Interior Path Small Groups

Accountability to Stay Committed to the Daily Habit that will Change your Eternity and Renew the Church

Do you struggle...

...with consistency in your prayer resolutions?
...to find devout friendships and accountability?

...with the shallowness of modern living?

...with your personal weakness?

...to advance past basic meditation?

...to remain on fire for spiritual and eternal realities?

Why mental prayer accountability?

Humans are 5X more likely to establish a habit with accountability. Military personnel, businessmen, athletes, and dieticians all know that specific goals with accountability is key if you want to take something difficult seriously. Why don't we do this with the "one thing necessary," our interior life with Christ?

Formation

1) 12-Step Interior Path: an individual's journey to embark and progress through the purgative stage of prayer. First-timers should go through steps 1-3 as a primer to learn mental prayer; those who want tips on how to develop the habit should go to steps 4-7; those who want to advance to contemplation should go to steps 8-12. The formation and practices in the Interior Path are based on the wisdom of the saints. If you genuinely make it through all of the videos, reading, and practices in each step, you are well on your way to sainthood.

2) Interior Disciple Kickstart Lessons: discuss 1-3 points at the monthly meeting from these hand-picked passages synthesizing the essentials of the interior life. These lessons are found in step 8 of the Interior Path. Here is a sample.

3) Spiritual Theology Reading: After the group has advanced (say, after 6-9 months), you can get creative with texts your group can go through together in place of the Interior Disciple Lessons and the 12 Steps to the Interior Life. Recommended texts are listed in Step 12 of the Interior Path

Small Group Customizable Template

Intro: SOCA staff offers an intro call with your group and will join for at least the first few meetings to help you get started

Daily: individual resolution for at least 15 minutes of mental prayer and habit-tracking

Weekly: 2-4 members on a 20 minute weekly phone call check-in on daily progress

Monthly: group discussion and fraternal social for all members in the area

Quarterly: assess group's progress and evaluate opportunities for growth or change

12-Step Path Resources

Learn: Crash Course on Mental Prayer

1) Why: From the Saints

2) What: 5-Step Mental Prayer Explained

3) How: FAQs on Mental Prayer

Developing the Daily Habit

4) Custom Mental Prayer Plan of Life

5) Daily Appointment Reminders

6) Habit-Tracking

7) Weekly Peer Check-Ins for Three Months

Advancement

8) Interior Disciple Lessons

9) Infused Contemplation Formation

10) Recollection Plan Throughout the Day

11) Advanced Custom Plan of Life

12) Spiritual Theology Reading Plan

Join the Waitlist Below

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FAQs

What is the time commitment for peer accountability?

Normally we recommend keeping it very simple with a short 15-20 minute phone call with 2 others. We have a simple setup process and method of running these weekly meetings to not burden you.

What if there are more than 3-4 people interested?

Praise God! We would recommend splitting into sub groups of 3-4 that have weekly phone check ins. Then everyone can come together once a month for the group discussion.

What if I'm just a beginner?

That’s no problem at all and we’ll help teach you the way. Check out the Mental Prayer Crash Course in steps 1-3!

I'm already in a small group. How can this fit in?

You can invite others in your group to sign up and we can do a setup call to help you add mental prayer accountability acts a quick check-in at the end of your normal small group meetings. Otherwise, you can do this with different friends or peers we connect you with in addition to your small group since this is a short call.

I already practice mental prayer. How can I benefit?

All of us can use a push of accountability to push ourselves to pray more or with more energy. Accountability act as a net to make sure we don't fall off the wagon. Finally, the 12-Step Interior Path has many resources to learn about advancement in contemplation, the presence of God, developing a thorough plan of life, etc.

Does SOCA give us accountability? Or do you connect us?

You get to choose which forms of the accountability you want! The one we consider most effective is the weekly peer calls; our goal is to make sure no one who wants that is left hanging on their own.

I already have friends I do accountability with. How can this help?

SOCA's setup process can help you make it a cleaner process so it has a good foundation for the long haul; often, groups die out for a variety of factors (too much of a time commitment, people move, there are too many commitments, etc.) or are not effective due to a lack of specific accountability (i.e. it is more of a vague "how is it going? are you praying?"). SOCA's model solves these, and having a facilitator solidify things

How long of a commitment is it for?

It is up to you! If you opt for peer accountability, however, it is a minimum commitment of three months out of fairness to everyone a part of it. We recommend quarterly assessing the group's members, structure, and formation.

What if I just do accountability with my spouse?

If that is really the case, that is great! We still recommend habit-tracking and a weekly report. Having friends who also hold you accountable often adds an element of gravitas to it as well.