A spiritual discipline is a biblical practice with the express purpose of strengthening your faith. Here are some spiritual disciplines you can practice in your life!
The Purpose of Spiritual Disciplines
In a world that often seems upside-down, a strong, faith-filled foundation is critical; not only for our personal spiritual growth, but also to shine the light of Christ through the darkness. As Christians, we are equipped with the power of hope, a hope we can share with others if we have spiritual discipline.
A spiritual discipline is a biblical practice with the express purpose of strengthening your faith. The book, Habits of Grace, by David Mathis, delves deeper into the importance of spiritual disciplines and why we should be encouraged to pursue them. Let’s look at a few of these disciplines and how we can incorporate them into our lives.
Spiritual Disciplines to Think About
Prayer
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16.
Prayer is an important spiritual discipline that we often neglect or don’t think about until we are falling asleep at night. God wants to hear our prayers. He wants us to come to him when we are hurting, scared, happy, or just want to thank Him for what He has done for us.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
- Who do I turn to first when I need to talk to someone?
- How can I remind myself throughout the day to pray?
Reading the Bible
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
- What do I turn to instead of the Bible?
- How can I make reading the Bible a habit in my life?
Fellowship
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25.
We glorify God when we are in community with other believers and participating in the local church. Other people can also help our spiritual growth in unique ways. By worshipping together, taking communion together, and serving together, we can unify the church and grow in fellowship with other believers.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
- Who do I spend the the most time with?
- How can I get involved with my church or Christian community?
Simplicity
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” 2 Corinthians 1:12.
The first spiritual discipline to consider is simplicity. In secular culture, happiness is often equated with having. You have the best phone, the nicest car, the biggest house. But as Christians, we know that finding our life means giving it away. Simplicity is the practice of letting go and uncluttering your life, so you can live for the things that really matter – God and those around you.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
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- What in my life right now is getting in the way of the things that are most important?
- How can I simplify my life to make more time for God?
Confession
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16.
Confession is an important part of our spiritual lives. The Bible tells us that confessing our sins and acknowledging our wrongdoing is part of receiving forgiveness. But the verse above from James speaks on a practical aspect of confession – the involvement of fellow believers. We confess our sins regularly to others so they can pray for us and give us spiritual support.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
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- What could I use prayer for?
- Who could I practice the spiritual discipline of confession with?
Self-Examination
“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!” Lamentations 3:40.
The third spiritual discipline we’ll look at is self-examination. Self-examination is about taking the time to evaluate your life and see if it matches up with what God would want. It is important for all Christians to make sure they’re living out their faith. And no, this discipline isn’t all about focusing on what you’ve done wrong – it’s also important to identify your successes as well! Self-examination is a tool for re-aligning ourselves with Christ.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
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- When will I make time to regularly examine my thoughts and actions?
- What did I do well and how can I keep doing that/what didn’t I do well and how can I improve?
Gratitude
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17.
All over the Bible, we are told to be thankful. Gratitude is all about taking the time to think of all the things God has blessed you with and done for you. It isn’t just something we feel, it’s something we can practice. Depending on our circumstances, being grateful may not be the first thing we think to do. But if you choose to work on this spiritual discipline, you will find that you are able to thank God even in the most difficult times.
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
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- What are some of the things God has given me that I can be thankful for?
- How can I approach each situation with an attitude of gratitude?
Stewardship
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…” 1 Peter 4:10.
How are you using the gifts God has given you for his glory? That is the heart of the final spiritual discipline we’ll be looking at: stewardship. The discipline of stewardship is all about identifying your strengths and then finding ways to use them to serve others. Each of us has skills or passions that we can use to bring glory to God and do it cheerfully!
If you want to adopt this spiritual discipline, you can start by thinking through these questions:
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- What is one strength/skill that God has given me that I can use to glorify him?
- How can I help others be good stewards of the gifts God has given them?
3 Steps for Adopting a Spiritual Discipline
Once you’ve chosen a spiritual discipline to practice, check out these three simple steps for getting started:
Step 1: Choose a spiritual discipline
Your first step is to pick out a discipline you want to practice. Try to choose one that is new to you in order to build up your spiritual strength! There are many more spiritual disciplines other than the ones listed above, so do a little research on some others. Pray and ask God for guidance in making your choice – is there an area of your spiritual life that God wants you to be stronger in? Once you’ve made your choice, write it down and keep it somewhere you will see it often as a friendly reminder.
Step 2: Make time through fasting
The next step is to help you work on the discipline you’ve chosen by using another spiritual discipline: fasting. Fasting is a great opportunity to prepare your soul to live out your faith, and it doesn’t have to be just giving up food. In fact, for this challenge, choose something in your life that you could fast from to make time for your new spiritual discipline. Let’s use social media as an example. Instead of spending time on social media, you could work on gratitude or self-examination. Use fasting to honor God and make time to build up your spiritual strength!
Step 3: Practice your discipline
Once you have chosen your discipline and have made time for it, you can start practicing! Whatever discipline you choose, be intentional to think about how you have (or haven’t) applied that spiritual discipline during the day. Keep track of your progress so you can see how much you grow this month and beyond!
