Addressing Your Spiritual Needs

Small Group Workbook

Session Overview and Goals

This session explores what it really means to care for your spiritual life — not as a religious compartment, but as the care of your whole inner person. Dr. Cloud teaches that spiritual needs aren't met by adding religious activities to an already full life, but by learning to identify, protect, and nurture the "treasures of your heart" in all three of your key relationships: with God, with others, and with yourself.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Reframe spiritual needs from a narrow religious category to a whole-life framework
2. Identify the "treasures of the heart" that need protection and care
3. Recognize which relationships nourish their soul and which ones drain it
4. Understand the importance of structure in sustaining spiritual health
5. Take one practical step toward better care of their spiritual life

Teaching Summary

Part 1: What Are Spiritual Needs?

Many people think of spiritual needs as one slice of the life pie — alongside physical needs, relational needs, career needs, and so on. But Dr. Cloud challenges this compartmentalized view. To him, all of life is spiritual because we are fundamentally immaterial beings in a material world.

Your soul, your mind, the way you think and feel, what you care about, your desires — you can't find these under a microscope. They're invisible. They're immaterial. And they're deeply spiritual.

Rather than thinking of spiritual needs as religious activities, Dr. Cloud describes them as the care and stewardship of the "treasures of your heart." What are these treasures?

• Your feelings
• Your attitudes
• Your behaviors
• Your choices
• Your sense of limits
• Your talents
• Your thoughts
• Your desires

All of these exist within you and shape your life. Proverbs captures this with a simple but profound principle: "Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life."

In other words, what happens in your heart doesn't stay in your heart. It flows outward into every area of your life — your relationships, your work, your health, your decision-making, everything.

Part 2: Three Relational Contexts

These treasures of the heart don't exist in isolation. They live within three relational contexts:

Your relationship with God. If you believe God is personal (not just an energy or concept), then you're designed for relationship with him. That relationship involves knowing who he is, who you are, and how you relate. It requires time, attention, and protection from things that would intrude upon it.

Your relationships with others. We were made for connection. But connection requires healthy boundaries. If others are constantly stepping over the fence and trampling your heart, you won't be able to sustain good relationships. Dr. Cloud talks about building "concentric circles" of relationships — like Jesus did with the crowds, the followers, the twelve, the three, and his closest friend.

Your relationship with yourself. This one often gets neglected. How do you treat yourself? Have you identified and owned your treasures — your feelings, desires, talents, limits? If your heart has been wounded, that woundedness affects everything else. You can't give to others what you haven't first received and protected within yourself.

Part 3: Protecting Your Spiritual Needs

In the physical world, boundaries are visible. You can see where your property ends and your neighbor's begins. But in the spiritual realm — your heart, mind, and soul — the fences aren't as clear. You have to consciously build and maintain them.

Protection looks like:

• Creating time and space for your relationship with God — not as a religious duty, but as actual relating. Dr. Cloud describes having a specific place he goes, doors locked, family informed. Real relationship requires real investment.

• Identifying "gardener" relationships and "trampler" relationships. Some people consistently nourish your spiritual life. Others consistently drain or damage it. You need to protect yourself from the tramplers and invest in the gardeners.

• Protecting your dreams and calling. Your path comes from your heart — the desires and passions God has placed within you. But those desires can be fragile. Dr. Cloud tells the story of a woman who shared her dreams with a mother who had been criticizing her for forty years. "Why would she be the one you share them with?" he asks. Protect your dreams from those who would trample them.

Part 4: Integrating Spiritual Life Into Daily Life

The goal isn't to add more religious activities to your schedule. The goal is integration — weaving spiritual awareness into every aspect of your life.

Dr. Cloud points to Moses, who told people to hold God's ways near their heart, to write them on their doorposts, to talk about them as they walked through life with their families. This isn't about church on Sunday. It's about daily awareness and practice.

Integration involves:

• Awareness: Knowing the principles that lead to spiritual health
• Focused attention: Being mindful throughout the day of how you're doing
• Deliberate practice: Intentionally applying what you know in real situations
• Structure: Building time and space into your schedule for what matters

Think about physical health. You don't just go to the doctor once a year and expect to be healthy. Health happens daily — in what you eat, how you move, what you avoid. Spiritual health is the same. It's integrated into the fabric of everyday life.

Discussion Questions

[Leader note: These questions move from accessible to deeper. You may not get through all of them — choose the ones that fit your group. Allow space for silence; some of these require thought.]

1. When you hear the phrase "spiritual needs," what comes to mind? What have you been taught about what spiritual needs are?

2. Dr. Cloud says that all of life is spiritual — not just religious activities. What would change in how you approach your day if you really believed that?

3. Which of the "treasures of the heart" (feelings, attitudes, behaviors, choices, limits, talents, thoughts, desires) do you pay the most attention to? Which do you tend to neglect?

4. Of the three relational contexts — your relationship with God, with others, and with yourself — which one feels the healthiest right now? Which one needs the most attention?

5. Dr. Cloud talks about "concentric circles" of relationships. Without naming names, think about your own circles. Are the right people in the right places? Is anyone too close who shouldn't be? Is anyone too distant who could help you?

6. What does it look like when someone "tramples" your spiritual life? Can you think of a time when that happened to you? [Leader note: Be careful here — this may surface painful experiences. Don't push for details.]

7. What does it look like when someone acts as a "gardener" in your spiritual life? Who has played that role for you?

8. Dr. Cloud tells the story of a woman who kept sharing her dreams with a mother who had criticized her for 40 years. Where in your life might you be giving access to people who consistently damage your heart?

9. What's one barrier that keeps you from integrating spiritual care into your daily life? Is it time? Energy? Not knowing what to do? Something else?

10. If "guard your heart with all diligence" were your motto for the next month, what would that actually look like in practical terms?

Personal Reflection Exercises

Exercise 1: Treasure Inventory

Take 5 minutes to reflect on the treasures of your heart. Use the categories below and note where you are right now — thriving, neglected, wounded, or unclear.

Exercise 2: Concentric Circles Mapping

Draw three concentric circles on a piece of paper.

• Inner circle: The 1-3 people who have the closest access to your heart
• Middle circle: The 5-10 people who are meaningful connections
• Outer circle: The broader community you're part of

As you place people in circles, ask yourself:

• Are the right people in the inner circle?
• Is anyone in the inner circle who should be further out?
• Is anyone in the outer circles who should be closer?
• Where are the "gardeners"? Where are the "tramplers"?

Exercise 3: Structure Audit

Think about your typical week. Is there any built-in structure for caring for your spiritual needs? Not just church attendance, but intentional time for:

• Quiet/solitude with God
• Meaningful connection with close friends
• Reflection on your own heart, feelings, and desires
• Processing and healing from wounds

If yes, is that structure protected? If no, what's one thing that could become a regular rhythm?

Real-Life Scenarios

Scenario 1: The Overextended Servant

Maria has been part of her church for fifteen years. She's on the hospitality team, leads a women's Bible study, serves in the nursery once a month, and is always the first to bring meals when someone is sick. Everyone says she's "such a servant." But lately, Maria feels hollow inside. She can't remember the last time she had a meaningful conversation with God that wasn't about someone else's needs. She's exhausted, and when she's honest, a little resentful.

Discussion questions:

• What treasures of Maria's heart might be neglected?
• How might Maria be serving others while failing to address her own spiritual needs?
• If Maria came to you for advice, what would you suggest?

Scenario 2: The Dream That Keeps Getting Trampled

Jason has always wanted to start a nonprofit that helps at-risk youth. It's been his passion since college. But every time he brings it up, his father tells him it's impractical. His wife worries about the financial risk. His closest friend says he should "just be grateful" for his stable job. Jason hasn't talked about the dream in two years, and lately he notices he doesn't feel much of anything about it anymore.

Discussion questions:

• What has happened to the "treasures" of Jason's desires and passions?
• How have the people closest to him affected his spiritual life?
• What would it look like for Jason to "guard his heart" in this situation?

Scenario 3: The Compartmentalized Professional

David is a successful businessman. He goes to church most Sundays, gives generously, and serves on the finance committee. But when he's honest, his faith feels disconnected from his work life. The way he treats people at the office, the compromises he makes to close deals, the way he manages his stress — none of it feels "spiritual." He sees his spiritual life as what happens on Sunday, and the rest of the week as something separate.

Discussion questions:

• What does Dr. Cloud's teaching suggest about David's compartmentalized approach?
• If spiritual needs are "whole-life," what might integration look like for David?
• What would be a first step for David to connect his faith to his daily work?

Practice Assignments

These are experiments, not homework. Try them and notice what happens.

This Week: Notice Your Treasures

Throughout the week, pay attention to the moments when one of your "treasures" is activated — a strong feeling, a desire, a limit being pressed, a talent being used or neglected. Don't try to fix anything. Just notice. At the end of each day, briefly note what you observed.

Notice especially:

• What feelings did you experience today?
• Did any of your limits get tested?
• Were any of your desires stirred or suppressed?
• How did your relationships with God, others, and self play out?

This Week: Identify One Gardener and One Trampler

Think about the people who regularly interact with your spiritual life. Identify one person who consistently acts as a "gardener" — someone who nourishes your soul. And identify one person (or type of interaction) that consistently acts as a "trampler" — draining or damaging your heart.

Consider: What would it look like to invest more in the gardener relationship and create some protection from the trampler?

Closing Reflection

Your spiritual life is not a side project. It's not a compartment you visit when you have time. It's the sum total of who you are — your heart, mind, soul, and strength — and it touches everything.

The invitation is simple but challenging: Know your treasures. Protect your heart. Build relationships that nourish you. Create structures that make spiritual care sustainable. Integrate all of this into the fabric of your daily life.

You're not meant to do this alone. God designed you for connection — with him, with others, and even with yourself. The very fact that you're in this group, having this conversation, is part of addressing your spiritual needs.

Guard your heart with all diligence. It's the wellspring of your life.

Optional Closing Prayer

[Leader: You may read this aloud, invite someone to pray their own prayer, or simply sit in a moment of silence.]

God, we are often better at caring for others than caring for ourselves. We are better at religious activities than genuine connection. We compartmentalize our lives and wonder why our faith feels thin.

Help us see that our spiritual needs are life needs — not a slice of the pie, but the whole thing. Give us courage to identify the treasures of our hearts and wisdom to protect them. Show us who the gardeners are and give us discernment about the tramplers.

Teach us to guard our hearts — not out of fear, but because what's inside matters. From our hearts flow the issues of our lives. Help us steward them well.

Amen.