Fuel Your Witness with Spiritual Disciplines

As believers, we are commanded by Scripture to obey the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. But as we obey, we need the Spirit to be at work in us, and we need to know the God we serve and follow. We also need to remember that we can not give to others something we don’t possess ourselves, or introduce others to a God we don’t know.

Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Spending time with Jesus is the means by which the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more like Him. We are being transformed day by day, not by our power but by His power alone. We do however cooperate when we practice certain disciplines- disciplines that aid us in this spiritual growth and maturity.

We are going to look at three disciplines: Scripture, Prayer, and Silence & Solitude.

Scripture

First, let’s look at the importance of scripture as a discipline for spiritual growth. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

There are countless ways to get Scripture into our daily routines. You can use a daily Bible reading plan, memorize verses, passages, or even entire chapters, or use an app that reads the Bible to you. Maybe all of the options have overwhelmed you. Whatever your challenge is, just pick something that you can stick with consistently for a short period of time and then increase or expand over time.

Just be willing to do whatever it takes to make Bible intake a priority for every day. David Mathis says, “The fundamental means of God’s ongoing grace, through his Spirit, in the life of the Christian and the life of the church is God’s self-expression in his Word, in the gospel, perfectly kept for us and on display in all its textures, riches, and hues in the external written word of the Scriptures.”

Prayer

As we spend time in the scriptures, this discipline leads us to prayer.

We can pray the Scriptures back to God. When our prayers are guided and shaped by God’s Word, we will begin to desire the things God desires and begin to ask for things that would please him and bring glory to him.

Similar to Bible intake, there are many options available to us as we seek to incorporate prayer into our daily lives. Resources like Echoprayer, PrayerMate, and Evernote can help you keep track of your prayers. But if you’re like me, you might prefer to just use a simple journal or notebook.

Here are some quick ideas of how to incorporate prayer:

• Pray during a morning or afternoon walk
• Set reminders on your calendar to pray for specific needs
• Use your driving time to pray rather than listening to the radio or podcasts
• Pray in the moment with people (don’t just promise to pray for them later)
• Prayer walk your neighborhood, around your office, and parts of your city
• Commit to a regular time to pray with your spouse or friend

Silence & Solitude

Finally, we create space for God in our daily lives with the discipline of silence & solitude.

We live busy, noisy lives, so to slow down and sit in silence before the Lord is just uncomfortable. However, when we look to the Scriptures, we find that God used solitude in the development of many spiritual leaders. Moses experienced 40 years of isolation before God charged him to lead the people out of Egypt and the Psalms picture David as a man who spent a lot of time alone with God. Our greatest example is Jesus and he periodically went away to spend time alone with the Father and we should do the same.

Some of us will struggle with what to do during this time. The first thing we need to do is to remind ourselves that we are to BE rather than DO-ING. When we take the time to sit in silence with God we are able to hear his voice and sense his presence. We slow down long enough to be receptive to whatever God wants to show us or to simply spend time with us. Think about a married couple who has been together for decades. A sign of intimacy is that they can sit in the same room together without feeling the need to fill the silence with words.

Enter God’s presence as a listener rather than a speaker and be patient with yourself. It may take time for your inner noise to catch up with the stillness and quiet around you. It takes practice and then practice becomes a discipline.

As you seek to incorporate spiritual disciplines into your lives, like Scripture, Prayer, and Silence & Solitude, just remember that the goal is to know and love God. Ultimately, it’s our knowledge and love of God that compels us to obey him. Our obedience enhances the kingdom of God and glorifies God.