A Life Well Lived

Why you should practice the Spiritual Disciplines

We are not lacking when it comes to written material for the practice of Spiritual Disciplines. But it wasn’t until recently in my life that I discovered their deep significance. Based upon a recommendation, my wife and I began working through the voluminous series from Bridgetown Church (and John Mark Comer) called “Practicing the Way.”

Practicing the Way piqued in me a world of interest and curiosity about Spiritual Disciplines. Naturally, I bought every book I could find. Here is a list of beautifully written books on the disciplines that deserve your undivided attention and reflection:

• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
• The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
• Habits of Grace by David Mathis

Within these books, you will find different lists of Spiritual Disciplines, some shorter, some longer, but all agree upon the standard ones with which one cannot go without (Bible reading and prayer). I am not here to argue for one list or another; I am here to argue for the concept itself; all followers of Jesus should practice the Spiritual Disciplines.

Why? I want to propose one reason and one reason only.

Jesus modeled the Spiritual Disciplines. Allow me to provide examples of some standard disciplines that Jesus practiced that we should consider practicing as well.

Bible Reading

In Luke 4, we find an earth-shattering scene in which Jesus has begun his ministry uniquely and powerfully. After Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness,

“[Jesus went] to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’” (Luke 4:16–19).

Here Jesus is reading directly from the scroll of Isaiah, who, some 700+ years before, prophesied of His coming (Isaiah 61:1–2). A tangent could be traveled extensively on the prophecies Jesus fulfilled, but the main point would elude us here. I’d like you to see here that Jesus read the Bible.

Of course, Jesus read His Bible more than just at this opportunity in the synagogue. In His temptations with Satan, Jesus quoted Scripture back to Satan, giving him a firm “no” to all his temptations. Jesus read the Word of God, memorized it, and let it sink deep into His soul, and so should we.

Prayer

An abundance of examples come to mind where we find Jesus praying to His Heavenly Father (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 3:21; see also Hebrews 5:7), but one moment of prayer stands out in my mind.

Right before Jesus was to bear the unbearable and excruciating agony of slow death on a Roman torture device, He prays to His Father in heaven at the Garden of Gethsemane.

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42 ESV).

What Jesus modeled here in this prayer is a prayer of faith, a prayer that recognizes God’s sovereignty and our ability to ask in hopes of our ask being answered. Jesus modeled perfect emotion in asking God for a way out while sweating blood and yet still following through with what He knew to be God’s perfect will.

Jesus had many reasons to be with the Lord in prayer: lament, joy, supplication, adoration, thanksgiving, and so. If Jesus had many things to pray for and saw the need to spend time in communication with the Heavenly Father, why shouldn’t we?

An Encouragement and a Warning

Dallas Willard, in his indispensable work “The Spirit of the Disciplines,” states this:

“The secret of the easy yoke is simple, actually. It is the intelligent, informed, unyielding resolve to live as Jesus lived in all aspects of his life, not just in the moment of specific choice or action.”

Our goal in life is to live as Jesus lived, not form habits that seek to reflect on our egos. When implementing the Spiritual Disciplines, we must remember that they, as Donald S. Whitney includes in each of his chapter titles, are “for the purpose of godliness.”

The concrete foundation upon which we build is the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. The house we live in, made with the lumber of Spiritual Disciplines, keeps us safe within the Father’s arms.