Daily Disciplines Series Introduction: What are “Spiritual Disciplines”?

Foundations and Daily Disciplines

The theme for 2020 on BentonBlog is “Foundations”. After focusing on the challenges of 2020, then on being more resilient in 2021 (see the Hampton Roads Church ResilieNT 2021 reading plan), 2022 will be a year where we move forward by going back to the basics – the foundations of our faith. This includes a focus on the Old Testament in our 2022 reading plan and haverim groups. On BentonBlog, we’ll be providing resources to include this series on spiritual practices we’ll call the “daily disciplines”.

What are “spiritual disciplines”?

The Bible calls us to live a life of daily devotion to God. Several scriptures refer to disciplines that we are called to practice daily:

• Daily study of the scriptures (Acts 17:11)
• Daily cross bearing (Luke 9:23)
• Daily prayer (Luke 11:3)
• Daily encouragement and openness (Hebrews 3:12-13)
• Daily outreach and fellowship (Acts 2:46-47)
• Daily serving others (James 2:14-17)
• Daily living a “quiet life” (1 Thess 4:11-12 – defined by the verses before this that address dealing with sin, loving one another, working/minding your business, etc.)

To maintain a daily walk with God, we need to practice discipline. The word “discipline” is described as follows:

• It’s from the same root word as “disciple”, or learner. To have discipline, it’s important to have the heart of a learner (more on that later).
• It means “training to act in accordance with rules” or “an activity, exercise, or regimen that develops or improves a skill” (reference: dictionary.com).
• It’s related to Bible words for self-control.

Developing spiritual disciplines will help us live a life of daily devotion to God.

Who needs to practice spiritual disciplines?

In his book “Celebration of Discipline”, Richard Foster says that we may think that the Spiritual Disciplines are for “spiritual giants”, but “beginners are welcome”.  He goes on to say that the disciplines are not hard to understand and to learn, but he warns that they are hard to practice since they require work to maintain.

The key is to have an attitude of longing for God.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV)

If you want to truly grow in your knowledge of God and in love for Him through obedience, you need to master spiritual disciplines.

How can we learn spiritual disciplines?

Glad you asked… one way is to follow along with our posts in this series, Daily Disciplines. Here’s the list of posts planned for the series:

• Self-discipline: The importance of daily discipline in our Christian walk
• Connecting with Christ Part 1: Our daily relationship with God through His Word
• Connecting with Christ Part 2: Walking with God daily in prayer
• Communication: Encouraging one another daily
• Outreach: Having a daily evangelistic mindset
• Building Family: Practical discipleship in our relationships
• Finances: Simple living and sacrificial giving

What else do we need to know about the Daily Disciplines series?

Although we’re focusing on the daily disciplines, the Bible also encourages us to consider other regular practices that we’ll discuss. These include:

• Weekly contribution for the needs of the church (1 Cor 16:2) and occasional, possibly annual, contributions for special ministry needs (2 Cor 8:10, refers to giving from the church in Corinth “last year”).
• Weekly worship and fellowship (for example Acts 20:7, but thankfully we rarely have preaching until midnight).
• Annual celebrations (Leviticus 23 describes the annual Feasts and celebration of Passover and the Day of Atonement, but also consider the warning in Gal 4:10 about not turning back to these rather than true worship and practicing our faith).

Also, as we explore the daily disciplines we’ll recommend scriptures for memorization. Although memorization isn’t specifically mentioned as a daily expectation in the Bible, it’s among many other spiritual disciplines that can help us grow in our faith. A recommended list of scriptures is below and will be included with each of the blog posts.

As with our haverim groups, studying the daily disciplines in groups can be helpful. Discussion questions will be provided for each blog post. Consider using these for your haverim or small group, or even for discipling times.

We also note that there are other spiritual disciplines to consider in your walk with God. For example, fasting is mentioned often in the Bible in conjunction with humility and calling to God for help (we’ll discuss fasting briefly in the post on prayer). As you study the daily disciplines in this series, consider taking a day to fast and humbly call on God to guide your understanding and discernment in his Word. Other examples of spiritual disciplines are meditation and solitude. Practicing these regularly in your time with God can also help built your faith.

When can we get started?

Let’s get started right away! The next post will talk more about self-discipline and it’s importance as we approach daily disciplines. I’d encourage you to take a few days to study and begin practicing each discipline. The plan is to publish a new post each week… but that depends on how disciplined I am with writing, editing, and posting them!

Resources

In this series of blogs, I’ll mention additional resources and books that may be useful as you study and practice the daily spiritual disciplines. I also quote from Richard Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline”, a classic book on spiritual disciplines. (BentonBlog may receive a commission for any purchases you make from links to Amazon – see this disclaimer.)

---

Recommended Memory Scriptures

• Self-Discipline: Proverbs 25:28, 2 Tim 1:7, 2 Peter 1:5-8
• Connecting Part 1: Word: Acts 17:11, Psalm 1:1-2
• Connecting Part 2: Prayer: Luke 18:1, John 15:7
• Communication: Hebrews 3:13, James 1:19-20
• Outreach: Acts 5:42, Acts 2:47b
• Building Family: Acts 2:42, John 13:34-35
• Finances: Luke 16:13, Matt 6:33

Discussion Questions

1. Which spiritual disciplines do you consider a strength for you?  Which do you consider to be a weakness?  Why?
2. Choose one discipline that you feel you practice well.  What are some ways you could improve further in that discipline?  How could you help others to grow in that discipline?
3. Choose one discipline you’d like to improve this year.  Share it with others and pray for each other about the goals.