! What activities do you engage in when you go on a Christian retreat?  When are you planning your next retreat? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

God bless you greatly.