This is the fourth part of my personal testimony.

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Yes. There was indeed!

In fact, there were 2 particular events that God used to call me to my lifelong work of mentoring Christian women.

The Institute of Christian Formation 1983 -1984

In 1983, I experienced a personal trauma. In addition to the pain of the trauma itself, I underwent a second kind of pain: I was utterly unable to find the God who was the unquestioned centre of my life and who had always been readily available to me. 

In my despair, I asked God to help me.

About 2 weeks later, the Lord began to answer my call.

Over the next 15 months, He gifted me with undreamed of and, at times, almost overpowering blessings.

He used a specially gifted, long-experienced, and well-trained spiritual guide, to invite me to connect to Him in a brand new way and at a radically deep level.

Five months later, completely out of the blue, the Lord followed this with a second gift: a unique, in-depth, year-long retreat and training offered by a highly at a reputable Institute of Christian Formation.

Acceptance into this year-long retreat and training was by no means guaranteed. A special application process was required. An interview followed, and an educational CV was also required.

I was successful.

Not surprisingly, this year, spent silently in the presence of the Lord 3 times each day (consistently, for 365 consecutive days), bore undreamed of results!

Thanks to my limited understanding of God up to this point, I had never in my wildest imagination considered for a moment that such a deep connection to the Lord of heaven and earth and of all creation was even remotely possible!

These 15 months were, therefore, nothing less than life-changing.

So much so, in fact, that I refer to this event as my second conversion .

There could be no doubt on my part that I had freely received a very great deal from the Lord.

And I knew He wanted me to freely give the same to others.

You have been treated generously, so live generously.

Matthew 10: 8 The Message

I had no difficulty obeying the Lord’s call.

And, over time, I received several confirmations from the Lord that He wanted me to mentor Christian women specifically.

An Unexpected Introduction

The first major confirmation came 3 years later. It confirmed definitively for me that mentoring Christian women was the special work the Lord was asking me to do for Him.

Completely out of the blue, I was introduced to a highly-experienced woman Christian guide. She was one of two leaders at a well-known retreat centre in the US.

Like me, she had absolutely no idea that she and I would encounter each other.

Like my first gifted spiritual guide 4 years back, this woman radiated a joy and inner peace that immediately communicated itself to those she encountered. And she, too, had dedicated her whole life to the Lord’s service.

After getting to know me and my background, she strongly encouraged me to start a Christian spirituality group for any Christian women who were interested. She believed I had the experience, training, and qualifications to do so.

And thus began my work as a Christian spiritual guide!

The oldest members of the group were sixty-plus, the youngest in their mid-thirties. But what caught my curiosity was that no one was younger than thirty-five!

This made sense to me. My second conversion had convinced me that it is often only as we approach our mid-thirties that we start to seriously question our faith journey. And, typically, it’s at this point that we recognize our need for a deeper, more real, and more personally fulfilling connection to the Lord.

Indeed for some of us, the Lord might guide us into building an altogether new connection.

This had been the case with me.

I taught these women the way of praying that is sometimes known as ‘prayer of the heart’ i.e. prayer made in both outer and inner silence, in which you deliberately choose to let go of all the usual words and thoughts. This was the way Jesus himself taught you and me to pray (Matthew 6:6).

Our group met once a month for prayer, personal reflection, and group guidance. And about 3 times a year we met for a full-day retreat from 9 am to 3 pm.

The retreat day was broken into short periods of teaching, for individual contemplative prayer, and for individual and group guidance. In the middle, we would have a 45-minute break for lunch and personal relaxation.

Note

You, too, can learn the 2 simple steps to praying with your heart. Get my FREE GUIDE here. It’s titled:

How to Regain, and Maintain,

God’s Lasting Inner Peace and Joy:

A Guaranteed Way to Experience God’s Presence, Love and Rest One-On-One

You’ll never regret it.

Teaching the Group ‘Remote Preparation’

About 7-10 days before our meetings, I would always offer women what I call ‘remote preparation’, i. e. a little homework!

I’d suggest some specific action I knew the women would benefit from: e.g. writing a letter to the Lord expressing a specific experience, personal challenge, doubts, or a recent experience of personal joy.

I’d also recommend specific ways for them to unwind before entering into the presence of the Lord, such as going for a slow walk in nature, listening to a holy song or other favourite piece of inspiring music, taking a warm bath, etc.

The intention of this remote preparation was to help them break through the incessant noise and speed of their busy lives and to ‘soak’ instead in a quiet space of rest and relaxation before coming to our meeting.

I’m still a great believer in remote preparation. It provides folk with a means to invite the Lord into their particular life experiences. This offers them a way to engage with God more specifically, directly, and personally.

I led this group for 26 years.

The Shape my Mentoring Has Taken

At this point, the Lord made it very clear to me that He wanted me to mentor women through 2 additional avenues.

He wanted me to write my personal story in book form, and then later on to create a website that would offer women regular in-depth Christian spiritual guidance covering a wide variety of topics.

This is how aclearpathtogod.com came into being. 

My book and website have enabled me to offer spiritual guidance to much larger numbers of Christian women.

Guidance on my Website Takes Several Forms

The spiritual guidance I offer on my website takes several different forms. These include articles, videos, teaching audios (webinar) and an interview.

The guidance I offer is based on 4 things.

First, it’s based on my own personal journey with God over these last 42 years. During this time I have continued my practice of spending regular time in the Lord’s direct presence and of listening to Him with the ears of my heart .

I have also continued to make week-long individual silent retreats. During these retreats, I receive guidance each and every day for 40 minutes to an hour from an experienced, dedicated and trained Christian guide.

In addition, over these 42 years I have very regularly placed myself under the monthly guidance of trustworthy, trained, and long-experienced Christian spiritual guides —doing so more frequently if I’m dealing with tough life decisions.

Why is this important? It’s important because as a spiritual guide I need to help ensure that I remain honest at all times with the Lord and honest with myself too. Transparency and personal integrity is an absolute requirement for anyone who offers spiritual guidance to others.

Secondly, the guidance I offer is based on my in-depth training in Christian spiritual formation.

Thirdly, it’s based on my life-transforming 365-day retreat-in-daily-life that I made at the age of 35, when I sat at the feet of Jesus 3 times a day, each day.

Finally, it’s based on my 26 years of accompanying and guiding Christian women on their individual spiritual journeys. And these women came from very diverse Christian denominations.

The spiritual guidance on my website covers a multitude of topics and questions that are profoundly relevant for the spiritual journeys of Christian women.

I addition to my regular teaching articles (currently numbering 96), it includes an online interview.  This interview helps women better understand the nature of my ongoing work on their behalf and how it benefits them.

My 3-part teaching webinar backs it all up!

But just like my prayer and guidance groups had been, the absolute focus of my website guidance always returns to one SUPREME consideration: namely, to convince women of the overriding need to meet the Lord DIRECTLY, FIRSTHAND FOR THEMSELVES, and to experience His LOVE directly, one-on-one, and — HUGELY important —to do this WHENEVER they want or need to!

The Single Goal of My Website Guidance

Its consistent goal is to offer women several different opportunities to learn how to establish, and then how to maintain for the rest of their lives, a far deeper (or even a radically NEW relationship!) with the Lord, one that ensures that their friendship with Him grows and flourishes regardless of what the OUTER circumstances —joyful or painful —of their lives might be.

For this reason you’ll see that I conclude each and every article with the offer of my tastefully illustrated and very encouraging FREE GUIDE (please scroll down to end of this article!) that shows women the 2 simple steps to

• entering into the Lord’s presence fully and directly
• confidently experiencing —firsthand, directly, one-on-one, FOR THEMSELVES (!) —the Lord’s LOVE, His JOY, and His PEACE.

The object of this Guide is to…

• provide the user with a reliable and guaranteed way to enjoy a deep and ongoing trust in the Lord and confidence in Him
• underscore for her the reality and truth of her relationship and friendship with God

Once women develop the confidence to enter into God’s presence, they gradually discover something else, something that they are not expecting and that’s richly rewarding: they experience the Lord as their own PERSONAL Teacher, Lover, Saviour, Friend, Guide, and Healer of their mind, body, spirit, and emotions!

This video explains the goals of my website guidance.

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Disclaimer

No content on this website should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified health professional or
clinician

Watch Part 1 here! 

Watch Part 2 here!

Watch Part 3 here!

Watch out for Part 5: What I Believe Christian Women Today are Looking for Most

Have you listened to my webinar? 

And to Sonia’s interview with me? 

Scroll down to get my FREE GUIDE