Find Your Spiritual Pathway

The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The question is, how do we connect with God to both receive and express love in this relationship? The Bible gives us examples of at least nine distinct pathways that we can follow that lead us into an intimate relationship with our Creator. Each of us can connect with God more fully and creatively if we will learn the pathways and discover which ones lead us most naturally to the heart of our God.

Find your pathways with this simple and anonymous (if you choose) survey.

Source: Sacred Pathways: Nine Ways to Connect with God by Gary Thomas
Survey Statements by Gary Thomas in collaboration with Kevin and Sherry Harney

Spiritual Pathways Self-Assessment

1. I feel closer to God when I’m surrounded by what He has made - the mountains, the forests, the ocean, or some other setting in nature.

2. I feel closer to God when I’m in a church that allows my senses to come alive - when I can see, smell, hear, and almost taste His majesty.

3. I feel closer to God when I’m participating in a familiar form of worship that has memories dating back to my childhood. Rituals and traditions move me and help me connect with God.

4. I feel closer to God when I am alone in solitude and there is nothing to distract me from focusing on His presence.

5. I feel closer to God when I am cooperating with Him in standing up for His justice: standing against evils in our world, defending the outcast and forgotten, writing letters to leaders and influencers, and becoming informed about current issues.

6. I feel closer to God when I see Him in the needy, the poor, the sick, and the forgotten. I feel God’s presence when I am sitting quietly by a bed of someone who is lonely or ill or when I take a meal to someone in need. You can count on me to offer a ride or to volunteer for helping activities.

7. I feel closer to God when my heart is sent soaring and I feel like I want to burst, worship God all day long, and shout His name. Celebrating God and His love is my favorite form of worship.

8. I feel closer to God when my emotions are awakened, when God quietly touches my heart, tells me that He loves me, and makes me feel like I’m His closest friend.

9. I feel closer to God when I learn something new about Him that I did not understand before. My mind needs to be stimulated. It’s very important to me that I know exactly what I believe.

10. I feel far from God when I have to spend too much time indoors. When I am unable to be outside viewing God’s nature, I sense a void in my spiritual walk.

11. I enjoy attending a “liturgical church” service with incense and formal Communion or Eucharist.

12. I feel closer to God when I relinquish a part of my life to Him through ongoing habits of worship and consistent acts of surrender such as tithing or following a pattern of Sabbath.

13. I would describe my faith as more “internal” than “external.”

14. I get very frustrated if I see apathetic Christians who do not become active. I want to drop everything else I am doing and help the church recognize where they can make a difference in our world.

15. I can get very frustrated with Christians who spend lots of time singing songs, going to Bible studies, and attending church services but they seem to neglect the needs of the people who live next door and the hurting people right in their community.

16. God is an exciting God, and we should be excited about worshipping Him. I do not understand how some Christians say they love God, and then act like they are going to a funeral whenever they walk into church.

17. I would rather be alone with God contemplating His love than participating in a formal church service.

18. I get frustrated when the church focuses too much on feelings and spiritual experience. Of far more importance is the need to understand the Christian faith and have proper doctrine.

19. I would rather worship God by spending an hour in some place in nature than by participating in a formal church service.

20. I’d have a difficult time worshipping in a church building that is plain and lacks a sense of awe or majesty. Beauty is very important to me. I have a difficult time worshipping through contemporary music but prefer more classical or complex musical arrangements.

21. The words tradition, ritual, and history are very appealing to me.

22. The words silence, solitude, and discipline are very appealing to me.

23. The idea of courageous confrontation for change in my community and world is very appealing to me.

24. The terms humble service, compassion, and sacrificial care are very appealing to me.

25. The words celebration, excitement, and joy are very appealing to me.

26. The most difficult times in my faith are when I cannot feel God’s presence within me.

27. The words concepts, doctrine and truth are very appealing to me.

28. If I could escape to a garden to pray, walk through a meadow, or take a trip by myself to the mountains, I am confident I would encounter God.

29. The words sensuous, colorful, and aromatic are very appealing to me.

30. Participating in a formal liturgy or “prayer book” service, having symbols that I could place in my car, home or office, or developing a Christian calendar for my family to follow are the kind of activities I would enjoy.

31. Taking an overnight retreat by myself at a monastery where I could spend time alone in a small room, praying, studying God’s Word, and fasting for one or more days are all activities I would really enjoy.

32. Activities such as confronting social evil, attending a meeting of the local school board to challenge the new curriculum, and volunteering on a political campaign are important to me.

33. I am confident I would feel God’s presence and power if I did something like: counseling a friend who had gone through a hard time, preparing a meal for someone in need, fixing the car for a family who could not afford it, or spending a week at an orphanage.

34. I would enjoy attending a workshop on learning to worship God through dance or a worship session with contemporary music. I expect that God is going to move in unexpected ways through this new experience.

35. The words lover, intimacy, and heart are very appealing to me.

36. I feel closer to God when I participate in extended and uninterrupted study time - reading God’s Word or good Christian books and then perhaps having an opportunity to teach or participate in a discussion with a group.

37. I enjoy books, movies, and other media that feature creation and show images of places in creation I have seen or might never see in person.

38. I’m naturally drawn to museums and concerts more than I am inclined to take a walk in the woods, work in a soup kitchen, or read a book by myself.

39. I would enjoy learning about symbolism and liturgy in personal worship.

40. I would like to learn more about elements of the monastic life such as silence, listening prayer, and solitude.

41. I would love to learn more about social issues, the marginalized in my community, and how to help those who suffer because of injustice.

42. I would enthusiastically sign up for a class called, "99 Ways to Help Your Neighbor In a Time of Need."

43. I would enjoy learning about and engaging in different expressions of praise and celebration found in the church experiences of other Christians.

44. I would really enjoy having uninterrupted time each day to do things like: sit in quiet prayer and feel intimate with God, writing love letters to my Savior, and enjoying the presence of God, my closest friend.

45. A book on church doctrine, beliefs, or great thinkers would be appealing to me.

46. Seeing God’s beauty is more moving to me than understanding new concepts, participating in formal religious services, or participating in social causes.

47. I would really enjoy using visual art, icons, or classical music while praying and reading Scripture and believe this would connect me to God in a meaningful way.

48. I think I would enjoy developing a personal rule (or ritual) of prayer that I could follow every day for a month.

49. I would really enjoy connecting with God in one of the following ways: spending time late at night waiting quietly and listening for God’s still small voice, taking a vow of silence for 24 hours, or simplifying my life in some tangible way.

50. I would rather invest a few hours of my time confronting an evil in our world than sit and pray for an hour, take a walk through the woods, or spend an hour reading a book about Christian beliefs.

51. I would rather nurse someone to health or help someone repair their house than teach an adult Sunday school class, go on a prayer retreat, or take a long walk in the woods.

52. I find I am more interested in praise music and worship online than in reading or listening to books about faith.

53. When I think of God, I think of love, friendship, and adoration more than anything else.

54. I invest in books and resources that help me understand my faith on a deeper level.

I’d like to be contacted for a follow-up meeting with a Shoreline staff leader so that I can develop a plan of practicing my pathway(s):

Yes

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Find Your Spiritual Pathway

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