Spiritual Disciplines
c c c c c c c c Donald S. Whitney wrote Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life to explain
the practical side of living a life with Christ.[1] c Through eleven different areas of
spiritual living, Whitney provides a practical and easy to understand guide on
creating and maintaining an intentional relationship with Christ. c His goal is to
provide the Christian with the tools and knowledge necessary to grow in their
relationship with Christ through practice, discipline, and purpose. c This is
highlighted in his illustration between Kevin and the Angel in Chapter 1. c The angel
told Kevin that you cannot get better at something (in his case, the guitar) without
disciplined practice.[2] c The underlying theme in his book is “…for the purpose of
Godliness.” c This theme is echoed in each chapter as Whitney explained how
disciplined practice in each spiritual discipline allows us to be better in our
relationship with the Lord.
c c c c c c c c c I felt the Whitney did an amazing job walking through each of the major
spiritual disciplines and how they are important in our lives. c Each chapter
provided biblical support to the spiritual discipline, a commonsense style of
explaining the spiritual discipline, and applications and commentary on how to
implement and grow the spiritual discipline in your life. c I agree with Whitney that
understanding and implementing these disciplines are both necessary in growing
a strong relationship with the Lord and are biblically supported. c He noted,” the
Spiritual Disciplines found in the Scripture are sufficient for knowing and
experiencing God, and for growing in Christlikeness.”[3] c I think this is really
important as there are so many opinions these days on what can bring a person
closer to Christ, however, it’s only the Scriptures that truly tell us what we can do
to have and grow a relationship with the Lord.
c c c c c c c c c c Having read this book previously, rereading it gave me a chance to
appreciate Whitney’s book more than I did the first time. c I cannot say I found an
area I disagreed with in his text. c Rather, I found that I better understood his work
this time around and agreed with his positions more now than I did when I read
his work in my undergrad. c As I went through his book, I kept in mind this post,
and identified the three disciplines that I could further grow on. c Those are fasting,
silence and solitude, and journaling.
c c c c c c c c c c The first spiritual discipline I need to strengthen is fasting. c I am horrible
at it, undisciplined at it, and cannot remember a fast that I completed one hundred
percent faithfully. c I am not afraid to admit this, but I feel guilty about it. c Whitney
noted that fasting is a voluntary abstinence from for spiritual purposes.[4] c I have
participated in congregational fasts, and have attempted private fasts, and I have
failed at both. c The last time I attempted and failed to fast was the end of last
summer. c I was fasting red meat as part of a congregational fast during a period
of discernment. c About halfway through the fast, my crew at the firehouse was
grilling for the third or fourth time during the fast and I gave in and broke the fast
to join my crew. c My problem is that of personal gluttony. c I like food, and that
gets the better of me. c This is something I have struggled with my whole life. c
Food has always been a constant in my life, and a comfort in some cases, and I
have allowed that to skew my obedience during fasting. c I know the only way to
fix this is to be more intentional and have someone help me stay accountable, but
I actually have to do it.
c c c c c c c c c c The second spiritual discipline I need to strengthen is silence and
solitude. c Whitney explained that they are a pair that go hand in hand as voluntary
disciplines to allow you focus your mind on God and be alone with him.[5] c At first
pass, I can say, “yeah, I do that.” c Every morning I take the first hour of my day
and spend time with coffee and the Word. c Its just me, my coffee pot, my Bible
and Him. c This has proven effective in given me time in silence and solitude to
grow closer to Him and have conversational prayer with Him. c Whitney noted that
this is a struggle for many because of business and the enemy’s constant attempt
to distract us.[6] This is where I need to improve. c During COVID, due to my full-
time career as a firefighter paramedic, my stress level has gone through the roof, I
am working more than ever, and I struggle to get back to daily silence and
solitude. c What was a daily occurrence, even on shift, has become a two to three
day at best activity. c When I am at the firehouse, we are too busy for me to try to
fit in quiet time. c On the mornings I am getting ready to go to the firehouse, I am
so stressed knowing what I am going into that I cannot focus on my quiet time.
On my off days, if I am not too tired to get up early enough, I am able to have my
quiet time with Him, but I have found that I feel that my time in not nearly as
connected to Him as it used to be. c I don’t know how to fix this as I do not see
my current situation changing soon.
c c c c c c c c c c The third spiritual discipline I need to strengthen is journaling. Whitney
notes that journaling is a way to account for God’s work in your life, and your
growth in Him.[7] c Some of the Scriptures have their basis in journaling.[8] c I love
Whitney’s commentary on this when he noted, “Jesus did not live and die for
sinners to turn us into journal-keepers.”[9] c I find solace in that statement. c My
wife will write a full journal a month. c When I say a full journal, I mean that she
will fill approximately 90 to 100 pages of her thoughts, prayers, and reflections
into a diary like book every month. c She has years of little pocket-sized diaries in
boxes of the last several years of her journey in Christ. c That is not me. c I maintain
three books. c They are the same three composition books that have been going
for several years. One is my prayer book. c This is my prayers, prayer requests,
and prayers answered. c The second is my theological thoughts. c This one is a
composition of my thoughts outside of my academic documents. c The final one is
my bible study journal. c I will write a verse in it that jumps out to me and what
that verse says to me at that point in time. c The reason I feel I need to grow more
here is based on intentionality and consistency. c I have a habit of using post-it
notes, steno-pads, legal pads, and margins of my Bible to capture the thoughts
that I should be putting in these books, and when I remember to copy them over, I
can’t remember the whole illumination that was provided to me at the time of the
note. c I have one post-it note that I keep in my prayer book that just says “pray
for…” but instead of “…” it’s a scribble of someone’s name. c I was in a hurry, and
someone asked me to pray for them, and to this day I can’t remember who or for
what. c I keep that as a reminder to be more intentional, but I still do not do as
good of a job as I really need to.
Bibliography
Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs, CO:
NavPress, 2014. Reprint, 2017. Originally published as 1991.
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[1] Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs,
CO: NavPress, 2014; repr., 2017).
[2] Ibid., 2.
[3] Ibid., 7.
[4] Ibid., 192.
[5] Ibid., 224-225.
[6] Ibid., 239.
[7] Ibid., 250.
[8] Ibid., 250.
[9] Ibid., 251.
