The Power of Spiritual Disciplines in Walking with God

You’ve probably heard these words before:

“As a Christian, you need to read the Bible regularly.”

“Be sure to pray every day.”

Maybe you’ve even heard these words: “Build fasting into your life,” “You should be journaling what the Lord is teaching you,” or “Taking time for silence and solitude is critical to your Christian walk.”

And, it’s possible your story is similar to mine when it comes to spiritual disciplines.

I started following Christ as a 13-year-old after a seventh-grade classmate loved me enough to tell me the good news of Jesus. I didn’t understand all the theological jargon of salvation and Christianity back then, but I did recognize that my life was separated from my Creator—and the story my friend told me helped me understand how God fixed that problem through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Even though I was young, that story really was good news to me. In fact, because I wasn’t raised in a Christian home, that good news was both surprising and remarkable.

It didn’t take long before my pastor (whose title I didn’t even understand back then) told me the first two things I mentioned above: “Start reading your Bible and praying.”

I faced two problems, though. First, I didn’t own a Bible. Second, I didn’t know how to pray.

Still, I knew I needed to try to do both because my pastor told me to do so. My church gave me my first Bible I ever owned, and I tried the best I could to read and understand my red, hard cover, King James Version award Bible. And, to be honest, I started reading with the most passion a 13-year-old could muster. Genesis and Exodus were filled with amazing stories I had never heard, and I devoured the Bible . . . until I got to Leviticus.

I knew I needed to keep reading because my church leaders told me I needed to do it, but I had no idea what to do with the laws in that third book. So, I quit reading. I suppose I could have skipped over Leviticus, but I was so new in the faith that I didn’t even know that was an option! (and, of course, it’s not). Over the next few years, I tried every Bible reading plan I could find to be consistent in my reading, but I found that task to be hard.

Prayer was not much different. I heard people pray in church or at meals, so I simply modeled my praying after them. I can still remember those early prayers I prayed that sounded like a deacon praying at the beginning of a service or a dad praying over a meal at dinner. It would be a few years before I realized the power and delight in having a conversation with God.

You see, part of my problem was that my church did for me what so many churches do: they told me to do spiritual disciplines, but they did not teach me to do them. The result was a young believer floundering in his walk with God.

Over the next several posts, I want to challenge you with what I’ve learned since then about doing spiritual disciplines. I’m a practitioner at heart, and I want to give you some practical, simple steps to walk with God. Let’s begin with a simple look at why spiritual disciplines matter:

1. The disciplines slow us down. Most of us are so busy that we have little time to stop, reflect, and just spend time with God. We desperately need that time, though, even if we don’t realize it.

2. They put us in a position to listen to God. Not only are we too busy, but we’ve also lost the practice of just quietly listening to God through His Word and His Spirit. Consequently, we often worry more and trust less.

3. They emphasize relationship. Disciplines are about turning to God, focusing on Him, listening to Him, speaking to Him, and then telling others about Him. Strengthening our relationship with Him is both a motivation for, and a result of, disciplines.

4. They force us to see where we place our dependence. Regularly meeting God in the disciplines = admitting our need and desire for Him. When we spend little or no time with God, though, we are confessing that we have little need for Him.

5. They uncover our sin that hinders our walk with God. It’s difficult to read God’s Word, speak to Him, and focus on Him without seeing ourselves as the sinners we are. The disciplines challenge us to cry out to God for forgiveness and cleansing.

6. They correct our sins of omission. Reading the Word, praying, fasting, and other disciplines are acts of obedience to the God who saved us. Thus, it is simply right for us to do them.

7. They turn us from the craziness of the world to the God of peace. Just a glimpse of today’s news reminds us that sin and rebellion have created a world of chaos. Just a few minutes with God, though, can remarkably still our hearts.

8. They produce in us godly confidence and excitement. When we know we’ve been with God, we’re much more prepared to speak about Him. In fact, we almost can’t help but speak of Him then.

9. They help us to set our priorities straight. Something’s always missing in our lives if we spend no time with the God who created us and saved us—and nothing we prioritize over Him can offer the joy and purpose God gives us. We need to be with Him.

10. They prepare us to teach and lead others. The best leaders of God’s church are those who lead from the overflow of their personal walk with Him. Apart from being with Him, we teach and lead in our own power – and that helps no one.