Week 5: Chapter 5 — Soul Care and the Inner Life

1.Cordeiro argues that many leaders are so focused on the outer work of ministry that the inner life — prayer, Scripture, silence, solitude — is starved. How would you honestly describe the current condition of your inner life? Is it a source of strength or a source of anxiety?

2.The author draws on John 15's image of the vine and the branches to argue that fruitfulness flows from abiding, not from striving. In practice, how much of your ministry activity flows from a place of genuine abiding versus anxious self-effort? How can you tell the difference?

3.Cordeiro writes about the danger of leaders who read the Bible only for sermon content or leadership principles — mining it for others rather than receiving it for themselves. Does that describe your current relationship with Scripture? What would it look like to return to reading it for your own soul?