When we tell our story in the presence of another person, we can identify more clearly the movements of God's Spirit, and our relationship with God grows. A director poses new questions, calls us to be attentive to significant experiences, helps us savour and appreciate God's presence, and encourages us to stay with the discipline of prayer. When we discern movements in prayer, we can name our desire for intimacy with God, as well as our resistance to being in relationship with God. Discernment helps us to accept our limitations, acknowledge our sinfulness, integrate fears, and, ultimately, co-operate more fully with the action of God in our lives. A spiritual director guides us to become more attuned to God's presence, and the prayer of a well tuned heart nurtures a life that incarnates God's way of being in the world.
Discernment can be as much a part of communal prayer as it is of individual prayer.
There are four interdependent elements of liturgy that make it the honest prayer of a particular community. One is preparation. A second is the intentional performance of the ritual. A third is evaluation. And a fourth is discernment.