Fasting

Fasting is probably practiced the least among all the spiritual disciplines. After all, we live in a culture of excess where satisfying every impulse and desire is seen as a positive. Yet fasting is promoted in the scripture as we see Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Paul and even Jesus Christ fasting and Jesus teaches how to fast in his Sermon on the Mount. Freed from the law, Christians are not required to fast and the Bible has no direct commands to fast, still it can be a beneficial discipline to draw us closer to God.

We fast because Christ has ascended to heaven and we are awaiting his return. “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matt. 9:15). When we abstain from food our physical hunger should point us toward our more serious hunger for Christ to return and our need for God over anything else we may consume.

Prayer, part 2

When we first begin to pray, we may not always feel like praying. But if we are consistent and pray even when we don't feel like it we will realize how much we really need prayer.

This is how I felt when began my week of intentionally practicing the spiritual discipline of prayer. It was hard and awkward at first, yet I know it will get easier and that it is teaching me so much about trusting God for everything. The two main things I learned were to worship more frequently and offer my worries up to God.

When my mind was pointed toward prayer as a priority I found myself praising God more frequently. Instead of merely thinking, “Oh I like snow!” I would pray, “God thank you for sending this beautiful snow!” I think this helped me to be more aware of how God is working in my life. He is blessing me every day in more ways than I can even recognize, but when I do recognize them my appreciation of them deepens when I acknowledge that they come from a Father who loves me.

Not only has my Father given me blessings, but he also wants to care for my needs and hear my requests. During my week of practicing prayer more intentionally I tried to take note of those needing prayer and raise petitions to God on their behalf. Along with this I also had my own personal requests to God. When I was doing this I understood much better that God is in complete control of circumstances. I began to see everything I experienced as a gift of grace and an answer to prayer. Even if it was not what I had intended, I knew God had heard my plea and he was working in a way that was more than I could have asked for.

Although I learned a lot about worshiping God and giving my worries up to him through my week focused on prayer, I did not do as well as I had hoped of keeping constant dialogue with God and setting apart time for deep prayer. However, what I gleaned from the praying I was able to do showed me that this is a discipline I need to continue practicing.  As I get more comfortable praying I believe it will become easier and I will learn to listen to God’s responses better.

Prayer, part 1

According to U.S. News and Beliefnet, only 68% of Christians say they pray more than once a day. This should be a big concern for believers as prayer is our direct link to God. It is the most powerful tool we have, yet very few Christians utilize it.

1. Pray to know him better.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Northfield 

A main goal of prayer is to know God better. We do this through the very act of praying and also by asking God to reveal himself to us.

As his creation, we have nothing to offer God except our desire to know him and have more of him, so these requests are our best form of worship. It is also a request he promises to fulfill. "But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29). Richard Foster says, "Real prayer is life creating and life changing." When we enter into constant conversation with our God, change is bound to occur. Foster explains this best when he says, "In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills." Prayer is our invitation for God to invade our lives, our thoughts and our hearts to do his will and bring change in us.

Since prayer is just is God pouring into us through our requests, be ok with silence in your prayer. God wants to use those moments of stillness. We rarely take time to pause in our busy lives so prayer is a perfect opportunity to do so. Since prayer is a way to learn to think God's thoughts after him, it is a good idea to pause from our thoughts, even mid-prayer, so we can pick up on what he would have us pray and what he wants to do with our requests.

2. Pray for his blessings to be poured out on ourselves and others.
 Not only should we ask to know God, but knowing him allows us to ask him for other requests. Often times our lack of prayer is a gospel issue because we do not see ourselves as wholly dependent on God for all we want or need. However, we are told in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Our heavenly Father is overflowing with good gifts, we just need to confidence to ask for them. If our motives are pure and we have aligned ourselves to God's desires, no request is too great.  God delights in our large requests because it shows we believe in his ability to fulfill them. "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).

As we make requests, we must not neglect praying for others. Not only does it expand the scope of what we expect God to provide for us, but praying for someone can show our love for them. Foster says, "If we have God-given compassion and concern for others, our faith will grow and strengthen as we pray. In fact, if we genuinely love people, we desire for them far more than it is in our power to give, and that is our cause to pray."

Finally, in all your prayer, be yourself. "God is looking for a relationship with us, not whomever it is that we are trying to act like when we come to him," says Stephen Miller. There is no need to put on a lofty tone or alter your language in prayer. God does not want a fake, over-spiritualized version of you. He wants you. Your desires, your love, your will, your needs, your requests. The greatest blessing we can glean from prayer is a raw, genuine relationship with God.

Meditation, part 2

Last week we had "Sacred Space" in chapel. This is where there is no chapel speaker, no worship team, just a time of quiet reflection and prayer. The only guidance was two different chapters of scripture being read and some prompts for prayer on the projector. I let this time of reflection kick off my week of practicing the discipline of meditation.

The first chapter we were supposed to focus on was Psalm 51. It instantly caught my attention and I focused my meditation for the week on its words.

First, I familiarized myself with the chapter. I read and re-read it. I copied the whole chapter into my journal. Next, I picked out the sections that that stood out to me by underlining words and phrases and writing out specific verses. I discovered I focus on scripture best when I can process it through more than just my thoughts. I need to write it out.

Apart from my daily devotions in the word, I attempted to ponder some of the verses or words during my day. This was definitely the hardest part for me. Part of meditation is disciplining the imagination to be caught captive by the wonders of God. Meditating trains the heart to dwell on God all the time so that the idle thoughts, the typical daydream, the usual flow of ideas all go to Christ. Being aware of where my imagination took my on a daily basis revealed that I need a discipline like meditation to intentionally realign my thoughts each day.

This awareness of my failure to mediate on God's law and works throughout my day soon made me discouraged. I wanted Psalm 51 to dictate my imagination, but it didn't. But I saw something else emerging through my failure. Whenever I realized my thoughts were wandering and were not caught captive by God, I called to him to bring them back. I repented for my lack of discipline, I expressed a desire to know him better and find joy in who he is, and I asked him to take my thoughts. It was a humbling experience to recognize that it is not that I need better control of my thoughts, but I need God to have control of my thoughts.

This is when the words of Psalm 51 really started to have an impact:

 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight...
 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice...
 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit...
 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise...
 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Excerpts from Psalm 51

Through practicing this discipline I discovered the impact the Word of God can have over time. My initial reading of Psalm 51 was interesting, but the words did not start to transform my thoughts or actions until I had dwelt on them for a week. Meditating on scripture allows you to take it with you to live with it. Just as we do not truly know someone after one conversation with them but by living life with him or her in the daily grind and mountain-top moments, we do not know the Bible from just one reading but by coming back to it day after day gaining new insights and letting the Holy Spirit work it into our hearts and lives.

After my week of practicing meditation, I decided I want to integrate it into my life on a regular basis. Partly for what I gleaned in this week of practicing the discipline, and partly because I realize I need a lot more practice in order to reap the full benefits of what the discipline has to offer and one week is only scratching the surface.

Meditation, part 1

Only to sit and think of God,
Oh what a joy it is!
To think the thought, to breathe the Name
Earth has no higher bliss.
-Frederick W. Faber

Meditation is a lost art in the Christian life. The practice has been overtaken by Eastern religions seeking to detach themselves from present reality. Yet we have countless calls to meditate in the Bible. The Christian version of meditation is not an emptying of the mind, but it is filling the mind and heart with God's word. One of the greatest passages on mediation is found in Psalm 119 where the psalmist says he meditates “on your precepts” (Psalms 119:15, 78), “on your statutes” (Psalm 119:23; 48), “on your wondrous works” (Psalm 119:27) and this meditation is his joy. 

Meditation is a sinking into who God is and what He has done. In meditation our main goal is not to know more about God, but to let what we know penetrate the deepest source of our being and draw us into communion with and utter adoration of God. David Mathis describes the goal of meditation as making God’s words "saturate [our lives], give [us] direction, shape [our] mind, form [our] patterns, fuel [our] affections, and inspire [our] actions." Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline says that in meditation we are aiming to "think God's thoughts after Him, to delight in His presence, to desire His truth and His way."

So how do we meditate?

The primary tool of meditation is scripture. Meditating on scripture helps us internalize God's word so it is part of our very being and flows out of us whether we are conscious of it or not. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Col. 3:16).

We must set aside a time for focused meditation. Meditating on the works of God is something that we should be doing 24/7, but it is also important to dedicate a time to more intentional meditation.  Set a time to directly turn your heart and mind to God and allow Him to penetrate it with His word.

Setting a place and posture is also necessary. Foster recommends finding a place you can return to with consistency. You might also choose to meditate somewhere where you can be surrounded by the magnificence of God's creation. Finding a place that stirs your awe and affections  will make your meditation that much sweeter. However, Foster reminds us that "regardless of how [meditation] is done, the aim is to center the attention of the body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit upon 'the glory of God in the face of Christ'" (2 Cor. 4:6).

As modern Christians bombarded by desires of the flesh everywhere we go, we must not neglect the practice of pausing to let God's word inform our hearts and minds. At the core of meditation is the desire to be closer knit to God. All Christian should crave this closeness to the heart of God and seek it through meditation, for He will not hide Himself from those who  seek Him. "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver" (Proverbs 8:17-19).

Additional Resources:
Meditating on God's Love

What Are the Disciplines?

(This will be a series from the blog I am making for my Persuasive Writing class. You can  find the weekly posts here or at that site: Disciplined for Adoration)

The purpose of this series is to explore the classical disciplines that have been practiced for centuries and uncover how we can integrate them into our modern Christian lives. The spiritual disciplines call us to move beyond the surface into the depths. The goal is not to perform a series of religious duties; it is to gain a deeper, fuller relationship with God.

Although some may argue that practicing the disciplines is an archaic habit for spiritual giants or the modern Pharisee showing off his or her spirituality, the disciplines actually force us to go beyond the outward attractiveness of our good works. The focus of the disciplines is heart change. For example, the goal of the discipline of worship is not merely to sing more songs, but to have a heart of worship and adoration that matches our outward action.

This focus on the inner heart also helps us turn to God in our heart change. True inner transformation only comes when we submit ourselves to God– a humble cry of longing that the disciplines encourage. The primary requirement to practice these disciplines is a longing after God. To know who He is and how He works.

We need this in the modern Church to become people who engage the culture and challenge it with God’s truth. Practicing the disciplines gives us the courage to declare that there is more than the physical world. However, our deepening of the inner world through the disciplines is not to be compared with the similar post-modern types of meditation or Buddhist customs. When we practice the disciplines we get more than a deep self-understanding or a release from our present reality. On the contrary, we are able to connect with God at the core of our image-bearing being and come in line with the reality He has created.

The disciplines I will look into on this journey will be the twelve recognized by Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. I will look at one discipline every two weeks studying how the discipline has been used over the centuries and how it works to bring the believer closer to God.