Spiritual Disciplines – What are they?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about spiritual disciplines. What exactly are they? Some new time management system that helps orient your soul? Is this like a diet? Does it involve a gym? Do you have to have lot of free time to engage in whatever this is? Is it something you can do with friends? Do you have to be in a church? Is this only for liturgically interested people?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about spiritual disciplines. What exactly are they? Some new time management system that helps orient your soul? Is this like a diet? Does it involve a gym? Do you have to have lot of free time to engage in whatever this is? Is it something you can do with friends? Do you have to be in a church? Is this only for liturgically interested people?

To settle the question and offer navigation through this question maze try this: spiritual disciplines are practices modeled by the life of our Lord and in the rhythms of the church dating back to the first centuries.

These practices are embedded in the rich history of God’s story in each century as He is writing our stories. They are simple practices that help create space for God and for you to attend to His Presence. These are practices you may have already been doing like- prayer, solitude alone with God, fasting and study of the Scriptures; practices the Lord engaged in when he was on earth.

Life is crazy busy. Each of us needs an anchor to hold us down in the midst of the incredible speed at which our lives move. Some days could feel like they are spiraling out of orbit.
 
To satiate your curiosity here are some titles to consider if you are longing for rhythms that would help anchor and ground your soul. These authors do a good job of answering the questions and clarifying the spiritual disciplines.

Ruth Haley Barton in Sacred Rhythms, Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation addresses nine disciplines with exercises to engage the reader. This book can be used alone or with groups.

Both Richard Foster’s The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth and Dallas Willard’s The Spirit of the Disciplines are bedrock classics introducing Christian spirituality and grounding the disciplines in the conversation of spiritual maturity.

Adelle Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us is an excellent resource for accessible, practical guidance that helps you actually do these disciplines. The appendix has suggestions for spiritual mentors, small groups and use in the church.

Take the challenge. Consider choosing one of the disciplines each day for a week and see what happens. Paying attention to God is one thing you will never regret.