Spiritual Growth Resources

Bible Study Websites

Mobile Apps

• YouVersion Bible App This free app includes daily devotions, reading plans, multiple translations of the Bible, and has widgets for displaying daily readings on your phone’s home screen or lock screen. This app is produced by an evangelical megachurch, so the theology of the devotions may not always match United Methodist theology. Apple Store Google Play Amazon Appstore
• d365 Daily Devotionals This free app offers daily devotions along with optional meditative music and daily reminder notifications. Apple Store Google Play
• Upper Room Daily Devotional This is the mobile version of the popular Upper Room daily devotional produced by The United Methodist Church. It is free for the first 30 days, then it’s $1.99 per month or $14.99 for an annual subscription. Apple Store
• Ritual This app includes daily gratitude practices, Lectio Divina meditations, poetry, and examines. There are also topical series from spiritual teachers such as Richard Rohr, Kate Bowler, Anne Lamott, and others. Apple Store Google Play
• Pray As You Go This app provides a guided meditation (about 10-12 mins) which includes the lectionary scripture reading, a song, and a reflection. The app includes other Ignatian spiritual practices, guided prayers, topical series, and retreats for deeper exploration. Apple Store Google Play

Prayer Resources

• Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill Merrill reimagines the Psalms as inclusive, meditative prayers that speak to the heart. Her poetic interpretations invite readers to connect deeply with God through love, peace, and spiritual renewal.
• Psalms Redux: Poems and Prayers by Carla Grosch-Miller This book offers modern, poetic reimaginings of the Psalms, blending ancient themes with contemporary language. It invites readers to engage the Psalms in ways that are both deeply personal and universally relevant.
• Devotions by Mary Oliver A curated collection of Mary Oliver’s poetry, this book reflects on the sacred in nature and the ordinary moments of life. Through her vivid and contemplative verse, Oliver invites readers to pause, reflect, and find the divine in the world around them.
• The Artist’s Rule by Christine Valters Paintner This book combines Benedictine spirituality and creative expression, encouraging artists to integrate faith into their work. It provides reflective exercises and practices to nurture the inner artist while deepening one’s spiritual life.

Podcast Suggestions

• Spiritual Wanderlust This podcast explores the depths of the interior spiritual life through conversations with contemplatives, psychologists, mystics, and embodiment experts. Hosted by Kelly Deutsch, a former nun with an interest in neuroscience, it provides life-changing insights and practical tools for those seeking wholeness and deeper divine intimacy. Apple Podcasts Spotify
• Get Your Spirit in Shape This podcast by the United Methodist Church provides spiritual nourishment through conversations with pastors, authors, and thought leaders. It focuses on integrating faith into daily life, offering practical advice and inspiration for growing closer to God and living with purpose. Apple Podcasts Spotify
• Awakening Lives This series focuses on the transformative power of spirituality in shaping lives. It includes interviews with individuals who share how spiritual practices and insights have influenced their personal and communal well-being. Apple Podcasts
• Evening Meditations by Our Daily Bread UK. Short (10-ish minute), uplifting evening meditations from God’s Word to help you refocus your heart on the Lord at the end of each day. Experience God’s peace as you “lie down and sleep” with the assurance that “you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

Daily Devotions

• Upper Room Daily Devotional This popular daily devotional is produced by The United Methodist Church. It includes short scripture readings, reflections, and prayers written by people from across the world. You can pick up a copy at the church or view the online version here.
• Center for Action and Contemplation Daily reflections featuring Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) faculty, as well as guest teachers and authors, reflecting on the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition. View the online version here or subscribe to receive a daily email with the reflections included.
• Have a Beautiful Terrible Day by Kate Bowler Kate Bowler reflects on the paradoxical beauty and pain of life, finding grace and humor in the midst of suffering and uncertainty. Through personal stories and poignant insights, she offers a heartfelt meditation on embracing life’s contradictions with honesty and hope. 

Book Suggestions

• One Minute Mindfulness by Donald Altman With 50 exercises and practices that build awareness and center attention, discover how to savor routine pleasures, build fulfillment in work, enhance and heal relationships, change unhealthy habits and connect to peace even in the midst of chaos or uncertainty.
• Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller Muller shows us how to create a special time of rest, delight and renewal – a refuge for our souls. With stories, poems and suggestions for practice, Muller teaches us how we can use this time of sacred rest to refresh our bodies and minds, restore creativity and recover inner happiness. 
• Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way by Margaret Silf Silf introduces seven sacred spaces. Each chapter weaves sacred stories from scripture and legend to find the thread of our own story. As we go deeper into our own sacred space, we move closer to the center and heart of all creation.
• Inner Compass: An Invitation to Ignatian Spirituality by Margaret Silf The book is designed to help readers discover their individual selves and their relationship with God through prayer, discernment and reflective living. This practical and experience-based guide is helpful both to newcomers and those quite familiar with Ignatian spirituality.
• Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life by Marjorie J. Thompson Thompson offers a framework for understanding the spiritual disciplines, as well as instruction in developing and nurturing those practices. The discussions on prayer, spiritual reading, worship, fasting, self-examination and hospitality are clear, practical and inspirational.
• Having the Mind of Christ: 365 Days of Spiritual Growth through Scripture, Meditation and Practice by Miller & Cole-Dai Each daily reading begins with a statement of the day’s central idea to focus your mind, followed by the passage of Scripture that has inspired the central idea. A brief meditation, which includes the most unique feature of the book: an exercise to help apply the main idea during the day that provides both blessing and a challenge to action.
• Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality by J. Philip Newell The book’s emphasis focuses on the essential goodness of creation and of humanity made in the image of God. Newell finds Celtic spiritual roots in the New Testament in the mysticism of St. John the Evangelist who leaned on Christ during the Last Supper and “heard the heartbeat of God.” John became a Celtic image of listening to God in all of life.
• Practice the Pause by Caroline Oakes This book explores the spiritual practices of Jesus as a contemplative, the power of mindfulness, and the transformative effect of pausing amid life’s busyness. It offers practical strategies for cultivating awareness and creating space for spiritual growth and clarity in daily decisions.
• Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton Barton guides readers through spiritual practices that nurture the soul, like solitude, prayer, and scripture meditation. The book emphasizes the importance of aligning one’s inner life with God’s rhythm to experience deep spiritual renewal.
• Lectio Divina by Christine Valters Paintner This book introduces Lectio Divina, an ancient Christian practice of sacred reading, as a contemplative way to encounter Scripture. It emphasizes listening for God’s voice in the text, fostering personal and spiritual transformation.
• Falling Upward by Richard Rohr Rohr presents a spiritual framework for the “two halves of life,” where failures and challenges are necessary for personal growth. He argues that falling and failing lead to a deeper, richer spiritual life in the second half of life.
• Paying Attention to God by William Barry Barry encourages readers to recognize God’s presence in everyday life by developing habits of spiritual attentiveness. The book combines practical advice with theological insights to deepen one’s relationship with God.
• Sacred Earth Sacred Soul by John Philip Newell Newell draws on Celtic spirituality to inspire a renewed connection with the natural world. He highlights the sacredness of creation and calls for living in harmony with the earth and all its inhabitants.
• The Discerning Heart by Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon Au This book focuses on developing spiritual discernment to make God-centered life decisions. It offers practical tools for listening to the movements of the Spirit in one’s heart and life circumstances.