Topic: Spiritual Disciplines
c c c c c c c c c c Donald Whitney writes,” Discipline without direction is drudgery.”[1] He
explains that discipline in any aspect of life without a goal is laborious, tedious,
and loathsome. For a Christian, spiritual discipline without a goal results in
missing out on the joy of being a Christian. Whitney states, “’Discipline yourself for
the purpose of godliness.’ Godliness—being like Jesus—is the purpose, but the
God-given path to that purpose is through certain activities found in Scripture
known as Spiritual Disciplines.”[2] Dave Earley calls this spiritual formation. He
writes, “Spiritual formation is the process of being changed to be more like Jesus.
It is the ongoing, gradual process of glorious transformation into the image of
Jesus by the Spirit of God that is available to every believer as a result of honestly
and intentionally seeking the face of God. It is the fruit of a relationship with
God.”[3] Intentional seeking is accomplished through the spiritual disciplines.
Donald Whitney cautions that this is not an overnight accomplishment. He
discusses the ten-thousand-hour principle. He explains that it takes approximately
ten thousand hours to perfect a skill, which requires discipline. Unlike other
activities, spiritual discipline is a Christian’s lifelong endeavor. The apostle Paul
wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that God’s Word is “profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God
may be perfect….”[4] This perfection, or godliness, is achieved through diligent
application of the spiritual disciplines.
c c c c c c c c c c I agree with Donald Whitney’s argument. Some Christians harbor an
attitude that corporate worship is all that is necessary to become more Christlike.
However, as Whitney explains, it takes a personal and interpersonal spiritual
discipline to achieve godliness. To lean to one side or the other hinders a
Christian’s pursuit of holiness. Whitney points the reader to Jesus, who practiced
both personal and interpersonal spiritual discipline. For instance, Jesus took the
time to pray to the Father alone, and other times He prayed publicly. Spiritual
Discipline for the Christian Life is a biblically-based book. The spiritual disciplines,
which are definable, practiced activities that Whitney discusses, are found in
Scripture. He further explains that the spiritual disciplines are a way to achieve
godliness, which is a closeness and conformity to Christ.[5] Whitney comments,
“Without this purpose in our practice, the performance of Spiritual Disciplines—no
matter how consistent or vigorous—is vain and nothing more than an empty husk
of godliness. So while we cannot be godly without the practice of the Disciplines,
we can practice the Disciplines without being godly if we see them as ends and
not means.”[6] Dave Earley writes, “Paul told Timothy, you must train, discipline
yourself in godliness. Godliness is the overall goal of someone who is becoming
more like Jesus. It is the result of spiritual discipline. The word for ‘train yourself’
in the original language is gym-naz-o, where we get our word gymnasium. It comes
from a root word that means ‘naked’ and literally means ‘go into the gym, strip
down, and sweat.’”[7] Interestingly, the spiritual disciplines that Donald Whitney
evaluates are interdependent. For instance, Bible intake depends on praying for
wisdom and understanding, worship involves Bible intake, evangelism and serving
go hand-in-hand, and a few spiritual disciplines are best accomplished through
silence and solitude. A final point that Donald Whitney makes, and I firmly support,
that our actions alone can obtain godliness. He writes, “We must perpetually
remind ourselves that despite the most fervent diligence to our responsibility to
discipline ourselves ‘for the purpose of godliness,’ we cannot make ourselves
more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit does that, working through the Disciplines to
bring us closer to Jesus and making us more like Him.”[8] The prophet Isaiah
stated, “and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags….” It is the Holy Spirit within
a Christian that develops an insatiable desire to become more like Christ. It is the
Holy Spirit’s driving force that enables a Christian to persevere.[9]
c c c c c c c c c c There are three spiritual disciplines that I need to strengthen: prayer,
fasting, and journaling. The first is prayer. Donald Whitney writes, “Despite the
penultimate importance of prayer, however, statistical surveys and experience
seem to agree that a large percentage of professing Christians spend little time in
sustained prayer. While they may offer a sentence of prayer here and there
throughout their day, they rarely spend more than a very few minutes—if that—
alone in conversation with God.”[10] I am guilty as charged. I perform nightly
prayers, sporadic daily prayers, and participate in corporate worship prayers;
however, I am not diligent in constant daily prayer with God. Dave Earley writes,
“Prayer is the foundational spiritual discipline. In a sense nearly all other spiritual
disciplines incorporate prayer. It is a primary means for spiritual transformation.
Since God is the agent of spiritual formation and prayer communicates with and
connects to God, prayer is a primary tool by which God transforms us into his
image. It is essential in maintaining our relationship with him.”[11] Many Christians
have various reasons for not praying. My inexcusable reason is that I am out of
practice. I have readily succumbed to laziness and a carefree attitude towards
daily prayer. I realize that I am missing out on invaluable communication with
God. I need to pray more, not because it is a requirement but because it is an
expression of love. Setting aside time at a scheduled time(s) of the day will help
to reinforce the practice of prayer. Keeping a prayer journal, which will be a
personal record of prayer requests and answers, will help to foster the need for
and benefits of prayer.
c c c c c c c c c c The second is fasting. Admittedly, I understand fasting as primarily an Old
Testament practice, with some instances in the New Testament. Also, fasting is a
spiritual discipline that rarely gets taught or preached about in church. Donald
Whitney comments, “Christian fasting is a believer’s voluntary abstinence from
food for spiritual purposes…It is for believers in Christ, for the Discipline must be
rooted in a relationship with Christ and practiced with the desire to become more
like Christ.”[12] Whitney explains the different types of fasting and how it is a
spiritual discipline taught and practiced by Jesus. Equally important is the purpose
of fasting. Whitney discusses ten categories of meaning for fasting. He cautions
the reader with this statement, “It is useless to fast as a way to impress God and
earn His acceptance. Faith in the work of Jesus Christ makes us acceptable to
God, not our efforts, regardless of their intensity or sincerity. Fasting has no
eternal benefit for us until we have come to God through repentance and
faith.”[13] Dave Early provides many valuable points to begin a fasting regime.
Importantly is to set aside time, review the purpose(s) for fasting, prepare
spiritually by repenting of sin, and set aside ample time to be spent with God.[14]
c c c c c c c c c c The third is journaling. I remembered watching War Room (2015) when it
first came out. It solidified my perception of journaling as a practice that prayer
warriors maintained. However, after reading Donald Whitney’s chapter on
journaling, I realized journaling encompasses more than prayer requests. Whitney
writes, “A journal (a word usually synonymous with diary) is a place (tangible or
digital) in which a person records information important to him or her personally
for preservation or consideration. As a Christian, your journal is a place to
document the works and ways of God in your life.”[15] Dave Earley writes, “A
journal is a safe and sacred place to record your deepest or most mundane
thoughts, feelings, fears, dreams, ideas, questions, and emotions… Keeping a
journal is a way to practice meditation, contemplation, and meaningful reflection.
It is a means of organizing and understanding your spiritual journey.”[16]
Maintaining prayer requests and answers is only one aspect of journaling.
Journaling involves all spiritual elements that affect a Christian’s life. It is a
powerful personal tool that enables a Christian to reflect upon their life and “for
thinking about and applying the life and death of Jesus.”[17] As with prayer, I need
to set aside a specific time(s) of day to reflect and record how God has worked in
my life during the previous day. I intend to begin journaling before my prayer time.
This order will allow me to pray about what I have inputted into my journal. Both
Whitney and Earley agree that perseverance is necessary during times of writer’s
block.
Bibliography
Earley, Dave, and Rod Dempsey. Spiritual Formation Is…: How to Grow in Jesus With
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2018.
Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014.
[1] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014), 1.
[2] Ibid., 6.
[3] Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is… (Nashville: B&H
Academic, 2018), 10.
[4] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the King James
Version (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1994).
[5] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014), 9.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is… (Nashville: B&H
Academic, 2018), 34.
[8] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014), 290.
[9] Ibid., 291.
[10] Ibid., 80.
[11] Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is… (Nashville: B&H
Academic, 2018), 121.
[12] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014), 192.
[13] Ibid., 200.
[14] Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is… (Nashville: B&H
Academic, 2018), 143.
[15] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014), 249.
[16] Dave Earley, and Rod Dempsey, Spiritual Formation Is… (Nashville: B&H
Academic, 2018), 132.
[17] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado
Springs: NavPress, 2014), 251.
