SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
I was in my forties when I first became aware of the term ‘spiritual disciplines.’ Since I didn’t know what they were, I purchased a book on spiritual disciplines to educate myself. Not long after, my brother mentioned spiritual disciplines to me. He was surprised that I was reading up on the subject. We had a lively discussion as a result.
There are many forms of spiritual disciplines. Some of these should be incorporated in all believers’ lives. They help develop your spiritual depth of understanding and commitment to your faith and to God.
Why? Being intentional in our faith is a necessity for there to be sustained, active, and genuine growth. Stale spirituality is unattractive and has no life to it. Certain spiritual disciplines will guide this process and help us grow in our spiritual life. A spiritual discipline is a practice you cultivate to grow deeper in your faith and in a manner worthy of the purpose we are called to. This requires personal discipline, motivation, and spiritual intention. Reading God’s Word and praying are two mainstay disciplines in a Christian’s life.
The following list is comprised of several spiritual disciplines in my life. Like me, you will find your own way as you discover what disciplines you need to develop. Spiritual maturity means you are serious in your walk with God and want to develop spiritual legs. You should desire an ever-deepening walk of faith and a determined path to get there.
This list is not exhaustive. I first wrote it in 2007 as a handout for my church family to pass out after my talks. They were the disciplines I was practicing at the time. They are what helped shape my spiritual life. Intercession is another important discipline.
Spiritual Disciplines That Work
God time: Spend long periods alone with God, in bible reading, meditating on scriptures, and in oral prayer. Schedule time in your week. Make this like an appointment, a hallowed time, set aside for time with God.
Journal writing: Keep a journal handy to note scriptures, quotes from books and prayers, and to record daily praises and happenings. Come up with a system for easy access to your verses and quotations. Make sure to note book and page number for later reference.
Disciplined reading: Every day read in thought-provoking books about God, faith, emotions, behaviors and spiritual bondage issues, written by credible authors, intellectually challenging with stimulating discourse.
Study: Study the Word of God. Study theology and doctrinal works. This is a powerful tool for going deeper and for the understanding of the themes found in God’s Word.
Active seeking: Ask God to show you your true self that you might change; to use people, family, children, friends etcetera to speak truth to you. Read scripture with the intent to learn. Apply what God brings to mind. Become interactive with God.
Open access: With open access, you choose to not ignore or run from your sin or yourself. You choose to deal with it and let God work in you as he sees fit. God will use events in your life to help bring about a spirit of willingness in you. What may seem severe or a trial, may be God calling to you to come to his loving embrace, to come home to him, and to trust him with your stuff.
On-going surrender: This discipline makes surrender to God your heart’s desire. Keep going deeper with this. Surrender starts small and grows. It is a daily attitude of giving God preeminence in your life. Either God is on the throne of your life or you are on the throne of your life.
Interactive asking and listening: Cultivate a spirit of asking. Ask God for songs and verses when you are in need. It is helpful in the moment of distress to send a prayer up to God and ask for his help in giving you guidance. In Christ, you will be enabled.
Earnest prayer and fasting: As burdens and concerns surface, respond by praying in earnest for the individual, individuals, or the situation—with purposeful spiritual intention to prepare for a work of God. I encourage you to include a form of fasting with a commitment to fervent prayer. Fasting requires a giving up of something for the benefit that it can accomplish spiritually.
Set boundaries: Determine and adjust boundaries in relationships and choices even when it may put some distance in interpersonal relations. To be true to God is the first priority. This is difficult at times. Families don’t always understand. What matters most is to be true to God. Limit where he says to limit. Be careful with impulsivity. A caveat, though, make sure what you do is in keeping with scripture and the will of God. You answer to God first. This is freeing.
THE RESULT
I have found that God brings us to himself when we truly seek him. He is our friend and he can be found. His friendship is different than all other friendships. It is full of meaning and strength, compassion and help, guidance and deliverance. There are some amazing fruits that bubble up when he becomes our all-in-all. Loving others is more automatic because he is loving through us. Judging is no longer comfortable because love looks at people differently. Instead of seeing their failings, now we are able to see their neediness and pain, and their lack of peace and areas of bondage.
You will find that you no longer want to be as busy doing and doing for Christ. You want to rest in being who he wants you to be. The positive works flow out of this being because it’s not in your strength but in his. The whole center of reference has pivoted from you doing good things for Christ to Christ doing good things through you. The mystery of seeking God’s will is not so mysterious after all. When one walks closely with God, his will walks with you. It is the walking in his presence that is on-going spiritual challenge.
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? –1 Corinthians 3:1-3
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. –Hebrews 5:11-14
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