Utilize Chad Harrington’s top five list of spiritual growth books for Christian group studies with practical recommendations and theological screening.
The following spiritual growth books are my top five book recommendations for group studies to help Christians grow spiritually. They fall under the broader category of “discipleship,” which simply means following Jesus, but as “spiritual growth” books, they focus on the individual’s spiritual growth, especially through the spiritual disciplines.
My list is unique from other lists I have seen because:
- It gives practical criteria specifically for group studies.
- It provides theological perspective from a conservative point of view.
- It offers a specific order for which ones to read first.
To emphasize the point: This list is specifically for group studies.
While I offer five go-to books that will work with any group of Christians, I’ve also added five more books that apply to those looking for more intense study. Finally, I threw in a curveball for those who want something even more challenging.
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Top Five Spiritual Growth Books for Any Group of Believers
Here are my top five book recommendations for groups on spiritual growth. I recommend reading them in this order. Use this information at the discretion of your group’s maturity level.
Disclaimer: Most of these books were written twenty or more years ago, which may present challenges for some readers. If your group has non-readers—those who don’t often choose to read books—there may be an adjustment for them with the style of writing here. I still recommend these books for groups, but you may need to help people adjust their expectations in our world of sound bites and short-form content.
1. The Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
Vital Information about Renovation of the Heart
- Chapter Count: 13 chapters
- Weeks of Study: 12–14 weeks
- Recommended size of group; 3–15 people
- Age of target audience: Adult
- Gender specific: No
- Reader difficulty: 7 out of 10
- Appropriate for New Believers: Yes, with slight hesitation
Housekeeping on Renovation of the Heart
- Discussion questions in the book: No
- Homework required: No, but the accompanying book, Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice by Dallas Willard and Jan Johnson, contains sixty-one devotionals, each one with a prompt for putting into practice the principles of Renovation of the Heart. I recommend reading through the book proper, and after that reading the Daily Practice devotional. Doing both at the same time would be difficult and unrealistic for most groups. Separately, this devotional would work great as a follow-up to Renovation.
- Video series available: Yes, by Dallas Willard from 2003 on Conversatio here: thirteen videos, one for each chapter, each 10–15 minutes long.
Theology of Renovation of the Heart
- Theological red flags: No
- Denominationally specific content: No
- Author’s preferred Bible translation: NASB
- Publisher: NavPress, 2021 (first edition, 2002)
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What level of maturity does this assume?
This book is for any adult, especially for those who are spiritually hungry. Willard taught philosophy for thirty years as a university professor, so his writings lean more “heady”—but in this case, it’s not high and lofty writing. While his The Spirit of the Disciplines is more intellectual, this book is down to earth. It will help any age of adult believer who is hungry to better understand the anatomy of transformation and sink their teeth into some real meat.
What can this book accomplish for the group?
This book will teach readers to take on the character of Christ through the transformation of their spirit (to paraphrase the header on the back cover). Readers learn to be changed from the inside out as they cooperate with God, starting at a heart level and moving toward whole-life renovation.
2. Margin by Richard A. Swenson
Vital Information about Margin
- Chapter Count: 15 chapters
- Weeks of Study: 14–16 weeks
- Recommended size of group: 3–15 people
- Age of target audience: Adults
- Gender specific: No
- Reader difficulty: 5 out of 10
- Appropriate for New Believers: Yes, no hesitation
Housekeeping on Margin
- Discussion questions in the book: No
- Homework required: No
- Video series available: No, but here’s a video lecture by the author on Margin from 2001
Theology of Margin
- Theological red flags: No
- Denominationally specific content: No
- Author’s preferred Bible translation: NIV, 1984
- Publisher: NavPress, 2004
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What level of maturity does this assume?
This book will work well with almost any level of adult maturity. I would recommend it to those who are ready to grow, especially those who would say they are busy (and don’t want to be). It’s sold around 250,000 copies, so it carries a broad appeal.
What can this book accomplish for the group?
This book will help individuals and families move from “crazy busy” to steady. It takes readers from living with no margin and running on empty to living with margin without burning out. The subtitle is helpful in answering this question: “Restoring emotional, physical, financial, and time resources to overloaded lives.”
Read my full review of Margin here.
3. Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster
Vital Information about Celebration of Discipline
- Chapter Count: 13 chapters
- Weeks of Study: 12–14 weeks
- Recommended size of group: 3–15 people
- Age of target audience: Adult
- Gender specific: No
- Reader difficulty: 6 out of 10
- Appropriate for New Believers: Yes, with slight hesitation
Housekeeping on Celebration of Discipline
- Group questions available: Yes, through a study guide book for groups and individuals on Amazon here and on ChristianBook here. This PDF may be of use to you as well.
- Homework required: No
- Video series available: Yes, from Conversatio by Richard Foster himself here: 13 videos each about 25 minutes long. There’s also an old series of four videos (a total of 3.25 hours) available here on YouTube, but each episode is 45 minutes—and it’s an old video series (with low production quality).
Theology of Celebration of Discipline
- Theological red flags: No
- Denominationally specific content: No
- Author’s preferred Bible translation: Various
- Publisher: HarperCollins, 2018 (originally published 1978)
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What level of maturity does this assume?
This book will work for any spiritually hungry adult (and even perhaps high-school students), from new believers to senior saints. It’s sold over two million copies, so this is a staple with broad appeal.
What can this book accomplish for the group?
The subtitle is “The Path to Spiritual Growth,” which describes its purpose well. It’s a great introduction to the spiritual disciplines, and readers will walk away with a grasp on the “inward disciplines” like meditation and prayer; the “outward disciplines” like solitude and service; and the “corporate disciplines” like confession and worship. Not only will they be able to grasp these, they will also be inspired to take action. A disciple of Dallas Willard, Foster should be read after Willard’s Renovation in an ideal world (mentioned above).
4. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Vital Information
- Chapter Count: 4 parts of the book for a total of 95 pages (so not chapters like modern books)
- Weeks of Study: 3–5 weeks
- Recommended size of group: 3–15 people
- Age of target audience: Adult
- Gender specific: No
- Reader difficulty: 5 out of 10
- Appropriate for New Believers: Yes, with some hesitation
Housekeeping
- Group questions available: Yes through this version
- Homework required: No
- Video series available: No
Theology
- Theological red flags: No
- Denominationally specific content: Not really! He was a monk, though, so there’s a traditional aspect to it.
- Author’s preferred Bible translation: N/A
- Publisher: Various publishers and dates (originally published in 1692)
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- Buy on Christianbook the version I have; or Baker’s version.
- Buy the version I have on Amazon here.
- Check out this version on Amazon, which has amazing reviews and an audiobook version.
What level of maturity does this assume?
This book works for adult Christians who are self-aware and controlled enough to focus on their interior life. For those who are struggling with intense addiction or serious physical-sin hangups, this book may be over their head. This book can work great to give readers inspiration and an example of how to live in the presence of God in their hearts.
What can this book accomplish for the group?
This book will provide encouragement and an example of how to live with a meditative mindset of prayer. Written by a Christian monk over three centuries ago, it offers a unique perspective for many who are unfamiliar with monastic contemplative life. This is a great, soft intro into the quiet life of interiority. It will help especially those who are focused on exteriority—what to eat, what to wear, what’s on social media—and help them through exposure to a whole new way of living with a focus on the presence of God during the day.
5. Your Spiritual Formation Plan by Chad Harrington
Vital Information
- Chapter Count: 19 chapters
- Weeks of Study: 6–20 weeks
- Recommended size of group: 3–15 people
- Age of target audience: Adults
- Gender specific: No
- Reader difficulty: 4 out of 10
- Appropriate for New Believers: Yes, assuming they’re hungry
Housekeeping
- Group questions available: Yes (you can turn the questions for individuals at the end of each chapter into group questions)
- Homework required: Yes
- Video series available: Yes, on HIM Publications here (instant and free access) by Chad Harrington, long-form videos (8 videos, 1.5 hours each).
Theology
- Theological red flags: No
- Denominationally specific content: No
- Author’s preferred Bible translation: NIV, 1984
- Publisher: HIM Publications (2021)
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What level of maturity does this assume?
This book was written for all Christian adults but is accessible for high school students as well. The author—yours truly!—assumes a real hunger to grow. It works best for those who have a solid grasp of the gospel message and want tools with practical suggestions. If a reader is not motivated or has a surface-level relationship with God, this book may be difficult to walk through to the end. Those who are hungry will enjoy the practical guidance. It contains tons of tools, motivation, ideas, resources, and practical prompts for forming an actual plan for growth in ten core disciplines.
What can this book accomplish for the group?
This book will help readers get a definitive plan. Each chapter challenges readers to take only the next right step in each discipline—not reach for the stars. It will push readers, no doubt, but it’s a guide to help readers take the next right step for them in particular, not a predefined journey that applies to everyone in the same way. So disciple-makers can use this to guide a group of people, or a discipleship group, who are at different stages of the journey—all at the same time.
How can this book be used by a group? [Bonus!]
1. One suggestion: short time frame.
One way to work through this book is to take 6–10 weeks and break the book up into 3 parts:
- Week 1: Introduction–Chapter 2
- Week 2: Chapters 3–4
- Week 3: Chapters 5–6
- Week 4: Read one chapter from Chapters 7–16; start the 21-Day Challenge of Chapter 6
- Week 5: Discuss how the first seven days went.
- Week 6: Discuss how the second seven days went.
- Week 7: Discuss how the last seven days went.
- Week 8: Chapter 17
- Week 9: Chapters 18–19
- Week 10: Discuss what’s next
*Note: If you want to shorten it to six weeks, just read and discuss the material for Chapters 17–19 during the 21 Day Challenge and eliminate the final discussion day.
2. Another suggestion: long time frame.
Another option is to take a full 20–24 weeks to walk through this chapter by chapter. In this scenario, you might meet to discuss the introduction on week one, and then take a chapter a week for 20 weeks. You could stretch it to half a year if you wanted to dive deep and plan for interruptions or skipping some group times.
More Intense Spiritual Growth Books
These books go beyond what I would recommend for just any group study, but I highly recommend them nevertheless!
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Just click on the title below.
- The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard (HarperCollins, 1998): I wasn’t ready for this at 20 years old when I first tried to read it, but in my late twenties, it changed my life.
- The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard (HarperCollins, 1999 [1988]): This one’s on the intellectual side, but very rich and helpful.
- The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges (Navpress, 2016 [1978]): This book could be edgy theologically for some churches who are not focused on holiness.
- Intimate Friendship with God by Joy Dawson (Chosen Books, 2008 [1986]): This book leans charismatic in terms of the author’s denominational background, just FYI, but it’s great and challenging and unique.
- For God’s Sake Grow Up by Leonard Ravenhill (Destiny Image Publishers, 2013 [1997]: The wake-up call that we all need—and want deep down—to grow up spiritually.
Curveball Spiritual Growth Book Recommendation
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- Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila (AD 1577): Strap up for a ride with this one! It’s out left field, but it’ll take you right to home plate—if you can sift through this sixteenth-century Spanish treasure. My link to this book on Christianbook.com here is my recommended version—the version I read it in—and is translated by E. Allison Peers (in the “most celebrated translation”).
