There are many ways to understand God’s leading in our lives. One way, came as a helpful surprise during spiritual direction. My director asked me, “What is the Holy 
Spirit leading you to focus on at this time?” As a reflex, I reached over to my daily planner and quickly flipped back through the pages – the pattern was clear. Here’s what I discovered – it might work well for you too.
Using Father John’s Bartunek’s method of meditation from “The Better Part,” there are several steps that lead to a sentence or two that I record each day. As a reminder, the four step process is, 1) concentrate, 2) consider, 3) converse, and 4) commit. Usually, by the “converse” step, I get an impression of what God is asking of me. At the “commit” step I translate and record what I am sensing into something actionable that I can look back on at noon each day (mid-day examen).
When I began the habit of meditation I used this list of questions to become more aware of His promptings:
- What is the Lord trying to tell me in this Gospel passage (or reading)?
- What resonance does it have in my heart?
- What implications does it entail for my life?
- How have I behaved up to now in this respect?
- How should I behave from now on?
- What difficulties will I need to overcome?
- What means do I need to use to do so?
At this point, the process is far less mechanical than when I started. However, occasionally I review this list and the method to ensure I stay on track.
The power of this approach, and any healthy journal writing habit, is the ability to see the patterns – to see God’s leading. Though I had not thought of using my daily commitment notes this way – it proved to be a very encouraging, quick, and easy approach to see the clear pattern of God’s movement in my life and prayer.
May your meditation be fruitful and may you hear His voice.
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Art: St. Augustine of Hippo [retouched], Sandro Botticelli, 1480, PD-Worldwide; Liebesglück – der Tagebucheintrag (Happiness–the Diary Entry), August Müller, by 1885, PD-US author’s life plus 70 years or less; both Wikimedia Commons.
