The Bible lays out a rhythm for human life that runs deeper than the weekly cadence of work and rest — a larger pulse, written into creation itself, of seasons and cycles, of planting and harvest, of activity and recovery. God took this seriously enough to build it into Israel's farming laws: land was to lie fallow, debts released, rhythms honored. Farmers who work the same ground year after year know this instinctively: land that is never given rest eventually stops producing. It needs time to lie quiet, to recover what continuous use depletes. The ancient practice of leaving ground fallow — not abandoned, but tended and unhurried — is how soil regains the fertility that effort alone cannot restore.
Summer already carries an invitation to change pace. It is a cultural opportunity to receive God's invitation to live the rhythm of fallow. We set aside time to create space to do what the ordinary rhythm of life rarely allows: to look back over the past season with honesty and gratitude, to notice what God has been doing beneath the surface, and to let Jesus do what only he can do in unhurried ground — heal what needs healing, surface what has been buried, and gently reorient us for what lies ahead. This isn't about self-improvement or spiritual productivity. It's an invitation to stop long enough for the soil of the soul to breathe.
Choose some time to set aside this summer for the purpose of fallow. It could be integrating it into your existing sabbath rhythm. Or you could choose a morning or afternoon each week, or even a day. Try to find time you can consistently commit to for a few weeks. You want to plan a rhythm you can realistically do. Use the fallow reflection to prayerfully think about what you need. It won't all be hard spiritual and emotional work — it could mean jealously guarding time for a nap and to play each week. It will probably involve a mixture of things. Don't try to do too much! The resource library will help you get creative with ways to meet with Jesus and seek the renewal and rest we all need as we move between seasons.
Before fallow begins, this tool invites you to pause and take stock — to notice where you are,
what the past season has done in you, and what you might need from the weeks ahead.
There are no right answers, and this is just for you.
Pause and pray now before you start, inviting Jesus to reveal what he wants you to see.
Allow 20–30 minutes
Here is a picture of where you are. Sit with it prayerfully before moving on to rank your needs and browse the activity menu.
Higher scores indicate greater need for renewal in that area. These are a prompt for reflection, not a verdict.
Bring what you've noticed to Jesus — the one who knows you more deeply than you know yourself, and who leads you with gentle compassion. Ask him to show you what he wants you to see.
Drag to rank the five aspects of health in order of felt priority for your fallow season.
Is there anything that has surfaced that has more weight or urgency? Anything that sparks more curiosity or excitement? Is there something you feel Jesus drawing you to?
Looking at the needs you've identified and the activities you're drawn to — is there a practice that Jesus might be inviting you deeper into? Name it (or them), and make a note of why.
Look back at this summary in a few days as you continue to think about what Jesus has for you in fallow.
Here are guides, practices, books, and audio resources to support fallow. They are organized around the five aspects of health from your reflection. They're here so that when you're diving into what Jesus is drawing you to — or when you simply don't know where to start — you have a place to look.
The goal is to support you engaging Jesus as the Spirit leads — not to fill your schedule. Be selective, and allow any exercise to be a starting point... they're not rules, more what you'd call guidelines.
Our bodies carry the weight of a season in ways we often don't notice until we stop. Fallow is an opportunity to pay attention to what your body has been carrying, and to care for it as the temple of the Spirit it is.
The inner life is where formation actually happens. Fallow creates space to attend to what is stirring beneath the surface — grief, joy, fear, longing — and to bring it all honestly before God.
Fallow is not primarily about spiritual productivity — it is about being with Jesus. These practices create space to encounter him, listen to him, and rest in him without an agenda.
Seasons of life affect our closest relationships in ways we often don't notice until we slow down. Fallow is a good time to pay attention, give thanks, and ask what God wants to strengthen.
Fallow is a good season to reflect on the dreams and vision you carried into the last season, to grieve what didn't happen, to celebrate what did, and to open your hands to what God might be stirring in you for what's ahead.
We carry more than we realize. Stress, grief, and the weight of work and life don't just live in our thoughts — they settle in our bodies. Somatic prayer brings the body into prayer: to notice what is carried, and invite Jesus in. It won't resolve everything, but is an act of entrusting yourself to the Father's care.
How to prayFind somewhere quiet to sit or lie comfortably.
Take a few slow breaths to slow down, remembering that Jesus is with you.
Starting at the soles of your feet, slowly move your attention upward through your body — feet, legs, hips, stomach, chest, shoulders, arms, neck, face. Pause at each place and simply notice. Tension? Heaviness? Warmth? Pain?
Where something surfaces, invite Jesus in. Ask Jesus what is affecting you. Release what you've been carrying — breathe out slowly as an act of entrusting it to him, breathe in his peace.
Work your way up through your whole body this way, unhurried.
Close with a few moments of stillness in God's presence. Notice how this prayer of trust has affected you, and spend a little unscripted time with Jesus.
Laments in the Bible follow a pattern. There are some common ingredients, though sometimes the mix and order changes. We can use this pattern as a recipe to help us learn how to pray our own laments.
1. Think of something affecting your heart in a way that calls for lament
2. Pray and invite Jesus to reveal himself and what's in your heart
3. Take some time to go through each ingredient, writing down a simple prayer for each
4. Pray your complete lament to God
You might skip a part, or be unsure what to write. That's fine — you'll grow into using each ingredient as you continue to use the pattern to add lament to your relationship with God.
To read some laments in the Bible try Psalm 22 & 42, Jeremiah 20:7–18, and 2 Chronicles 20:6–12
| Address to GodWhat is your cry? | God, please _______________ |
| Past faithfulnessWhat character of God are you appealing to? | Because you are _______________ |
| What has God done in the past to answer this cry? | Because you _______________ |
| ComplaintWhat is the external problem? | Deliver me from _______________ |
| ConfessionLet your questions out | Why are you _______________ |
| Confess the internal problem | Forgive me for _______________ |
| RequestHow are you asking God to answer? | I want you to _______________ |
| How can God heal the internal problem? | Work in my life to _______________ |
| Statement of trustWhat has God done that builds hope? | Because you are a God who _______________ |
| What has God promised that builds hope? | And you said _______________ |
| Vow of praiseWhy will you praise God? | I will praise you for _______________ |
Fallow creates more space than we're used to. Journalling is one of the simplest ways to pay attention to what's happening in that space — to notice what surfaces when the noise quiets down, and to bring it honestly before God.
It doesn't have to be polished or even coherent. A journal is just a place to be truthful and aware.
A few ways inWe all live inside stories we tell about ourselves, about God, and about the world. Most of them formed early, shaped by experience, family, and the wounds we carry. Many have never been examined. And some of them are simply not true.
Fallow creates space to ask: what are the stories I'm actually living by? Any season reshapes our story, and it's easy for our feet to slip from the rock of the truth about what God says, and to start to pick up lies we begin to tell ourselves as the messiness of life affects us. Pausing between seasons is a time to invite Jesus to encourage us with the truths we need, healing us from the lies that have been affecting us.
Take some time with these questions and write your responses. Don't try to be comprehensive, but invite the Spirit to surface what Jesus wants to talk to you about.
For each belief that feels false or uncertain, bring it before Jesus. Ask him: What is true? Sit with his response. You may want to find a Scripture that speaks truth into that specific lie, and return to it through fallow. If you feel it is a battle to know what is true, talk to a trusted friend who can speak truth into your life.
The prayer of examen helps us move between our moments and seasons with greater awareness of what has happened, how it has affected us, and how we can respond to Jesus. This is perfect for fallow! You may want to pray this at the start of fallow, or weekly as you review what God is showing you week by week.
As we make space to become more aware of our own heart, God shares his heart with us. It becomes a space to listen, heal, process, release, be led and be encouraged.
Set aside 20–30 minutes. Find somewhere quiet. Bring a journal if you like.
Slow down. Take a few long breaths and let your body arrive where your mind already is. Ask the Father to give you eyes to see the season honestly — not to judge it, but to understand it. Lord, show me what you want me to see.
Let the season pass slowly before you. What were its defining moments — the highs and the lows, the breakthroughs and the disappointments? What stretched you? What drained you? What surprised you? Don't analyse yet — just let it surface.
Where did you feel most alive in God this season? Where did you feel distant, dry, or depleted? Where did you give from a full place — and where were you running on empty? Notice what you've been carrying, and how you have shared your burdens with Jesus.
Bring what you've noticed to Jesus. Talk to him honestly about it — the weariness, the gratitude, the unresolved things. Ask him: Where were you in this season? What were you doing that I may have missed? Listen for his response. What does he want you to release? What does he want you to receive?
Close by placing the season — its fruit and its grief, its unfinished things — in God's hands. You don't need to resolve everything before you rest. Fallow is not a reward for a season well-lived; it is grace for whatever season you've had. Receive it as gift. Ask God to give you hope and light for the journey ahead.
Lectio Divina creates unhurried space to listen to God through the Bible, with curiosity about what he wants to show you rather than a specific goal to process.
Fallow is a good season to deepen this rhythm. Before fallow, ask God whether there's a book or passage he wants to meet you in — and then return to it slowly, a little at a time.
Coming into fallow tired, what God offers may feel small and simple. That's not a sign of absence, or failure to deepen. It may be that presence and peace around a single phrase is exactly what a depleted soul needs.
PauseAs you come to Jesus with your Bible open, remember he is with you. Jesus is at work in you and around you, and he wants to speak to you. Say a prayer of approach:
Read slowly and curiously. Look for places where your heart is stirred — linger there and re-read. If there is an idea or phrase that sticks out to you, notice what it is saying. Chew on it with Jesus: notice how the words impact you.
Ask Jesus what he's showing you: "Jesus, what are you showing me; why is this important for me?" Ask Jesus how to respond: "Jesus, how can I say 'yes' to what you are doing in my life?" There might be something you can confess, ask Jesus to do, or thank God for — do it!
Imaginative prayer is a way of entering a Gospel story slowly — not to study it, but to be present in it. Rather than reading about Jesus, you place yourself in the scene and pay attention to what you notice, feel, and hear.
It draws on the imagination as a gift — a way God can speak that bypasses the analytical mind and reaches somewhere deeper.
How to pray this wayChoose a short Gospel passage — a scene where Jesus is present with someone. Good starting points: Mark 10:46–52 (Bartimaeus), John 11:17–35 (Jesus with Mary and Martha), Luke 5:1–11 (the first disciples), or any passage where you sense an invitation.
Read it slowly once to familiarise yourself. Then set the text aside.
Close your eyes. Let the scene come alive — the sights, sounds, smells, the time of day. Place yourself somewhere in it: as a bystander, one of the characters, or simply yourself.
Notice what happens. What do you see? What draws your attention? If Jesus turns toward you, what does his face look like? What does he say, or do?
Stay with whatever surfaces. Don't force it — just pay attention and respond honestly.
When you feel ready, step out of the scene and talk to Jesus about what you noticed. What was it like to be there? What do you want to say to him?
Centering prayer is a way of consenting to God's presence — not asking for anything, not saying anything in particular, simply resting in him. It's less about speaking to God and more about being with him, beneath thought and activity.
It can feel unfamiliar at first. That's normal. The goal isn't to empty the mind but to keep returning to God whenever the mind wanders — which it will.
How to prayDecide how long you will pray — 10–20 minutes is great. Set a timer on your phone and then put it on the other side of the room so you are not distracted.
Choose a simple word or short phrase that expresses your openness to God — Jesus, Father, peace, come — something that feels natural rather than chosen for effect.
Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and settle. Silently offer your word as a gesture of consent: I'm here. I'm yours.
When thoughts arise — and they will — don't fight them. Simply return gently to your word. Not as a mantra, but as a quiet returning to God.
When you finish, remain in silence for a few moments before returning to the day.
The more you return, the more natural it becomes. Over time, the practice cultivates a resting place in God that begins to show up outside of prayer itself.
The Daily Office is one of the oldest Christian practices — the simple rhythm of pausing at set points through the day to return to God. Not to get something, but to be with him. To remember that the day belongs to him, not just the moments we designate as spiritual.
For busy moms, overwrought employees and students juggling four classes and two sports, for those who find the day quickly swallowed by activity, this practice offers small anchors — brief returns to presence that gradually reshape how the whole day feels.
The simple patternChoose two or three moments in your day — morning, midday, evening — and mark them as pauses. Even five to ten minutes is enough.
In each pause: stop, be still, and let yourself arrive. You might read a short Psalm, pray simply, sit in silence, or use a breath prayer. The content matters less than the returning.
Over time the pauses become less like interruptions and more like coming home.
Gratitude is one of the simplest and most transformative practices available to us — and one of the easiest to let slip. Fallow is a good season to recover it.
It works not by manufacturing positivity, but by training attention. When we regularly notice what is good, we begin to see more of what is good. Over time it reshapes how we move through the world.
A few ways to practiceBusy and intense seasons have a way of quietly affecting our closest relationships — sometimes depleting them, sometimes revealing things we haven't had space to attend to. Fallow is a good moment to pause and pay attention.
Bring each person to mind, one at a time. For each, pray for God to reveal what he wants you to see, and sit with these questions:For each person, close with a simple prayer — gratitude for them, honest naming of where things are, and an invitation for God to lead you toward them in the season ahead.
Wherever possible, consider sharing some of what surfaces with that person directly. Fallow can be a good season to have honest, unhurried conversations that the pace of normal life crowds out.
All of our seasons are usually carried with some vision — hopes, goals, things you believed God was doing or would do. Some of it came to pass. Some of it didn't. And in the pace of normal life, there's rarely room to stop and honestly reckon with either.
Fallow is that room.
Take your time with these questions. Write your responses, and invite Jesus into each one.Close by bringing whatever has surfaced to Jesus. Ask him to heal what needs healing, affirm what he wants to continue, and give you clarity about what to carry forward. It is a great idea to journal or note down what Jesus brings up, so you can make this a part of your dreaming with Jesus for the future.
We are made in the image of a God who creates, imagines, and delights. But the pace of life has a way of narrowing us down to what's urgent, and the dreams that belong to our deeper life — for our work, our relationships, our own becoming — can quietly fade.
Pray, inviting the presence of your creative Father into your own creativity. Sit with these questions slowly. Don't rush toward answers — let them open up. Write what comes.
Bring your dreams to God honestly — the bold ones and the fragile ones. Sometimes God gives vision to show us what to do next, and sometimes as a waypoint to orient our future. Ask him which ones he wants to breathe more life into. Hold them with open hands, curious rather than grasping.
If you write these things down, perhaps in a note in the front of a Bible, it will help you stay oriented, and notice how the unfolding of the season ahead is affecting your heart.
The responsibilities of life can quietly create a gap between who we are on the inside and who we present on the outside — competent, certain, together. Fallow is an invitation to close that gap — or at least to name it honestly before God.
Take your time with these questions. Write your responses.Bring what you've noticed to Jesus. Ask him where he wants to bring more integration — more of the real you into the light, and more of his truth into the hidden places.
Calling isn't a single moment or a fixed job description — it's a growing sense of who God is making you, and what he's inviting you to partner with him in. It shifts and deepens as we grow, as circumstances change, and as God reveals more of himself and more of us.
Fallow is a good moment to pause and ask: what is God showing me about who I'm becoming?
Find some quiet time to be curious with God about these questions.
Bring your responses to God. Ask him to confirm what is true, correct what is distorted, and give you courage to grow into what he is forming in you. Not all of our strengths and passions occupy space in our lives as our main activities — sometimes we spend a lot of energy on things that are hard for us! But all the parts of our calling are important. So, are there any parts that you feel Jesus wants you to pay attention to in the season ahead?
A Rule of Life is a simple set of rhythms and commitments — practices you want to protect space for because of the way they help you follow Jesus and stay attentive to God. It's not a performance standard; it's more like a trellis that gives your life with God something to grow along.
Fallow is a natural season to return to yours — or to sketch one if you don't have one yet.
If you already have a Rule of Life, sit with these questions:A breath prayer is a short prayer — just a phrase — that you return to through the day. Paired with slow breathing, it becomes a way of anchoring yourself in God's presence, again and again. You are creating a rhythm for your heart's cry that joins one of your most basic rhythms of life.
It's a way to carry Jesus' invitation with you into ordinary moments.
How to prayChoose a short phrase that feels alive to where you are. It might come from Scripture, or simply from what you sense you need. For example:
Breathe in slowly as you pray the first half. Breathe out slowly with the second.
Return to it when you remember — before a meal, on a walk, waking up, winding down.
This isn't a schedule to stick to, and not every fallow day has to look the same — it's an invitation to imagine. A day rarely unfolds exactly as planned, but being intentional about what you want to pursue and why makes a difference. Sketch it out, hold it loosely, and let Jesus lead.
Fallow can involve a broad range of things, from those that we think of as spiritual to ones that are very normal everyday activities. They can all be sacred if Jesus is meeting us there. Here are examples of activities to consider to help you get creative as you pray about what to do for your own renewal.
Body & EnergyBody & Energy
Emotions & Inner Life
Spiritual Connection
Relationships
Vision & Dreams