It is based on and adheres to the conceptual design and ministry developed by Dr. John Olesnavage. That dates back to John’s discovery of a Powerful Question in 1995, workshops he began conducting in 2011, his two self-published books and his soon to be released, Your Most Powerful Question, by Word Among Us Press.

A third core value of the Powerful Question discernment process involves validation. Not only is this a self-directed process, it is also self-validating. When the Powerful Question arrives it will always be accompanied by a physical and/or emotional response that is unmistakable. That happens because our body reacts to this Question, this moment of clarity and truth, the same way it does when a doctor taps our knee with a small hammer. There is an involuntary response. It can, and does arrive in many surprising ways. Some experience shortness of breath, others experience giggling sensations or goosebumps. Headaches can happen, so can a churning in our stomach. Bottom line: You will know it, and it will be all the validation you need.

The fourth core value of the Powerful Question approach to discernment is: That it is a prayerful approach to truth and God who is truth. Discernment that seeks to know truth, also seeks to know God who is truth. As such it is the very definition of prayer. Could an evil person like Hitler find a Powerful Question? No, because a person like that does not desire truth.

There are certain “Core Values” that underpin the Powerful Question approach to discernment. These are values we want to hold ourselves accountable to and expect others to judge us by.

The first of these is that it is intentional. This affirms that we are engaged in a serious, committed effort to find our purpose and our role in God’s plan. We do not want to count on falling off a horse, going blind and having an epiphany (Like St. Paul). We believe our intentional pursuit of a Powerful Question will reveal our truth, and God who is truth.

Answer: The one embedded in our own life story, the one we truly cannot answer. It usually arrives with a jolt as it breaks through the layers of “knowing” we use surround and insulate ourselves with. It challenges and sometimes forces us to examine our life with a new lens, drawing us to the path God wants us to walk.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus could have called Andrew and Peter with a suggestion or even a command. Instead, he asked them a single question that changed their life. “What do you want?” (John 1:38) God asks each of us the same question.

We encounter questions every day. We can find answers or we can ignore them if we decide they are not important to what we want or need. There is one question however, that can’t be ignored. It comes from within. It affects us physically as well as emotionally and invites us to see ourselves as God does.