Friday, January 26, 2024

Do you want to grow closer to God? Does the idea of abiding with Christ sound amazing, but you’re not quite sure how to do that or what it looks like?

Spiritual practices or disciplines are a way to help you deepen your connection to God as you model yourself after Jesus and do the things he did. While the Spirit does the work, these practices can help attune you to God and connect your heart with his. They aren’t boxes to check but rather opportunities to strengthen your relationship with him, just as you would seek to do in a marriage or close friendship.

There isn’t one official list, but some common spiritual practices include silence and solitude, sabbath, prayer, fasting, meditation, worship, Scripture, service, community, and generosity. In the weeks and months to come, we will dive further into each of these.

While incorporating spiritual practices into your life won’t make you a “Super Christian,” better than your neighbor, or somehow higher up on the “holy list,” they will potentially help you connect more deeply with God and the peace and joy he offers. As you step on this adventure, realize it is a life-long journey. Every new behavior takes time and repetition, until you feel confident with it. Think about when you learned to ride a bike.

You probably started with training wheels and then had a parent hold you up while they ran alongside you. Eventually, they let go and you were on your own, but I bet you still got a few road raspberries as you wiped out a time or two. Remember this as you try out these new spiritual habits, and definitely don’t begin them all at once. Choose one that intrigues you, start small, and explore the practice.

Be encouraged and persevere! We all have habits that distract us from connecting with God consistently throughout the day. If you set your desire on knowing God better and use these practices as a tool to recenter and refocus on him, the result will be the rich and satisfying life Jesus came to give.