Moving Toward Daily Prayer

One of the first steps toward God and my new life is prayer. This is critical for me. I must establish a dialogue with Him. He has spoken to me recently in a way that is ridiculously obvious and I am reminded of the times He has done this before. I am left wanting to reach back to Him and be consistent about it.

Without getting complicated, here's the bottom line:

1. Start each day with God. Give thanks, make requests for others, make requests for me, and close with thanks; these are my essentials. Keep a log of what I've requested and what has been answered. I believe I will keep a paper log (notebook), but may occasionally update here in some summary form.

2. Conduct my day in a Christian manner. I won't explain this but I know what I mean. I'm basically talking about doing what you should be doing and NOT doing what you should NOT be doing.

3. Conclude each day with God. Give thanks/praise for the day. Kind of finishing it off with a little high five between He and I.

4. Go to bed at a reasonable hour, don't stay up all night like you usually do. Rise early and greet the next day the same way.

In Pursuit of Christian Disciplines

I've done additional research into Christian Disciplines. I will preface my remarks by explaining that this is but step one in a much greater effort. In short, I am pursuing as complete a knowledge of the disciplines that Christians are expected or encouraged to participate in.

I'm not doing this so that I may learn how to be a mechanical Christian. Rather, I am seeking to use the most qualified methods to work toward spiritual growth, specifically in the Christian context. My expectation is to identify a comprehensive list of disciplines, study each one to understand their purpose and then move forward on applying said disciplines to my own life. My ultimate goal is to improve my relationship with and understanding of God AND serve as an exemplary Christian in the most sincere sense of the word. With that said, we move on.

My additional research into the matter has resulted in additional disciplines being identified. I already sense there is some heirarchy to these; there may also be duplicity until that heirarchy is fully described. In a previous post, I discussed 12 Christian Disciplines that I uncovered as listed in a book by Donald S. Whitney. In the following list (and expanded version with additions), I include these 12 and indicate them with an asterisk.

*Scripture Reading
*Prayer
*Worship
*Scripture Meditation
*Evangelism
*Serving
*Stewardship
*Scripture Application
*Silence & Solitude
*Journaling
*Learning
Marriage
Fatherhood
Friendship
Mind
Devotion
Listening
Confession
Reverence
Submission
Integrity
Work
Perseverence
Leadership
Giving
Witness
Ministry
Frugality / Simple Living
Chastity
Sacrifice
Celebration
Fellowship
Spiritual Mentoring

As it stands, the list contains 33 disciplines. However, two things strike me about this list. First, there is clearly some duplicity, at least in terms of the "spirit" or intention of some of these disciplines. For instance, surely Frugality is a sub-set of Stewardship? Perhaps not. Second, it seems to me some of these things are disciplines in the strict sense of the word (which is what I'm seeking); that is to say, some of these items are desired characteristics rather than actual practices.

I will refrain from combining, eliminating duplicity or other tactics to hone the list until I have adequately explored each one. I would be upset if I accidentally (out of ignorance) combined two things that were actually very distinct and necessarily so.

Developing Spiritual Disciplines

As my journey into faith continues, I find myself wanting to approach it the way I approach other large challenges: by identifying a stringent process and adhering to it. I am fascinated by processes which is a big part of the success I have enjoyed in business (fertile ground for process and discipline).

Enter the Christian Disciplines.

What are they? What process exists that has been handed down through the ages as a structure within which to move toward our Lord and embed his presence in our life? My research has thus far turned up an interesting book.

The book is Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney. Part of the description says this book moves through "a carefully selected array of disciplines including Scripture reading, prayer, worship, Scripture meditation, evangelism, serving, stewardship of time and money, Scripture application, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning." Are these disciplines regarded only by the author, or are these generally accepted as the set of disciplines to which the deliberate and methodical Christian should adhere?

While my question warrants further research, I move forth to examine the disciplines mentioned above and where I currently stand with each. This is somewhat of a taking of inventory or self-assessment to identify where effort needs to be allocated and where refined understanding must occur before appropriate application of these.

• Scripture Reading: I am currently conducting daily devotions out of the Men's Devotional Bible by Zondervan Publishing. This includes scriptural readings. I am not digesting this scripture in a deliberate enough manner to truly draw out solid lessons and gifts.
• Prayer: I need much work here. I regard prayer as something I do alone and within. I am stunted in my ability to pray in the presence of others as this requires vocalization, a skill that I am most marginal in compared to writing or inner thought.
• Worship: To be entirely honest, I barely understand this word and need to delve much farther here.
• Scripture Meditation: At this point, I regard this as Lectio Divina (oh boy, an outlined process!). I do not currently practice it, but wish to do so. I lack the spiritual maturity to attempt this yet, at least that's my sense.
• Evangelism: My shallow understanding of evangelism is it's the act of spreading His word. Different from service or conducting one's self as an example, this is deliberate outreach regarding Him. I have made but one timid forray into this realm (will speak of this in a later post). I shy away from this, it's quite challenging.
• Serving: I feel very strongly here. I wish to serve Him in some way, likely in some capacity within my church. I have considered other methods of service that could actually transform into opportunities for evangelism (gasp at the thought, I'm so shy).
• Stewardship of Time and Money: I would gladly be a steward of money if I had any. Sorry, bad joke. Seriously, I work on both these things but can honestly say I pay more lipservice than effort to it.
• Scripture Application: This is entirely new to me. If I take it's meaning literally, I interpret this as applying the scripture to everyday life. This warrants research.
• Fasting: Ok, this is probably the zone I am the farthest away from. Those who know me would fall face down laughing at the prospect of me restraining my eating in any way. Yes, that's right - I'm guilty of gluttony. Ok, we've identified a major area of work here!
• Silence and Solitude: So difficult to practice with a full secular life and two young children in the house. Work to be done here. Is this perhaps part of Lectio Divina as well?
• Journaling: This body of work fits the bill here. On top of it, I have a paper notebook within which I record additional personal thoughts during my devotional time.
• Learning: Another "no problem" area. I would probably die if I stopped learning. It is perhaps one of the most unquencheable driving forces in my life. I literally devote 1-3 hours each day minimum to learning. I also long to return to college and wish to be a professor someday.

Much to consider. Doesn't seem like I shape up too far off the mark, at least out the gate. I look forward to researching this. I do want to identify accepted Christian Disciplines so that I may integrate them in my life where they already are not present.