B-log

10. What are your specific and regular practices regarding the spiritual disciplines (e.g., personal prayer, Bible study, meditation, stewardship, learning, etc.)?

First, let me commend you on the proper use of e.g. Most people instead use i.e., which is not correct. So kudos to you on that.

I’d be lying if I said something like “I pray every day from 6-6:30, have a quiet time that lasts 20 minutes,” and so on. Here’s the reality:

I pray every day. A lot. I believe that I’m supposed to pray without ceasing…so that’s what I try to do. Much of my prayer is done with my eyes open, and most of the time I’m listening for God rather than telling God what he already knows. I have times every day of dedicated talking and intercession and petition and confession and praise and worship. I pray for friends daily. But prayer is not something I have on a “to do” list that I check off once I’ve recited some specific prayers. I try to be available to God as much as possible.

I’m in the Word of God virtually every day, and not part of a prescribed reading program. I understand the value in that, and in different seasons of life, I partake in such activities. Right now, I’m spending a lot of time in James, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. It’s a bit of a chicken/egg situation, but a lot of my teaching comes from my Bible study discoveries, and a lot of my Bible study discoveries come out of my planned teaching schedule. I don’t separate my devotional time from my study time. I’m just not wired that way, and I think it makes my teaching more genuine and impacting. Again…I always have the Word with me (thank you, technology), and I like to go to the Word in quiet moments, times of waiting, in the morning before things get busy, and at night as I wait for sleep to arrive.

Stewardship - I believe in whole-life stewardship. We practice it and recommend it to others as a way to see the faithful work of God in life.

Meditation - Another ongoing, daily discipline. Either you let the word of God shape your world view, or you let the world shape your god view. Taking every thought captive isn’t something you can accomplish in 30 minutes every day. It requires living perpetually in the third chair and conscientiously letting the word of God be the final arbiter of truth in your life. Case in point: I determined to use this 56-question marathon to meditate on my convictions, rather than just puke out a small booklet to satisfy an initial requirement.

Learning - The world is a classroom and every person is a student. I hope I’m always learning in every opportunity. Not afraid to make mistakes, but determined to not make the same mistake twice. Rarely, learning requires a conference or a classroom, but most often the best learning environments are the ones you visit every day in the normal routine of life. I enjoy reading the writings of smart, godly people, listening to dynamic biblical preaching and teaching, and conversing with all people about the mysteries where faith and life intersect.

Summary - We have a habit of sucking the life out of God’s life-giving purpose. The spiritual disciplines are beautiful, life-giving, enriching experiences that are designed to make a difference in the lives of other people (see 1 Cor. 13). Like the Sabbath itself, believe that the disciplines were made for man, and not man for the disciplines. By being disciplined to explore my relationship with God in spirit and in truth, God develops me for his purpose in this world.