What is spiritual direction? Basically, it is helping another person determine what God is doing in a given situation or setting or issue. It is not problem-solving for another person. It is helping to hear God. It can be done one-on-one or by a group.
A Format for Group Spiritual Direction
(from Lois Lindbloom)
Center on the Lord
Begin with a Scripture to center our hearts on the Lord. Then, take five minutes of silence in which allow the Lord to center our hearts on Him (can be aided by some quiet music, journals, etc. – but no talking). Next you take turns receiving spiritual direction.
Listen
First one person shares for ten minutes whatever is on his/her heart. The rest of the group actively listens in silence, keeping in mind the following questions below. If you are listener keep in mind speak at all.
1) God, what is Your deepest desire for this person?
2) God, what would You want my prayer for them to be?
3) Is there anything I need to let go of in order to join Your prayer?
4) Is there anything You would want me to say/do on Your behalf for this person?
Discern
When the person is done sharing, take two to three minutes of silent reflection, in which you are all asking God what He is speaking and whether He would have us share anything with the person (keeping in mind the 4 questions above). Remember that you will not ask questions, give advice or talk about your own experiences. Your sole purpose is to help discern what God is doing in the life of that person.
Share
Then, each person that feels so led offers what came to them in prayer (do not dialogue about what they or anyone else says). Try to keep it brief ~ one to two minutes for person.
Receive
Then, spend two to three minutes in silence for the recipient to take that spiritual direction in and hold on to it if they sense it is from the Lord. During this time the rest of the people pray for that person.
Repeat all the above steps for each person. You might want to do two people, take a break and then do two more.
Reflect
At the end, reflect back with one another about how it went, asking yourselves such questions as: Were we prayerful? Did we fall into advice giving or problem solving? Remember, this is about hearing and discerning what the Lord is doing, not about giving advice. Also please keep all things said confidential. Do not ask the person to evaluate what you said. If they want to share, they will.
Apart from Me 