So the Spiritual Disciplines are those personal and interpersonal activities given by God in the Bible as the sufficient means believers in Jesus Christ are to use in the Spirit-filled, gospel-driven pursuit of godliness, that is, closeness to Christ and conformity to Christ.

How often should we read it? British preacher John Blanchard, in his book How to Enjoy Your Bible, answers, Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater

We need a similar honesty with the facts about the Discipline of serving God. Like the Pony Express, serving God is not a job for the casually interested. It’s costly service. God asks for your life. He requires that service to Him become a priority, not a pastime. He doesn’t want servants who offer Him the leftovers after their other commitments.

George Müller observed, The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it. Oh, how good, and kind, and gracious, and condescending is the One with Whom we have to do! He has given me, unworthy as I

There is an intellectualism that is wrong, but it is also wrong to be anti-intellectual.

The Scriptures teach that Jesus engaged in periods of silence and solitude, some for only a few minutes or hours, and at least one for several days. Note these four references:

While “continue steadfastly in prayer” emphasizes prayer as an activity, “pray without ceasing” reminds us that prayer is also a relationship. Prayer is in one sense an expression of a Christian’s unbroken relationship with the Father.

In Romans 12:3, each Christian is exhorted “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment.” Keeping a journal certainly does not guarantee protection against either conceit or self-abasement. But the simple discipline of recording significant events in my life and noting my reactions to them does cause

I’ve never heard it expressed, but I think the seriousness of evangelism is the main reason it frightens us. We realize that in talking with someone about Christ, heaven and hell are at stake.