Spirit Pathway
The Spirit Pathway uses a framework that helps you understand where you are, what needs attention, and how to move toward wholeness. On this page, you’ll see how Awaken, Strengthen, Release, and Restore apply specifically to your spiritual life, giving you a simple structure to explore your relationship with God and identify what He may be inviting you into next.
Awaken
Awaken your spirit to what God has already placed within you.
This means learning how to be led by the inner most part of you that directly connects with God. It's recognizing the "disconnected" feeling you have, even if you don't know what you feel disconnected from. When you awaken your spirit, you begin to listen to that inner voice, or intuition, you have suppressed or not trusted for so long. You begin to see a confidence within yourself that was buried beneath the past traumas, insecurities, and failures that mask the healed version of you.
Key Indicators
Your reactions are faster than your reflections.
If you're snapping, spiraling, or deciding in seconds, that's not your spirit.
"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." (James 1:19)
Overthinking becomes the new norm.
If your thoughts feel like a group chat with no moderator, your spirit is not in control.
"For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." (1 Cor. 14:33)
You find yourself defending instead of discerning.
Justifying everything is feeding off of emotions instead of letting your spirit speak truth into you.
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring things to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:26)
You center yourself instead of God.
If life becomes about your comfort, validation, or narrative, you are not being led by your spirit.
"Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth." (Collossians 3:2)
Your spirit was designed to lead.
This phase helps you recognize where your spirit has been quieted or overshadowed so you can return to the place of spiritual awareness God intended.
Suggested Steps & Practices
Sanctification starts with salvation.
Have you been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ? In doing so, He gifts you with His Spirit, which comes in union with yours and begins the process of sanctification and awakening. (Ephesians 1:13-14; John 17:17)
Acknowledge God in the world around you.
You may be surprised at how much you find God's hand in your life and your everyday living. Pay attention to it, and begin to fill your heart with gratitude for all that you notice. (Psalm 104:24)
Begin practicing quiet moments with God.
When it crosses your mind to sit in silence with Him and/or His word, do it. (In the car, while cooking dinner, in the shower...doesn't matter!) Time with Him leads to conversations and deepens intimacy (Luke 10:38-42).
Next Action for This Phase
If you would like to talk with someone about what salvation looks like, or if you want or need prayer over any area of your life, follow the link below to learn about prayer calls.
Strengthen
Strengthen the parts of your spirit that need stability and support.
This means reinforcing the practices and foundations that help your spirit stay awake and alert. Strengthening your spirit means being more intentional about the thoughts you entertain and act upon, while learning how to discern the voices that try to lead your decision-making process. It's understanding what God says about you so you can learn to trust His voice when it's Him speaking.
Key Indicators
You're not listening to the convictions you feel from time to time.
Internally, you might feel like you "shouldn't" do something, but you tend to ignore that feeling.
"Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41)
You are easily spiritually influenced.
If people's opinions sway you more than God's Word, you might need to strengthen your spirit.
"Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines..." (Hebrews 13:9)
You avoid spiritual confrontations.
Instead of resisting temptation, you succumb to it, or entertain bad thoughts and lies instead of rebuking them.
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
Spiritual strength grows through intentional alignment.
Here you’ll focus on practices and rhythms that reinforce your connection with God and build the capacity of your spirit to lead your life.
Suggested Steps & Practices
Talk to God about what you're going through each day.
This could be in verbal prayer or on a written journal. Just keep it honest and don't hold back. This builds connection, opens your spiritual ears, and builds trust in your relationship with Him. (James 4:8)
Open up your Bible.
Getting into the Word that God inspired and spoke gives you knowledge of Him, His thoughts, and His purpose for you. If it feels intimidating, share that feeling with Him and start small. He will lead you! (2 Timothy 3:16)
Start a gratitude journal.
Remembering all the goodness that God has brought into your life helps sustain you through future hardships. It could be a small notepad you keep with you that you jot in when you think about it, or a daily ritual you add to your routine. The goal is to be encouraged by Him and position your heart into humility. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Next Action for This Phase
Knowing scripture is vital for spiritual growth because it teaches discernment in our way of thinking. If you're unsure, uncomfortable, or just need a little help understanding the Bible, follow the link below to join an online Bible Study.
Release
Release what is weighing your spirit down or pulling you out of alignment.
This means recognizing the burdens, patterns, or influences your unhealed spirit is still carrying. It's letting go of the belief systems that have been established by the misconstrued perception of the world and how life should look while living in it. Releasing in your spirit is an active participation in disbelieving the lies about yourself, your circumstances, and your future that have kept you out of alignment with God's identity in you and His purpose for you.
Key Indicators
There is an internal resistance to the identity God is sanctifying.
Anything inside you that pushes back when God speaks is something that needs to be released.
"As it is said, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion'." (Hebrews 3:15)
You find yourself in cycles of old habits and patterns.
Being stuck in a loop of behaviors or situations in life is an indication that you need to release what was to restore what's meant to be.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Cor. 5:17)
You try to hide the parts of you that you think others will judge or consider weak.
What you're not willing to face, address, and walk through will be the bondage keeping you in cycles.
"But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you'." (Ephesians 5: 13-14)
What you release makes room for what God restores.
This phase invites you to let go of patterns, burdens, or influences that weaken your spiritual clarity or keep you from walking in freedom.
Suggested Steps & Practices
1.
Name what's weighing on you and tell God you're giving it to Him.
Pressure, fear, guilt, expectations. Call it what it is and say it out loud or write it down. Clarity helps you let go. (1 John 3:20)
2.
Stop trying to fix what you're simultaneously trying to give to God.
Sometimes the best action you can take is inaction. Handing over to God what is heavy in your spirit means staying still until He gives you an instruction, or fights the battle on your behalf. (Matthew 11:28)
3.
Replace the lie with a truth.
Let Scripture interrupt the weapons that are not meant to prosper. This is why knowing His Word matters - it's "sharper than any two-edged sword" (Heb 4:12) that can pierce the lies that are circling around in your mind. (Hebrews 6:18)
Next Action for This Phase
Sometimes we can find ourselves in isolation during seasons that are heavy and when we're feeling like the weight of our problems are too much to bear. Connecting with like-minded people can create a safe environment for sharing burdens (Gal. 6:2), and sometimes it's easier to let go of something when there's someone holding the other hand. Follow the link below to connect with a H.A.P.P.Y. Hour Small Group.
Restore
Restore the spiritual connection and clarity that's been drained, suppressed, or neglected.
This means securing what you've been strengthening; transitioning what you've been letting God grow in you into a renewed part of your identity. It's letting God breathe life back into the deepest parts of you. Restoring your spirit is not about "fixing" what you think isn't good enough to connect with God but, instead, learning to hear your Shepards' voice in order to bring you into connection and alignment with Him.
Key Indicators
Your desire for connection with God has deepened, but you don't feel led by Him.
You try to connect with Him, but hearing His voice all the time is still a foreign or confusing concept.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27)
Your will is overriding His will.
Being in control seems more logical than surrendering to what we don't always understand.
"...Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." (Luke 22:42)
You are not bearing the fruit of His Spirit.
Union with God always produces fruit, and disconnection produces the opposite.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Restoration brings your spirit back into its God‑given place.
This phase centers on replenishing spiritual order and bringing alignment and clarity to your inner self.
Suggested Steps & Practices
Step 1.
Return to God.
Restoration begins when you consciously shift your posture towards Him. (Malachi 3:7)
Step 2.
Realign your spirit through worship.
Worship is not about singing, it's about shifting focus from self to God. (Psalm 22:3)
Step 3.
Break yourself free from the stronghold of strive-based works.
Remind yourself regularly that it's not works that saves (Rom 3:28), nor can you work yourself into a relationship with God. Nurture time with Him over working to impress Him. (Revelations 3:20)