This is a fantastic chapter about the importance of the spiritual disciplines.We need to make daily decisions to place ourselves in a position where we can encounter God. We need to position ourselves to know and enjoy God through the spiritual disciplines. The spiritual disciplines serve as spiritual push-ups that build the muscles of our faith.
Why do some Christians continue to grow in their faith month after month and year after year but others seem to remain the same? Graustein believes the difference lies primarily in their personal practice of the spiritual disciplines. I totally agree with him.
Why do church kids not practice the disciplines?
1. We can forget why we should practice the spiritual disciplines.
2. We can overlook the role of the Holy Spirit in our spiritual growth.
3. We can think that our discipline depends primarily on others.
4. We can lack discipline over time.
5. We can become too busy with other things.
Donald Whitney: “So many professing Christians are so spiritually undisciplined that they seem to have little fruit and power in their lives…Spiritually they are a mile wide and an inch deep. There are not deep, time-worn channels of communing discipline between them and God. They have dabbled in everything but disciplined themselves in nothing.”
Principles to help us practice the disciplines:
1. Our relationship with God is of first importance.
2. Regular practice of the spiritual disciplines is essential from growth in godliness.
3. We must depend on the Holy Spirit as we faithfully do our part.
5 specific disciplines we need to practice with the right motive:
1. Reading and studying the Bible.
2. Prayer.
3. Worship.
4. Reading theological books.
5. Solitude and personal retreats.
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