Bill Faris guides us into the fundamental concepts and practices of discerning God's plans and making decisions as informed by the teaching of Ignatius Loyola.

1. HOLY CHOICES
DISCERNING GOD’S PLAN
FOR YOUR LIFE

2. PART ONE:
LIFE’S PURPOSE, GOD’S PLAN
FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS

3. ASSUMPTION #1:
GOD IS BOTH REAL AND PRESENT
There is nowhere God is not
(Ps. 139:7-12)

4. ASSUMPTION #2:
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE
• His plan is to bring glory to Himself through
your uniqueness
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has
created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can
do the good things he planned for us long
ago” (Eph. 2:10)

5. ASSUMPTION #3:
GOD ACTIVELY GUIDES PEOPLE
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord … “
(Psalm 37:23)
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his
steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you
should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8)

6. ASSUMPTION #4:
YOU ARE TOTALLY CAPABLE OF
BEING GUIDED
God wants to guide you.
You have what it takes to be God-
guided.
You were both created and redeemed
with the capacity to be led by God.

7. ASSUMPTION #5
WE MOVE WITH GOD
VIA THE DECISIONS WE MAKE
The meaning of our lives flows from the
truth that God is at work in us
“to will and to act in order to
fulfill His good purpose.”
(Phil. 2:13)
OUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS ARE MEANINGFUL

8. HOW DO WE DISCERN THE CHOICES THAT
BEST KEEP US MOVING WITH GOD?

9. GOD’S WILL VS GOD’S PLAN
God’s plan will always be
within the realm of His moral will

10. DISCERNMENT IS ABOUT CHOOSING
BETWEEN “COMPETING GOODS”
“Which of my legitimate options
is most likely to release God’s
highest and best plans for my
life?”

11. GOD IS INTERESTED IN
* HOW I RESPOND
* WHO I BECOME
A MAIL CARRIER or a MISSIONARY?
MOVE TO ALASKA OR STAY PUT?
TAKE THE JOB OFFER OR TURN IT DOWN? TAKE FLYING LESSONS?
START THAT BUSINESS? PLANT THAT CHURCH?
REMAIN A STAY-AT-HOME MOM? WRITE THAT BOOK?
TAKE THAT STAND UP COMEDY CLASS?
DATE THAT GUY? GIVE THAT SACRIFICIAL DONATION?
VOLUNTEER IN THE YOUTH MINISTRY? TAKE A YEAR OFF FROM
SCHOOL?

12. THE KEY:
DISCERN WHERE GOD IS ALREADY AT WORK
IN YOU AND SEEK TO JOIN HIM THERE
“Jesus gave them this answer:
"Very truly I tell you, the Son can do
nothing by Himself; He can do only
what He sees His Father doing,
because whatever the Father does
the Son also does.”
(John 5:19)

13. HOW CAN WE DISCERN WHERE
GOD IS ALREADY AT WORK IN US?

14. LOOK FOR CLUES IN YOUR DEEPEST
DESIRES!
If you love God, there is a strong
likelihood that your DEEPEST
desires correlate with how God has
been at work in you and what He
has planned for you.

15. PAY CLOSE
ATTENTION TO YOUR FEELINGS
Your affective state
(feelings and intuition) can be of
assistance in your quest to discern
God’s movement in your life

16. IGNATIUS LOYOLA
- Lived in Spain some 500 years ago
- Grew up privileged, became a soldier
- Converted to Christ while recovering at home
from battle wounds
- Author of The Spiritual Exercises – still widely
used
- Founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
- Came to recognize that feelings could carry
spiritual meaning
- Developed principles of discernment

17. WHAT IS DISCERNMENT
(AND WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO
WITH OUR FEELINGS)?

18. DISCERNMENT: “DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN
OPTIONS WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY CALLING
UPON GOD FOR ASSISTANCE” ( W Y D , P . 5 1 )
”Discernment is about noticing and
interpreting those deep currents of
feeling that shape what we want, which
in turn influences what we do”. Jim Manney

19. WHAT DO I REALLY WANT?

20. IMAGINE: JESUS IS HERE
WITH YOU IN THIS
MOMENT.
“WHAT DO YOU REALLY
WANT?”, HE ASKS
(NOW, CHECK IN WITH
YOUR HEART).
WHAT IS YOUR REPLY?

21. TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO JOURNAL
ON THE QUESTION: “WHAT DO I
REALLY WANT?”

22. AT THE ROOT OF WHAT
I REALLY WANT…
If you love the Lord, your deepest desire
somehow expresses your longing to love, please,
and serve Him.
“What shall I return to the LORD for all
his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call
on the name of the LORD”
(PSALM 116: 12, 13)

23. FREE TO MAKE
THE BEST DECISIONS

24. THE GOAL
The goal: to become aware of our deepest
desires as an indicator of God’s plan for us.
This requires us to sift out distracting desires and
unworthy attachments.
Therefore, some things - even some good
things - will have to be released (de-selected)
in order to focus on the BEST.

25. TO DECIDE IS AN AWESOME THING
“CIDE”, Latin = to kill or cut off
• Decide
• Homicide
• Suicide
• Patricide
• Etc.

26. IGNATIUS: FOCUS ON FREEDOM
We are free to choose what
would bring about the most good and
best enable us to glorify God at this
time.
(A or B? Story)

27. CHARIOTS OF
FIRE (ERIC
LIDDELL)
“God made
me FAST,
and when I
run I feel His
pleasure”.

28. FREE TO GO
DEEP
Identify, release, and
move beyond:
• Disordered Desires
(Ignatius’ term)
• False limitations
• Other impediments or
distractions

29. “IGNATIAN INDIFFERENCE”
“In everyday life, then, we must hold
ourselves in balance before all created
things insofar as we have a choice and
are not bound by some responsibility.
We should not fix our desires on health
or sickness, wealth or poverty, success
or failure, a long life or a short one; for
everything has the potential of calling
up in us a more loving response to our
life forever with God.
Our only desire and our one choice
should be this: I want and I choose
what leads to the deepening of God’s
life in me.”
(David Fleming paraphrase, WYD – p. 54)

30. WHEN WHO I
AM
(IDENTITY)
AND WHAT I
DO
(ACTIVITY)
ALIGN WITH
GOD’S DESIGN
FOR ME…

31. THAT WHOLE “LET GO” THING

32. PLANT EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED UP TO
NOW AS A SEED THAT WILL PRODUCE EVERYTHING
THAT WILL HAPPEN GOING FORWARD
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains just one grain; it never becomes
more but lives by itself alone. But if it dies, it
produces many others and yields a rich harvest.”
John 12: 24 – Amplified Bible

33. SUPPOSED TO/NOT SUPPOSED TO…?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
(Romans 11:33-36)

34. “EVERYTHING HAS
TAKEN
PLACE TO GET
YOU HERE”
“Part of the
Recipe”
Your joys, skills,
pains, gains, losses,
mistakes, talents,
successes,
experiences,
struggles, dreams,
betrayals,
promotions –
release them into
GOD LOVES TO STIR YOUR POT

35. THE FIRST TASK IS TO “LET GO”
“Transition always starts with an ending. To
become something else, you have to stop being
what you are now; to start doing things a new
way, you have to end the way you are doing them
now; and to develop a new attitude or outlook, you
have to let go of the old one you have now… The
first task is to let go.” (William Bridges in Transitions)

36. TO BE FREE TO
CHOOSE -
LET GO!
“The first
task is to
let go.”
(William Bridges, Transitions)

37. WILLIAM BRIDGES: 1ST RULE OF
TRANSITION = TO LET GO
“We have to let go of the old thing
before we can pick up the new one –
not just outwardly, but inwardly,
where we keep our connections to
people and places that act as
definitions of who we are”.

38. CANDIDATES FOR RELEASE…
• Bitterness, anger, or hurt from the past
• Small-mindedness and self-imposed limits that are not from God
• Attachment to things
• Attachment to people
• False doctrines
• Ideas of how life “SHOULD” be
• Vows you have made (as in “I’ll NEVER go here, do this, be that”,
etc)
• Pronouncements made about you by others

39. WHEN WE LET GO…
• God can get the Last Word
• We will proceed toward our New Beginning
• We will feel it in our faith (stretching)
• There will be, for a time, an EMPTY SPACE
• A strange kind of peace (that “surpasses understanding”) may
follow
• We will have no more excuses

40. IN YOUR JOURNAL:
WHAT WILL I RELEASE IN ORDER TO BE
MORE AVAILABLE TO THE HIGHEST,
DEEPEST AND MOST AUTHENTIC PATH
FORWARD?

41. RESISTANCE AND ASSISTANCE
(CONSOLATIONS AND DESOLATIONS)

42. OKAY. I’VE LET GO.
NOW WHAT?
* Keep PAYING
ATTENTION
* Remain FREE
TO CHOOSE

43. INTERIOR
AWARENESS
As I pay attention to
my feelings,
thoughts, and
intuitions I notice
TWO DISTINCTIVE
STREAMS
over time

44. IGNATIUS OBSERVES…
These two streams are
opposing spiritual influences
* One = The Holy Spirit who ASSISTS
* The other = dark spirits who RESIST
Each seeks to influence your
decisions, perceptions, and direction

45. TWO
COMPETING
AGENDAS
The Agenda of Darkness = to discourage us,
distract us, immobilize us, deplete us, and break
down our trust in God and love towards self and
others
The Agenda of Light (God) = to encourage us,
focus us, activate us, renew us, and increase our
trust in God and love towards self and others

46. THE HOLY SPIRIT…
…wants to speak to you, reveal things to you, and lead
you into what the Father is doing in your life.
He is your Advocate who Assists!
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will
guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His
own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will
tell you what is yet to come”
(John 5: 19, NIV)

47. “CONSOLATIONS”
(SOURCE = THE HOLY SPIRIT)
* Increases in faith, hope, and love.
* Experienced as peace, security, and
joy
* Reveals the moving of the Holy
Spirit

48. CONSOLATIONS COME IN ALL SIZES:
SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE!
Examples:
A beautiful sunset, a kind word, a surprising
provision, a miraculous healing, an uncanny
peace, a well-timed hug, a personal
breakthrough, a spiritual “aha!”, an open door, a
burst of creativity or inspiration, etc

49. DEMONIC (DARK) SPIRITS…
… want to lie to you, confuse you, distract you, lead you away from
what the Father is doing in your life.
“…He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for
there is no truth in him. When he lies,
he speaks his native language, for he is
a liar and the father of lies”
(John 8:44).

50. “DESOLATIONS”
(SOURCE = DARK SPIRITS)
• Spiritual lethargy
• Experienced as God’s absence,
meaninglessness, self-pity
• Reveals the influence of
dark demonic spirits

51. DESOLATIONS COME IN ALL SIZES:
SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE!
Examples:
An unfair accusation, a devastating
financial reversal, a burst of anxiety,
persistent guilt, a horrible accident, a rising
sense of fear, persistent thoughts of self-
destruction, a personal assault or acts of
bullying, etc.

52. TWO STREAMS…
CONSOLATIONS – thoughts, feelings, and
experiences that move me closer to God and
others
DESOLATIONS – thoughts, feelings, and
experiences that take me away from the love of
God and others

53. IGNATIUS ADVISES…
When you are in a PERIOD of consolation – DRINK IT
IN DEEPLY (you’re gonna need it!)
When you are in a PERIOD of desolation – AVOID
MAKING CRITICAL DECISIONS if you can.
Remember: Seasons of Consolation and Desolation
come and go. Neither lasts forever.

54. GOD’S INVITATION
Right now, God is inviting you to move
with Him in some way.
You can sense this invitation within.
As you begin to respond you will feel
the tug of your attachments. You will
feel the pushback of your limitations.
You will fight this movement (even if
there are very attractive aspects to it)
because it is new and unfamiliar.
God says: “You are free to say ‘yes’. You
are free to let go. You are free to trust
Me. We will do this together”

55. TOOLS FOR DISCERNMENT

56. THE EXAMEN OF AWARENESS
A daily practice designed to guide
you into a place of recognize God’s
movement and grace in your life
(Consolations) as well as addressing
the resistances to God’s movement
in your life (Desolations).

57. EXAMEN = “DUSTING FOR
GOD’S FINGERPRINTS”
• The Examen begins by carving
out at least 10 to 15
undisturbed minutes.
- Take five “deep cleansing
breaths”. Let your occupations
of mind and heart go. Be
present.
- Think of your favorite way to be
with God.
- Invite the presence of the Holy
Spirit.
- Meet God in the moment.
- Consider “the love with which
God looks upon me”.
PHASE ONE:
PREPARATION AND
TRANSITION

58. EXAMEN = “DUSTING FOR
GOD’S FINGERPRINTS”
• Review the past 24 hours or so
as if you were watching a movie.
• Ask God to help you relive one
CONSOLATION by asking:
“what is one thing that gave me
life?”
• Recall the feelings you felt in
that moment – peace,
satisfaction, wonder, joy,
reassurance, etc
• Relive the feelings. Take them in
deeply.
• Thank God for providing this
consolation
PHASE TWO:
REVIEW THE PAST
24 HOURS for ONE
CONSOLATION

59. EXAMEN = “DUSTING FOR
GOD’S FINGERPRINTS”
• Review the past 24 hours or so
as if you were watching a movie.
• Ask God to help you revisit one
DESOLATION by asking: “what
is one thing that took life out of
me?”
• Recall the feelings you felt in
that moment – confusion, anger,
hurt, isolation, fear, etc
• Find a key feeling and feel it
again
• Ask God to meet you in that
place of desolation. Ask for His
light to shine in darkness.
Receive His comfort. Let the
Spirit of God minister to you.
PHASE THREE:
REVIEW THE PAST
24 HOURS for ONE
DESOLATION

60. EXAMEN = “DUSTING FOR
GOD’S FINGERPRINTS”
• After spending time with God in
one Consolation and one
Desolation ask –
“How is God giving me the grace
to respond to this?”
- Select an attitude you feel
would be pleasing to God.
- Identify any action you may
need to take.
- Thank God for giving you the
grace to respond to His
Consolations and comfort.
PHASE FOUR:
RESOLVE

61. THE EXAMEN = “DUSTING
FOR GOD’S FINGERPRINTS”
Thank God for the time you
have just spent with Him.
- Briefly look ahead at what
lies before you.
- What feelings do you feel?
- How might you apply your
resolution and consolation
to those feelings?
- Go in shalom. The Lord is
with you!
PHASE FIVE:
CONCLUSION

62. TOOLS FOR DISCERNMENT –
COUNSELING / SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

63. WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DIRECTION?

64. CONVERSATION WITH A
SPIRITUAL COMPANION WHO “CO-LISTENS”
1. Formal Spiritual Direction – by appointment with
a trained and experienced Spiritual Director
2. Informal Spiritual Conversation – Mentors,
friends, and companions in Christ who make
themselves available to you (and, possibly, you to
them)
The goal: to help you perceive and respond to God’s
movements in your life as you review your spiritual
practices, everyday experiences, and interior
feelings.

65. CONNECTING WITH GOD
IN BIG AND SMALL WAYS
Spiritual Direction is predicated on the notion
that God is present in our lives in both the
spiritual “peak experiences” that grab our
attention and in the subtleties of everyday life.
Spiritual Directors help us pay attention,
identify themes, and form responses to God’s
movements.

66. “THE CRITICAL
JOURNEY”
In addition to the
moment-to-
moment
movements of God
in our lives there
are more sweeping
themes that are
common to spiritual
progress over time.

67. SIX SEASONS OF THE CRITICAL JOURNEY
(ROBERT GUELICH)
• The Converted Life (Being)
• The Learning Life (Knowing and Belonging)
• The Active Life (Doing)
• - - - - - - A TIME OF CRISIS AND CHOICE - - - -
-
• The Inward Life (Being)
• The Outward Life (Knowing and Doing)
• The Life of Love (Being, Knowing, and Doing)

68. INVITATION TO A JOURNEY
(ROBERT MULHOLLAND)
1. Awakening (initial and, at some point, ongoing)
2. Purgation (obvious sins /motives & attitudes / patterns)
3. Illumination (growing awareness of the nearness of
God within)
4. Union – (growing into the image of Christ / united with
Him in will, character, and purpose)

69. THE FOUR LOVES
(BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX)
1. Love of self for self’s sake (self focus, self-serving)
2. Love of God for self’s sake (we learn that it is useful to
love God)
3. Love of God for God’s sake (we love God just because)
4. Love of self for God’s Sake (union with God, loving
what He loves)

70. WHERE CAN I FIND
A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR?
There is a woman who offers professional
Spiritual Direction here at The Haven –
Roe Dodgen (714) 376-4192
Wellevations (www.wellevations.com) – has
listings for a number of male and female
trained spiritual directors on the “Team”
page

71. THREE MODES OF
DECISION-MAKING

72. MODE ONE: CERTAINTY
You are clearly impressed by a
guidance or message from
God.
The discernment is about
whether it is truly God
speaking.

73. MODE TWO: DISCERNING
SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS
Try an option on for size,
using your imagination
Discuss with others
Seek confirmation

74. MODE THREE: DELIBERATING WITH GOD
Identify the issue
Concretely state the choice
Pray for God’s guidance and inner freedom
Gather info
List advantages and disadvantages
Test against your core values
Tentatively decide
Confirm your decision