Practicing Spiritual Disciplines
Where’s your soul?
Is that inner voice in chaos and you can’t find enough calm to focus?
Are you stuck or stalled in your relationship with God?
Do you long for more vitality?
Do you need a spiritual lift?
Maybe you feel a heaviness settling over you, a weariness and tiredness that colors your world?
Or are you feeling just kind of…blah?
For whatever reason, our souls need help. How do we effectively and efficiently care for our souls—nurture and feed our inner life with God—on a daily and/or weekly basis?
Spiritual disciplines are designed by God to restore our souls. But here’s the secret: Only some of the disciplines are designed to fill you, specifically. Your life-long assignment (because this can change as you grow older!) is to discover: What works for me? What nourishes me?
The discovery and application of what restores your soul is much like the description of gifts, and how the assemblage of those within the Church is compared to the physical body and all its parts. No one part is more important or better; every single part of the body is needed and useful and important. (Romans 12; I Corinthians 12)
In the same way, it’s a waste of time to compare the disciplines that fit for me with others’—since, again, the disciplines aren’t ranked in any order of importance or preference. Praying isn’t “better” than worship when it comes to a discipline that restores my soul; studying Scripture isn’t “better” than visiting and caring for someone in the hospital. So don’t waste time feeling guilty over what does or doesn’t work for you in this list. That’s a waste of your emotional energy; instead, focus on what works, the how and why and blessings of those disciplines.
The discovery process itself will be hit and miss: I may try something I’m sure about and then realize it feels like heavy work. (That’s a good indication I won’t be able to stick with it.) Some ideas? I probably can instantly cancel out many as simply not a good fit. Listen to your gut. Don’t give up on some that are of interest simply because you’re intimidated.
Once we discover what does indeed restore my soul—rather than exhaust or drain or bore me—then I need to figure out how to make the discipline(s) a life habit. We need to find ways to build them into the very fabric of our lives; once we do that successfully, we’ll begin discovering the power they can provide to our needy souls.
Some suggestions and guidelines:
-Add these habits slowly, as an overly aggressive commitment will most likely overwhelm you. And then you’ll give up. Be realistic about goals and what you can handle in your schedule.
-Take small bites. Craig journals and has for years, but his first efforts would pale in comparison to now. He had to start with a couple sentences. Short prayers. Writing comes easier with patience in yourself, time, practice, continued and consistent commitment.
-I had to realize that I will miss days for any number of reasons. But I will not allow guilt to then keep me from beginning again—no matter how long I was “off grid.” Instead, I go back because of the motivation of what I might miss if I don’t get back to studying the word, jotting down what the Word is saying. It takes only one very meaningful time in the Word—I can’t believe the times my systematic study through a book has landed me on passages that spoke directly to what I was dealing with, that day—to motivate me to think, “What if I hadn’t picked up my bible today? I would’ve missed this!”
Here’s a list of “classic” and “contemporary” spiritual disciplines, mixed and in no particular order:
Retreat/silence
Fasting
Journaling
Studying Scripture
Serving others/ministry
Witnessing/sharing my faith
Prayer
Memorizing Scripture
Visiting shut-ins, the sick, the elderly, the disabled
Worship
Fellowship
Giving/generosity
Meditation/contemplation
Confession
Sabbath-rest
Forgiveness
Celebration
Simplicity
Submission
Which of those speak to you? Are you already practicing some, but possibly not in a routine, pro-active way? Are there some that interest you, that you’d like to give a try?
One of my spiritual disciplines is Scripture memorization, and I practice saying several Psalms, portions of Scripture, and verses at least five times a week. I know this isn’t for everyone—but I have to share that those memorized verses were the one habit that kept me from plunging into depression when our son died in 2010. When I couldn’t think or focus or pray or find coherence in anything I attempted, I repeated my verses. They were a lifeline.
What’s your lifeline? Like Rahab’s scarlet cord became a lifeline to Israel’s spies, God graciously grants the means for our salvation…and then the creative disciplines to nourish needy, searching souls. You have only to grab onto your unique cord.
Next up: More of the nitty-gritty basics and how-to’s for practical help.