Practices such as reading Scripture and praying are important—not because they prove
how spiritual we are—but because God can use them to lead us into life.
~ John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted
Jesus is the way to life—and not just life after death, but life here and now. When he said, “Follow me,” he meant it. In all he did and taught, Jesus conveyed that our spiritual life takes place in our physical reality as well as in the heart. If we believe what he said about the spiritual life, it only makes sense we should do what he did.
The practices of Jesus have been recognized for centuries as the core activities of the spiritual life. In the same way a runner is equipped to compete in a marathon by the discipline of physical training, so training through spiritual disciplines frees us to live each day with the “easy yoke” and “light burden” Jesus spoke of (Matt 11:30).
Disciplines do not earn us favor with God or measure spiritual success. They are exercises which equip us to live fully and freely in the present reality of God—and God works with us, giving us grace as we learn and grow.
Meditation: The ability to hear God’s voice and obey his word.
Prayer: The interactive conversation with God about what we are doing together.
Fasting: The voluntary denial of an otherwise normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.
Study: The mind taking on an order conforming to the order of whatever we concentrate upon.
Simplicity: An inward reality that results in an outward life style.
Solitude: An open relational space for being found by God and freed from competing loyalties.
Submission: The discipline which frees us to let go of the burden of always needing to get our own way.
Service: The many little deaths of going beyond ourselves which produces in us the virtue of humility.
Confession: Experiencing the grace and mercy of God for healing the sins and sorrows of the past.
Worship: Entering into the supra-natural experience of the Shekanyah, or glory, of God.
Guidance: Knowing in daily life an interactive friendship with God.
Celebration: A life of “walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:8).