attending to the desires of the heart, both
personal and communal. The Spirit is revealed in
our genuine hopes for ourselves and for the
world."
process of becoming transformed into the image
of Christ we must begin by talking about desire.
It is in desire that our true longings reside. And
boy, do we have desires! As I was trained as a
spiritual director, the first thing we learned was
how to formulate questions that would elicit a
response from the affective level a directee's
desires! It's in these longings where we become
attentive to how God may be speaking to us,
grabbing our attention, sharing His gifts of grace
and hope in our lives.
the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4)
that created us out of His desire to share Himself
with us. It was in and through God's desire that
He created universe, the heavens and the earth,
man and woman (and the In-n-Out Double
Double). Desire is what birthed us and it is desires
that we long to experience and live out.
to our desire in God's presence, allowing our desire
to become the impetus for deepening our spiritual
journey." ~ Sacred Rhythms, Barton
avenues for us to learn to pay attention to our
God-given desires. As we engage in ancient
disciplines such as silence and solitude, fasting,
lectio divina and Sabbath keeping, we create a
sacred space where we can become attentive to
God's longings in us. You see, it's not that God
isn't involved in our lives, it's that we may have
too many other "lesser desires" pulling at us,
practices help us to lay our heads on His chest,
listening, absorbing, living, desiring.
What are your dreams? How may God be in those
desires?
It was when I began paying attention to my
heart's desires in God's presence that I realized I
wanted more than what I was experiencing in my
spirituality. I was tired of feeling like I didn't pray
enough, didn't read my bible enough, didn't trust
enough...wasn't enough. As God invited me to
share my desires with Him, He began to transform
my life so that my heart's desire was for Him. I
long for God because God longs for me. I long to
love others as Jesus does because Jesus longs to
love others.
faintness of our desire." ~ Meister Eckhart
Your desire to be loved? To love? When was the
last time you felt the longing to see change and
transformation in your life and family? When was
the last time you heard God ask you, "What do
you want?" The Apostle Paul knew about desire
and spiritual formation. "I want....to know Christ."
This was his heart's longing. He wanted. He
desired. He longed to know Christ.
Desire.
chaplain (The Journey Company)
in the Greater San Diego area.
He is currently a student at Bethel
Seminary (Masters in Marriage and
Family Therapy).
He is a certified spiritual director
from the University of San Diego
where he studied Spiritual
Formation and Direction.
Partnering with you to share the Hope of God and the
Love of Jesus with others is certainly our privilege.
Thank you for the opportunity.