A spiritual discipline is a practice of devotion in response to God's grace in order to strengthen one's spiritual life. It can be described as a rhythm that enables a Christian to experience the fullness of the grace of God for greater strength, joy and endurance. The spiritual disciplines are gifts from God that enable us to know Him better. In other words, they serve as the means to greater knowledge and relationship with God.
The scripture encourages us to be involved in these kinds of practices. The Apostle Paul encourages Timothy to "train yourself to be godly. For physical training has some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:7b-8, NIV). This command of God is seen as necessary in order for a believer to grow and thrive in their Christian life.
So what are the actual spiritual disciplines? Dallas Willard, Christian philosopher and teacher, highlights two categories of spiritual disciplines in his book The Spirit of the Disciplines. Here is a listing of the spiritual disciplines [2 types]:
| Fasting | |
The first category is that of the "Disciplines of Abstinence." These disciplines entail practices in which the person abstains from something that they would normally engage in their daily life. For example, fasting is a common discipline of abstinence in which the person would not eat for an extended period of time in order to depend more on God and His Spirit for sustenance. Another discipline of abstinence would be silence in which the person would isolate himself from noise in order to live a quieter life and to hear God more clearly.
All of these practices actually allow for greater engagement with God.
The second category of spiritual disciplines is known as the disciplines of engagement. These disciplines include practices such as worship, study, service, prayer and fellowship. All of these disciplines are meant to empower the believer so that he can live more powerfully and intimately with God. While the disciplines of engagement could easily become duty, they are actually meant to be a product of devotion that occurs during its practice. So all of the disciplines serve both as the means and the ends of the entire process.
There is one final exhortation concerning the nature of spiritual disciplines. While they are meant to be quality times spent with God, it is also important to realize that there is a quantitative side to spiritual disciplines as well. In other words, there needs to be good amounts of time engaged in spiritual disciplines in order for there to be relationship established with God. Quality time then will emerge from quantity time spent practicing the spiritual disciplines. This in turn will lead to a deeper and more vibrant relationship with God. Please try all of the spiritual disciplines a few times each and see how they lead to a more dynamic spiritual walk with God!
***This blog post is reproduced from contents in the handout created by Pastor Ben Shin***
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