Spiritual Disciplines
Which Ones Do You Practice?
What comes to mind when you think of Spiritual Disciplines? I’ll be honest: this concept or term is relatively new since I didn’t grow up consistently attending church. I always knew of God, but my relationship with Him deepened in my young adult years.
As I went through the Bible study, “Create In Me a Heart of Wisdom” by (In)Courage, which talks about spiritual discipline, I got curious about the concept and other people’s spiritual discipline.
This Bible study says, “As we strive to become more like Jesus, seeking wisdom and building our lives on His foundation, we develop spiritual muscle memory by being disciplined.” It also discusses how the “point of spiritual discipline is to grow closer to God and be transformed into Christ’s likeness.”
It discusses the basic principles of four specific spiritual disciplines and various ways to practice them.
Reading and Studying God’s Word
Prayer and Listening
Sabbath and Rhythms of Rest
Celebration and Delight
Don Whitney defines spiritual disciplines on the Desiring God Podcast as - “The spiritual disciplines are those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are habits of devotion, habits of experiential Christianity that have been practiced by God’s people since biblical times.”
The spiritual disciplines I’ve been practicing this year are:
Reading and Studying God’s Word
If you’ve been following my posts for a while, you’ve noticed that I’ve been writing a lot about the (In)Courage Bible studies. These Bible studies have been a fuel for my soul and for my relationship with God. They’ve helped me know and understand God better. And I’ve made it a goal this year to always be doing a Bible study.
Of course, I still read the Bible every day; nothing can replace that. I have been doing the yearly Bible plans for the past several years. And I’ve been reading devotional books. I’ve also been intentionally adding faith-based books to my reading rotation.
Prayer
Prayer is how we communicate directly with God. I pray as soon as my eyes open in the morning, on my way to take my daughter to school, on my morning walk, before eating, and at night before bed. Oh, I sometimes pray before tackling a tough task at work, too. My goal is to pray to God throughout the day continuously.
Rest
With my busy schedule and living by my calendar, I intentionally schedule rest days throughout the week. And those days are Tuesdays and Saturdays. On Tuesdays, I still have to work at my corporate job; however, I don’t do anything else with my business or podcast. And on Saturdays, I rest from both. If I cannot rest on Tuesdays or Saturdays, I’ll switch my schedule around, but I make sure I get two rest days per week. The same goes for my exercising; I make sure to get a few rest days throughout the month.
The Bible study says, “Sabbath is intentionally resting from work and from the busyness of life.” I’ve written about rest before because I understand the importance of it; however, many people don’t rest or think they deserve rest, but in order to grow closer to God, we need rest.
Celebration
The Bible study talks about how “God delighted in what He made (Gen. 1:4), and He delights in us as His children (Ps. 147:11; Zeph. 3:17). When we see evidence of His work in our lives, we celebrate by pausing, worshiping, jumping up and down, or sharing our testimony of His faithfulness with others.”
And yes, whenever I receive an answered prayer or I have a testimony, I share it! I share it with my friends and family, and/or I share it with others by writing about it online. I absolutely love writing in this newsletter and love sharing what I’ve learned and experienced with others in hopes of helping others draw closer to God and connect with them.
One discipline I want to get better at is fasting. I’ve done a few fasts, but I’m not consistent. This year, I did do a sugar fast, which I’ll write about more later, but fasting is definitely something I’d like to get more consistent with.
So, I’d love to hear what spiritual disciplines you’re practicing or which ones you’d like to start practicing.
Lastly, Focus on the Family shared how spiritual disciplines can help with mental health, which I’ve also experienced this year.
With Love, Heidy
P.S. If you need a copywriter for writing services or are looking to launch a podcast – let’s get in touch; I want to create with you!
https://stan.store/heidydelacruz
Check out previous posts here: