Disciplines of A Disciple

Discipline is a word most of us don’t like! We automatically think negative! But discipline in our lives is not negative. It’s necessary! Those who have done well in school know of the discipline it takes to succeed in school, whether it’s high school, college, or grad school. Think of the hours of dedication and discipline it takes for men and women to become doctors, lawyers, or successful businesspeople! Think about sports; one of the main ingredients of a successful athlete is discipline! No pain, no gain; no guts, no glory! Let’s read some verses with this idea of discipline. Proverbs 23:12 tells us to “Apply your heart to discipline (instruction), and your ears to words of knowledge” (NAS). Paul instructed Timothy to “exercise (train) yourself toward godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). This word exercise or train is where our word for gymnastics or gymnasium comes from! This word drips with sweat and feels like burning muscles! Spiritual discipline leads to a godly life and helps develop a Christ-like life. Some would define spiritual discipline as cultivating godliness in our lives. Scripture is constantly referring indirectly to this spiritual exercise or this spiritual discipline by using words like “by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2), “being transformed” (2 Cor. 3:18), “Christ being formed in you” (Gal. 4:19), and “being conformed into the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). 

How many of you know people who bought exercise equipment only to have it sit there and never be used? They had good intentions, but that didn’t get the job done! Churches are full of gifted people who want to serve, but they are not in spiritual shape, which leaves them unprepared to serve well! They had good intentions but didn’t want to put the work into the needed spiritual discipline! Listen to what Paul told the Corinthians. They were a spiritually gifted assembly, but some needed spiritual discipline! Listen to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.  And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Imitating Christ

The word disciple means learner, someone who is following and imitating his Master. We also see from Luke 6:40, “a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” The Lord Jesus Christ practiced spiritual disciplines in His own life.  Look at Mark 1:35-42, and the result was spiritual power! As we study our Master’s rhythm of life in the Gospels, we observe that He was marked by the spiritual discipline of prayer, knowing the Word, meditating on it, and enjoying times of solitude and silence. Just as the Lord went to a solitary place to meet with His Father, so should we, His followers, develop a quiet time where we pull away from the noise of the day, the hustle and bustle of life, and just be still and allow Him to speak to us. Isaiah 50:4-6 speaks prophetically of the Lord Jesus Christ. It shows us clearly that He would wake up early in the morning and have ears to hear what His Father would say to Him, and His tongue would speak only that which it was instructed to say, and His entire body was surrendered for service!

Definition of Spiritual Discipline 

Let’s get a working definition of what we mean when discussing daily discipleship disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are practices we do regularly that help us change, by the power of God’s Word and the grace of the Holy Spirit, our sinful habits into godly habits that conform us more to the character and conduct of Christ and bring us closer to God. The word “discipline” means “training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental and moral character.” Spiritual disciplines are not unrealistic expectations or legalistic burdens that we place on ourselves, nor are they benchmarks for judging the spirituality of others. Spiritual disciplines are spiritual exercises that we engage in habitually, which bring us closer to the Lord and help us become more like the Lord Jesus Christ!

Core Spiritual Disciplines

Prayer:

Prayer is the first expression of new life in Christ (Acts 9:11). It is intimate communication with your Father (Mt.  6:5-7). How can anyone have a vital relationship with Christ apart from prayer? It is an attitude of dependence! 1 Thessalonians 5:17 instructs us to “Pray without ceasing.” Is this a feasible goal for a devoted disciple? An important part of praying without ceasing is learning to practice the presence of God! Just like you want to be with someone you love, if you love God, you want to hear from Him, and you want to talk with Him and share your life with Him through prayer. Prayer and God’s Word form the basis of our relationship with Him. There are different types of prayer (1 Tim. 2:1).

For a balanced prayer, we have the acronym A.C.T.S. 

A – Adoration – When we are giving adoration, we are praising Him for who He is (Ps. 95)

C – Confession – When we confess, we’re seeking to see our sin from God’s point of view (1 John 1:9) and to restore the joy of our fellowship with Him.

T – Thanksgiving – When we thank God, we are praising Him for what He has done (1 Thess. 5:18, Eph. 5:20)

S – Supplication – When we petition God, we are seeking to ask according to His will (1 John 5:14-15)

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and prayer is an important expression of our faith.

Scripture

The second and equally important discipline for a devoted disciple is to pursue the daily reading of God’s Word. Scripture is undeniably the most significant daily nutrient for the soul’s health, a discipline for the soul as important as bread and water are for the body. In it, we see the heart of God, the mind of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Only God can accurately reveal Himself, and He does so on the pages of Holy Scripture. In the Bible, we find the greatest source of joy, comfort, inspiration, guidance, love, and awe.

Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  We begin with prayer, asking the Lord to enlighten our hearts and minds with the truth of God’s Word so that we might be more conformed to the character and conduct of Christ. We are to read the Bible with a teachable mind, a receptive attitude, an open heart, and an obedient will (Jm. 1:22-25), ready to be edified, encouraged, and electrified by God’s truth illuminated by God’s Spirit. The amount of Scripture that you read is not nearly as important as prayerfully contemplating the implications of the Word for the life of the disciple today. Don’t take the time, make the time! If you are too busy to read God’s Word regularly, you are too busy. The daily accumulation of wisdom will shape a life beyond anything you could imagine! You’ll never develop a biblical worldview without sufficiently understanding and assimilating God’s Word.

When you read God’s Word, follow five simple guidelines:

Communication: As you open the Word, speak to the Author, asking for guidance and help to understand.

Observation: What does it say? This begins by reading the portion and asking five questions: who, what, when, why, and how.

Interpretation: What does it mean? Take time to look up the definitions of words, the relationships of the people and passages, and the implications.

Application: What does it mean to me? How does it apply?

Correlation: What other Scriptures go along with what is taught in the portion?

For more regarding reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, look at 2 Timothy 2:15 and 3:14-17, Psalm 19 and 119, Joshua 1:8, and Philippians 4:8.

Worship

Individually (John 4) and collectively (Acts 2:42). The Lord Jesus reminds us that we are to “worship the LORD God, and serve Him only” (Mt. 4:10). It is our responsibility and privilege to worship our Creator! But for those who are saved, it is also our responsibility and privilege to worship the Lord as our Redeemer! We ought to do this individually in our own private time with the Lord and gather with other Christians! Psalm 95:6 encourages us to “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” God expects us to worship! It is what we are created for, and you can’t have a godly life without true worship! Matthew 15:8-9 says, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain.”

So, what is worship? Volumes of books have been written on this subject, but I would like to consider four things about worship and hope you can dig into this subject on your own.

Focusing on and responding to God:

Our English word worship comes from the old Saxon word worth-ship. To worship the Lord is to ascribe the proper worth to Him, magnify His worthiness of praise, and approach Him and give Him praise as the worthy One!  Carefully read Revelation 4-5, underlining what He is worthy of in both chapters!

Done in spirit and truth:

In John 4, we have Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Many lessons can be learned from this passage, but I want to focus on worship, which is the reason for this encounter. The Lord met this woman right where she was and put His finger on the deep need of her heart. He had pointed out that she thirsted for something, but she didn’t even know what it was.  He showed her how empty her life had been, trying to satisfy a deep longing in her heart. She had a void that five husbands could not fill! Living in sin could not satisfy or fulfill her heart’s emptiness. Why? She was created to worship her Creator and to have a relationship with Him. 

When the subject of worship came up, the Lord mentioned that the Father is seeking worshipers and that since God is Spirit, He must be worshiped in spirit and truth. This woman was searching for the meaning of life but needed to realize that spiritually, she was dead! Only through an encounter with the God who is Spirit can she be made alive in her own spirit. Like this woman at the well, our spirit had to be quickened, made alive, and once it is, we can worship God in spirit! If we try to hide our sins from God, if we have not confessed them before Him, we will not be able to worship Him. This is what King David experienced in his spirit. He describes it as his bones growing old and his vitality being turned into the drought of summer (Ps. 32:3-5). David found it impossible to worship until he acknowledged his sin (Ps. 51:14-17). He could not hide from God what was in his heart. God desires truth in the inward parts (Ps. 51:6). This is the meaning of worshipping God in Spirit and truth! 

Both privately and publicly:

The early church in Acts 2:42 gathered together to remember the Lord; worship was undoubtedly part of that remembrance. In Hebrews 10:25, we are reminded not to forsake the assembling of ourselves. We are to gather together as priests (1 Pet. 2:5) and worship, offering the sacrifice of praise (Hebrew 13:15). This means that we must make worship a priority in our lives. If we are not worshipping Him in private, we’ll never be able to praise Him in public with others! Have you ever noticed that worship is a priority in Scripture? One example would be the offerings in Leviticus 1-7. What is the first offering? The Burnt offering, that which is for God!  

Fasting

This is a discipline that is very much misunderstood and so very rarely practiced today! There are many instances of fasting in the Bible. Moses, Hannah, David, John the Baptist, Anna, Cornelius Paul, The church at Antioch, and even the Lord Jesus fasted.  Fasting, putting God first, wanting God and His desire, His will, and His mind more than food, fellowship with others, sleep, or day-to-day business! Fasting is abstaining from gratifying any physical appetite. There are different kinds of fasting in the Bible: normal, partial, and absolute fasting. But let’s notice several things about this particular spiritual discipline:

Fasting is expected: In Matthew 6:16-18 when speaking of fasting, the Lord Jesus said, “when you fast” twice. Not if you fast, but when you fast. Just as the Lord expects us to give (Mt. 6:2, 3) and pray (6:5, 6, 7), He expects us to fast. There is no command regarding how often or long a fast should be. This would be up to the leading of the Spirit of God. There are examples in the Bible of fasts lasting part of a day, a whole day, one night, three days, seven days, fourteen days, twenty-one days, and even forty days. We should always be careful not to do anything that would harm our health.

Fasting is done for a purpose: Fasting is not done in the Bible for losing weight. It was done to strengthen prayer (Ezra 8:23, Neh. 1:4, Dan. 9:3, Acts 13:2-3). It was done to seek God’s guidance (Judges 20:26, Acts 14:23). Fasting was also done in times of grief (Judges 20:26, 1 Sam. 31:13, 2 Sam. 1:11-12). Fasting was often done to seek the Lord’s deliverance or protection (2 Chron. 20:3-4, Ezra 8:21-23, Esther 4:16). Repentance was often expressed through fasting (1 Sam. 7:6, Joel 2:12, Jonah 3:5-8). Fasting, when practiced with the right motives, is a physical expression of humility before God (1 Kings 21:27-29, Ps. 35:13). 

Stewardship

This discipline is recognizing that all I have belongs to the Lord. My time (Eph. 5:6, Col. 4:5), my money (Acts 2:45, 20:35, Heb. 13:16), and my health all belong to the Lord because I belong to the Lord (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Are you using what the Lord has entrusted to you for His glory? 

Service and Sacrifice

We are saved to serve, to serve the Lord and to serve others (Eph. 2:10)! We must discipline ourselves to get involved in some service for the Lord depending on the gifts and abilities we’ve been given (1Cor. 12, Eph. 4:16).

Witnessing

We often excuse ourselves from this spiritual discipline, saying I’m not an evangelist. But this is part of why you and I are saved; we are saved to tell others! We are to live out the gospel by our lives, meaning our actions and our attitudes. Someone has said, “Preach the gospel and use words if necessary!” John 13:34 backs this up! The Lord commissioned His disciples to “Go into all the world, make disciples of all nations…” Later, Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (1 Tim. 4:5).

What spiritual disciplines do you need to re-prioritize in your life today? Who do you need to invite into your life as a spiritual mentor to hold you accountable? Spiritual discipline is essential for spiritual maturity. We must allow the Spirit of God to use the Word of God to strengthen us and grow us to spiritual maturity, which is the by-product of a spiritually disciplined life dependent on the Lord (Ephesians 6:10-12). There is no easy path to spiritual maturity, but the rewards are deeply satisfying. Challenge yourself in these disciplines, and you will develop a deeper love for God.