Five Spiritual Disciplines that Will Change Your Life

“On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

The other day I was talking to a dear, Christian friend, and the topic of Spiritual Disciplines came to mind.  I thought, what better time to talk about improving our walk with our Lord, than at the beginning of a new year.    

This time of year we start hearing a lot about New Year’s resolutions.  Exercise routines, diet fads and book-reading plans all claim that they will make your life exponentially better in the coming year.  After a few weeks most people have given up on their resolutions and settled back into their normal routine. 

There are a number of popular programs and books today on the spiritual disciplines, but some go too far from Scripture in an effort to outline various methods of disciplining oneself.  Some of these methods border on the mystical and the extra-biblical, sometimes exploring areas of Eastern mysticism and New Age philosophy.  Out of this movement has come such unbiblical practices such as “hearing” the voice of God and breathing/soaking/contemplative prayer.  

The best way to avoid error in the understanding of spiritual disciplines is to stick with clear, scriptural mandates given to all Christians to engage ourselves in the Word of God where God speaks to us, and in prayer, where we speak to Him.  When we have a question about a certain topic or decision in our lives, we should see what the Bible has to say about it.  God will never lead us contrary to what He has taught in His Word. (See Titus 1:1-3)

The end goal of the Christian life is to become the man or woman that God wants us to be.  We do this by allowing His vision, mission, purposes, and goals to shape our lives.  One way we can lead someone to this is through spiritual discipline.  A spiritual discipline is a training activity that helps to shape and mold character over an extended period of time that accelerates and focuses the process.  Spiritual discipline is the "strict training" that Paul was talking about when he said, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” (1 Corinthians 9:25)

As we enter 2020, here are five spiritual disciplines that can, and will, change your life:

Prayer

“About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became bright as a flash of lightning.” (Luke 9:28–29)

According to Luke 9:29, prayer changes our outlook.  It also changes what we look like to others.  What an amazing moment in Scripture this passage portrays!  As Jesus is praying, He changes in front of his disciples.  He didn’t change clothes or wave a magic wand, but their perception of His appearance changed the moment He prayed.  In the same way, when you pray, change is inevitable.  The circumstances will probably remain the same.  But prayer changes how you respond to crisis.  It changes how people see you in crisis.  Without prayer, nothing transforms.

Fasting

Prior to His public ministry Jesus spent forty days fasting.  Of the five disciplines, I consider fasting to be the most challenging of them all.  If you grew up like me, you love food!  Food is indeed a gift from God.  He provided it for our renewal, but not our ruin.  And whenever food messes up our faith, we have a problem.  Whenever the obsession to satisfy our stomachs becomes greater than our need to satisfy our Savior, then God leaves it to us to fast.

Tony Evans describes fasting as “the deliberate abstinence from some form of physical gratification, for a period of time, in order to achieve a greater spiritual goal.” [1] I love this definition because it clarifies the purpose of the fast, to obtain a spiritual goal.  This slight distinction is what differentiates the discipline of fasting from mere abstinence.  There are a number of ways to fast and various types of fasts.  For example, it is possible to fast from pleasures such as social media, the Internet, sex, or any activity that brings gratification and satisfaction.  However, I have chosen to focus on fasting from food because it is generally the most common type of fast and the type of fast that Jesus talked about. (See Matthew 6:16-18; Acts 13:2; Luke 2:37)

Scripture Reading

When we buy electronic gadgets from the store, they often come with an owner’s manual that informs us how to get the most out of our purchase.  The manual tells us how to use it, how to protect it, and how to care for it.  These manuals are written by manufacturers because they are aware of the gadget’s original purpose.  

The Bible works the same way.  The Scriptures are like an owner’s manual for human life, and God’s Word help us learn from the lives of others on how to live as our Creator, intended.  Like the owner’s manual, the Bible teaches us how to use, protect, and care for our lives.  When we don’t read it, we are building a life without having read through the manual.  We have a great tool but lack the know-how to enjoy it to its fullest.  It’s hard to live out what we don’t know.  So we turn to Scripture as food for the soul. (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Worship

Worship is a Christian imperative if we desire to be like Christ.  When we worship the Lord, we engage Him with purpose and reverence.  When we worship the Lord, we concentrate our lives on the Supreme Being.  In an age ripe with idolatry and an obsessive need to place people on the altar of our hearts, where only Christ belongs, worship must be a daily part of our lives.  In prayer you can be you. In worship you can forget about you.

When Jesus resists Satan’s offer to bow down and worship him, what He shows us is the heart of a true worshiper.  Worship is more than affection, it is the acknowledgment of God’s invaluable worth and a commitment to express that worth by placing Him above all else.  Worship reveals where our loyalties lie. (See Psalm 146:6-10)

Service

Service is another activity not often seen as a spiritual discipline.  But if we are to live like Christ, then service cannot be seen as an optional exercise.  Service as a regular practice, is not only something Christians do to give back to society; it is also the heartbeat and pulse of our call to discipleship.

There is no way we can accurately represent Jesus without emulating His commitment to serve others.  Our willingness to serve is an indication that we are maturing in spiritual virtues.  It’s easy to read a book on humility; it is much more difficult to actually live with humility.  Service is a tool that God uses to teach us virtues that can’t be learned from textbooks but only in the school of experience.  (See Matthew 25:34-40)

The beginning of a new year offers a great opportunity for us to recommit ourselves to our walk with Christ.  Like physical exercise or diets, these disciplines will take effort and intentionality, but they will greatly improve your spiritual life and make a difference for the kingdom!


I would like to recommend the book "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" by one of my professors at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Donald S. Whitney.   He writes about the importance of spiritual discipline and how it helps us grow in godliness; becoming more like Christ.  He offers suggestions on how to cultivate spiritual disciplines which in turn will help us grow in spiritual maturity and develop our character.  His book can be found at Amazon. Just click Here.  

I would also like to mention my new book, The Man with No Legs. "My Journey with God."

It tells the story of how, after trying to evade God for decades, despair finally woke me to my need for Him. Life has been a long and winding journey back, yet full of adventure. The Alaskan Interior, villages of India and poverty of Haiti all saw God using me in amazing ways. Just when everything seemed on track, disaster struck! Both of my legs had to be amputated. This is the story of how God got me through, and even used it for the spread of the Gospel. Today, He is still guiding me with His Presence—and the adventure is not over! 

My book can also be purchased at Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. 

[1] The Urban Alternative, Copyright © 2018 Tony Evans.