1. Nearly anything that I do to help me connect with Jesus or become like Him can be called a spiritual discipline.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.) 

HOW DOES THE TOPIC OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES SIT WITH YOU? DOES IT FEEL HEAVY, BURDENSOME, LEGALISTIC? DOES IT FEEL LIKE SOMETHING HARD BUT GOOD? OR DOES IT INVITE YOU AND EXCITE YOU?

THINK ABOUT A TIME OR MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT MOST CONNECTED TO JESUS. WHAT WERE YOU DOING? IS IT SOMETHING YOU COULD DO AGAIN, REGULARLY?

IS THERE SOME ASPECT OF YOUR CHARACTER THAT YOU WISH WERE DIFFERENT AND BETTER? WHAT ACTION COULD YOU TAKE TO SEE CHANGE OR IMPROVEMENT?

Christians often wonder, “What spiritual disciplines should I be practicing?” Our churches or church leaders may recommend certain disciplines, but there is no comprehensive list of spiritual disciplines. The Bible suggests many spiritual disciplines, but it does not give us a complete inventory. God created each person uniquely and the disciplines that most effectively help them connect to Him may differ from person to person.

In the end, we will need to try and experiment with different disciplines to discover which ones suit us best. This is not to suggest that we should be casual or lazy in our pursuit of appropriate disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are essential for our life with God. In John chapter 15 Jesus invites His disciples to abide in Him and promises that if they do, they will experience great benefits.

Our abiding in Christ requires desire and action on our part. The combination of our desire to abide with Christ and any action that we take to meet that desire can be considered a spiritual discipline. So, virtually any activity could be used as a spiritual discipline. We are likely familiar with disciplines that have become a standard for following Jesus, ones like Bible reading, prayer, tithing, church attendance, worship, service, study, and Scripture memorization. And we may also be familiar with less popular disciplines like fasting, silence, confession, meditation, and simplicity.

But there are also other simple things we can do that serve as disciplines to help us abide in Christ: minute prayers spoken regularly throughout the day to help us refocus our thoughts on Jesus, driving in the slow lane on the freeway to teach us patience, joining children on a playground to help us live lightly, texting a word of encouragement to someone to help us think and care for others, volunteering at a local food bank to help us develop compassion, joining a protest march to support those working against injustice, wearing a mask during a pandemic to show love to our neighbor, and many more like these.

The qualification then for an activity to be a spiritual discipline is that it either helps me connect to Jesus or helps me become like Jesus so that I can better connect with Him. Spiritual disciplines are limited only by our desire and our imagination.