1 Timothy 4:7-8 New International Version (NIV)

7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise
for both the present life and the life to come.

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES - practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among
believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ and deepen our relationship with God. These are practices
that by design can lead to life transformation.

They are described as:

a) both personal and interpersonal spiritual disciplines.
b) practices taught or modeled in the Bible.
c) those found in Scripture are sufficient for knowing and experiencing God and for
growing in Christlikeness.
d) derived from the gospel, not divorced from the gospel.
e) means and not ends.

So, what are these disciplines?

Prayer, Quiet Time, Fellowship, Worship, Meditation, Fasting, Service, Journaling

I. Prayer
II. Quiet Time
III. Journaling
IV. Service

The Christian life is simply a matter of faith. Yet to grow in that faith, we must develop certain
beliefs, rhythms, and practices. We must find our satisfaction in Christ alone and understand that
our spiritual growth is a joint effort between God and us. We also must have a sincere desire to
imitate Christ. The Greek word for devoted – proskartereo – comes from the words “pros”
meaning towards and “karteros” meaning strong, suggesting an intensity and persistence in what
we are doing. These are practices which God wants us to give our full attention to because they
are important in our walk with Him.
Godly, godliness – ευσέβεια (eusebeia), “good” and “adoration” or “reverence” ; live for God or
to live according to His holiness ; walk with God and to please Him, enjoy Him.

To train in godliness:

Training in godliness is something that begins when you first become a Christian and continues
for the rest of your life.

That's because godliness is the sort of characteristic that needs constant work. You don't just
reach a certain stage of godliness where you can sit back and coast along. It isn't like learning to
ride a bike. No, training in godliness is a lifelong task for the Christian if we're to remain
spiritually healthy.
*take into consideration those past athletes who have stopped training [physical aspect]
and have grown slack, lost fitness and skills (not taking into consideration aging)

Spiritual Discipline

Descriptions:
1) There are those spiritual disciplines that we practice alone and those that we practice with
other Christians. Pray alone; pray with the church. (personal and interpersonal spiritual
discipline.)
So we don’t want to think of spirituality and the spiritual disciplines just as something we do by
ourselves. We are to also engage others in the practice of the spiritual disciplines.

2) The reason that is important is otherwise we leave ourselves open to calling anything we want
a spiritual discipline. So someone might say: Gardening is a spiritual discipline for me, or
exercise is one of my spiritual disciplines, or any other hobby or pleasurable habit they could call
a spiritual discipline.

3) Those found in Scripture are sufficient for knowing and experiencing God and for growing in
Christlikeness. We are told in those famous verses, 2 Timothy 3:16–17, that “all Scripture is
breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” including
the good work of pursuing the purpose of godliness, the good work of growing in Christlikeness.
The Scriptures are sufficient for that. (spiritual maturity in godliness and progress in holiness)
So whatever else a person might claim regarding the spiritual benefits of some practice that is not
in the Bible, at the very least we can say it isn’t necessary.
4) Rightly practiced, the spiritual disciplines take us deeper into the glories of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, not away from it as though we have moved on to some advanced level of Christianity.
(take us deeper into an understanding of the gospel)
5) The end, that is, the purpose of practicing the disciplines is godliness. And so we are not godly
just because we practice the spiritual disciplines. That was the great error of the Pharisees. They
felt by doing these things they were godly. No, they are means to godliness. Rightly motivated,
they are the means to godliness.
 I. PRAYER
Prayer is a critical part of our relationship with the Lord as through it we commune
with Him. Prayer is an expression of trust, submission, confession, thanksgiving, and
praise. It can include fasting in which we give up something, like food, in order to
spend more time in prayer. Yet without discipline, we can get distracted and fail to
persist. Colossians 4:2 therefore says,
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Col. 4:2)
Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is a natural expression of our relationship with God. We depend
on God for everything, even life itself. Prayer expresses this dependence as we ask God for what
we need. Jesus says that people who trust him know God as their loving Father. God is not like
our human fathers, who are flawed and sometimes mistreat their children. God as our perfect
Father loves and cares for his children perfectly.
Jesus teaches his followers to pray to God as our Father, simply and directly, trusting God to
answer our prayers in the way that is best for us. We do not need anyone to stand between us and
God - we have direct access to God as we pray. Jesus warns against hypocrisy in prayer - that is,
when we try to impress others with our prayers. Also, we don't pray with the aim of pressuring
God to give us what we want.

God promises that he will hear and answer the prayers of everyone who trusts Jesus. There are
no “rules” for prayer. Here are some guidelines taken from Jesus' teaching:
1. Pray confidently to God as your loving Father
2. Pray naturally, expressing your dependence on God
3. Pray simply, trusting Jesus. Remember, God will answer our prayers in the ways that are
best for us
4. Read the Bible and pray in line with God's will
5. Remember, no issue is too big or too small to pray about
6. Pray with good motives
7. If you are confused and don’t know how to pray, just tell God that you don’t know how
to pray. God’s Holy Spirit will understand your situation and help you

How’s your prayer life?

It’s a simple question, but it can be tough to answer. Literally it sounds like, “How has your
talking to God been lately?” Emotionally it might feel like, “Sum up your relationship with God
at this point in your life.” Bible reading, by comparison, is clearer and more “objective.” How
many pages? How far along in your plan? Which books have you been reading? What have you
learned? Prayer doesn’t fit into an Excel sheet quite as easily.
God means for your life — married or unmarried, student or employee, young or old — to run on
the power of prayer. Prayer fuels the engine of your heart and mind. It’s not coffee, or Chipotle,
or social media buzz; it’s prayer. You need God in and through prayer more than you need
anything else. We will not do anything of any real and lasting value without God, which means
we will not do anything of any real and lasting value without prayer.
And yet you probably feel as insecure about your prayer life as you feel about anything. Prayer
might be, at the same time, the most pivotal and most puzzling activity in the Christian life. It is
the lifeline and life-mystery for believers. We know we need to pray, but we know we don’t pray
enough. And we’re not always sure we’re even doing it right when we do pray. Should I even be
asking God for this? Should I still be asking God for this? Do I even know what I need?
Conscious, Personal Communion
The Bible refuses to give us one small, simple picture or pattern for prayer. Jesus never intended
for his model prayer (what we call “the Lord’s Prayer”) to be our only guide or counsel for
prayer. It is a great place to start, but God’s word gives us so much more material for our prayer
lives.
Prayer is objectively real — a real God, real communication, real work, real answers. But it also
comes in a million shapes and forms. Prayer happens in seconds — short moments in the cracks
of our day — and it can happen for hours at a time, even throughout a whole night.
Prayer is conscious, personal communication with the God of the universe. A better question
than “How’s your prayer life?” might be, “Have you been enjoying conscious communication
with God — over his word, in your daily needs, throughout your day?” Has your relationship
with him been real — not a box to check, not just a hurried place for help, not a vague abstract
idea hovering over your head and life? Has your faith been tying you to him in your heart? Have
you been leaning on him, and not yourself?
So how is your prayer life? If you (like me) are not happy or content with your answer, here are
seven ways to grow in your time alone with our God.
1. Pick a time and place. ). No longer in a place, but in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18)
2. Listen before you speak. For some people, setting aside time to be alone with God is
intimidating. In fact, for many today, any time alone at all — no friends, no television, no
phones — is unnerving. We are speaking to almighty God here. He already knows
everything we need and everything we are going to say. So what can we even say?
One important thing to learn early on about prayer is that it truly is a conversation. Just as
God really does speak to us in his word, he is also really listening when we pray. It may
just feel like journaling out loud at times, but there is always someone on the other side of
prayer. Jesus promises, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks
finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8). A real Giver, a real
Guide, a real Host.
On any given day, God may choose to move or “speak” in some unexpected way through
his Spirit — bringing something to our mind, altering some circumstance, saying
something through a friend. But God has told us how he speaks, the only truly
trustworthy way we hear his voice. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy
3:16). Read something from the Bible (even just a verse) before you pray. Those words
from God are “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the
division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and
intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
3. Prioritize the spiritual over the circumstantial. It means life is mainly about unseen
realities. At the end of each day, what matters most happens at the spiritual and emotional
level, not the physical and circumstantial. That reality should be lived out in our prayer
lives. We should spend as much time praying for our souls, for the salvation of our loved
ones, for the spread of the gospel, and for the establishment of God’s glory and his
kingdom as we pray about anything. Those prayers shouldn’t be tacked on to the end of
our “real” needs. They are our deepest and most enduring needs.
4. Don’t be afraid to stop and pray now. Prayer should be prioritized and scheduled, but the
beauty of our newfound freedom and mercy in Christ is that prayer can happen anywhere.
It should start alone with God in your prayer closet, but it never needs to stay there. It
 must not stay there. Bring prayer into the cracks of your day. And I don’t just mean
before meals. When you feel the impulse to pray, seize it. Take it as the prompting of the
Spirit (Satan certainly won’t encourage you to pray).
5. Ask whatever you wish — literally anything.
If we’re honest, many of us lack courage and imagination in our prayer lives. We have a
tiny little box of routine things we’re willing to ask God for, and we take on everything
else — our questions, our frustrations, our dreams — on our own. We assume God’s not
interested in or doesn’t have time for the small details of our day. And we can’t even
imagine him conquering global crises like 27 million in slavery and millions more
enslaved to sin and headed to hell. And so we settle for middle-of-the-road mediocre
requests. We wait to pray about something until it becomes “serious enough” for God to
care about, and we don’t pray for something unless we expect him to do something in the
next 24 hours. And so we deprive ourselves of his mercy and power in massive areas of
our life and world.
“Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14).
Paul says, “Do not be anxious about anything” — your random conversation with that
friend, your sleep tonight, this month’s budget — “but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians
4:6). Anything and everything everyday. Don’t be afraid to pray big prayers, and small
ones.

II. QUIET TIME

In particular, we need strength to pray, to meditate on Scripture in Christ’s presence,
and to obey what God makes known to us. We need mercy in our times of wandering
from the Lord.

Therefore, there arises the need in the yearning soul to draw aside for regular times of
uninterrupted prayer and scriptural meditation. This is what I mean by a quiet-time. It
is a time set aside in a certain place where a person can “get away,” be alone, and
draw near to the Lord. Thus a quiet-time involves a period of concentrated,
uninterrupted fellowship with God in a place often designated beforehand.

First, we seek the Lord’s presence in undistracted fellowship simply because he has
called us into this friendship; the cry of the regenerate heart is to know God and enjoy
him forever. Second, the Lord uses consistent quiet-times to transform us into his
likeness. Third, drawing aside regularly to be with the Lord not only leads to a deeper
friendship with him and to Christ-like transformation, but it also impacts our view of
the world and the mission God has called us to. It is through regular fellowship with
the Lord that we begin to get on our hearts what’s on his heart. It is here that we begin
to develop a passion for reaching the lost and world missions. Let’s look at each of
these in a little more detail.

So, How Do I Have A Quiet-Time?

Some Principles
There are four things to think about. First, a consistent time. Second, a consistent place. Third, a
consistent plan. Fourth, a reward.

A CONSISTENT TIME

It is important in the process of developing a regular and meaningful quiet-time, where you can
be alone and away from distractions, to nail down a specific time each day.

A CONSISTENT PLACE

Another important factor is a consistent place, preferably not in front of the T.V.! Again, think of
a place where you will have no distractions (or at least as close to none as possible) and where
you will have freedom to pray out loud.

A CONSISTENT PLAN

Once we’ve decided on the place and time, we should then set about the task of determining
what portion of scripture we’ll be reading. It should be a portion long enough to provide some
context to the story or teaching, but short enough so that much time can be spent in meditating
on what has been read.

1. Communion
2. Purification
3. Restoration
4. Instruction

Meditation

III. JOURNALING

It can be formal or very informal, have long entries or short ones, and be a daily stop or just
where you pop in on occasion. It can be a place for recording God’s providences, peeling at the
layers of your own heart, writing out prayers, meditating on Scripture, and dreaming about the
future.
The goal is the glory of Christ, not your own, in your ongoing progress in his likeness, for the
expanding and enriching of your joy.
Journaling has the appeal of mingling the motions of our lives with the mind of God. Permeated
with prayer, and saturated with God’s word, it can be a powerful way of hearing God’s voice in
the Scriptures and making known to him our requests. Think of it as a subdiscipline of Bible
intake and prayer. Let a spirit of prayer pervade, and let God’s word inspire, shape, and direct
what you ponder and pen.
1) To Capture the Past
2) To Build a Better Future
3) To Enrich the Present
Be honest and real, but ask God for the grace to get beyond your circumstances (self-
examination), however bleak, to finding hope in him.
 *reflect and apply = meditate
1. Keep It Simple.
2. Don’t Catch Up. Not to be a perfectionist
3. Take God Seriously. God-ward; personal, not minding if someone might read it someday
A spiritual journal isn’t the same as a diary of the events of your day, though it may include
descriptions of some events. Its focus is more internal, regarding what you are experiencing in
your spiritual life; what you are learning from your interaction with God, His Word, and the
application of Scripture. It’s a means to not just record, but to give deeper thought to how the
Lord is working in your life.

IV. SERVICE

Upon entering the world, Jesus made Himself nothing and took on the form of a servant.1 As
Christians we, like Him, are called to serve our Christian brothers and sisters as well as others.
Such service is a form of letting our light shine before others, which in turn gives glory to God.
When we are motivated to serve by gratitude, gladness, humility, and love for God and others,
then whether the service is a discipline or not, we will be willing and happy to serve in whatever
situation and by whatever means He has led us to—whether it is exciting and extraordinary or
mundane.
it is about our response to God
Service builds and prepares us to be stronger in character and in fulfilling our responsibility for
His Kingdom. Service also nurtures and strengthens us as a means of grace; as we grow, we
serve.