Spiritual Disciplines

CONCLUSION: Discovering Your Spiritual Rhythm

 
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“Abba Moses asked Abba Silvanus,
”Can a man lay a new foundation every day?”
The old man said,
”If he works hard, he can lay a new foundation at every moment.””

Conclusion + BONUS Resources!

Life in God is a grand journey of discovery. Every path provides new glimpses of the glory and mercy of the Father’s tender heart. We turn a corner only to discover something about the Godhead that ravishes our heart yet again. The journey and destination have this in common: both partake of the heart of God and the life of God. Your ultimate destination is the living light sitting upon the throne of Heaven:

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

Revelation 21:22-24 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

I am privileged to be on this journey with you. You are part of God’s grand narrative, telling His story one human heart at a time. And each day is a new beginning in displaying the Father’s goodness to a world broken and in need of Him.

May your tomorrow be greater than your today. May your, “Yes,” tomorrow be more emphatic than your, “Yes,” today. May you increase in love and wisdom, to the glory of the Father, and for His great name’s sake. May your heart look like the heart of the Father. And may your life mirror the life of Christ.

Continue to turn your heart to the Father. This is not the end. This is merely the beginning of your great life in God.

Blessings,

Joshua Hoffert

BONUS RESOURCES

Click the links below to download your FREE resources to help
keep your spiritual rhythms going. Enjoy!

Printables:

Book Recommendations:

Books I love and recommend to anyone wanting to explore the spiritual journey…

Experiencing the Heart of God

Hearing the Voice of God

Desert Fathers on the Spiritual Life

How-To Guides:

Apps:

Helpful tools for on-the-go spiritual growth…

  • Abide Guided audio prayers based on various themes like “Overcoming Worry” and “Becoming More Like Jesus”.

  • The Examine Questions that help you use the Examen form of prayer to reflect on the day. Keep an online log, and track your progress.

  • Jesuit Prayer App Ignation Spirituality on the go. This app includes daily inspiration based on Scripture and other Ingation spiritual exercises like the Daily Examen.

  • Pray As You Go Guided audio prayer with Scripture, music, and reflection questions lasting between 10-13 mintues.

DAY 10: Discovering Your Spiritual Disciplines

 
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“The mirror of the monastic is prayer. Just as it is impossible for one to see himself in muddy water, so it is impossible, too, for the soul which is not cleansed of evil thoughts and passions to pray to God.”
— Anonymous Desert Father

The Effect of a Watchful Heart

As you train your heart in Godliness (1 Timothy 4:7) through silence, solitude, fasting and remembrance, you will begin to cultivate a watchful heart. Watchfulness is integral to growing in godliness. When you begin bending your heart towards God, an interesting change starts to occur, your heart moves through stages of sensitivity.

God, called the “Knower of the Hearts” (Acts 1:24 & 15:8), moves through our inner life and awakens our spirit to the knowledge of a loving God abiding within. The practice of spiritual disciplines causes the heart to flower to His abiding presence, and He begins to push into our conscious awareness our broken systems of belief and ways of thinking.

Absent this inner formation, we remain dimly aware of the thoughts that assail us. When God moves on our inner life, our spirit comes alive to His presence, and we begin to know Him and ourselves. Watchfulness captures this awareness and guards the heart against all that would send us fleeing away from God.

“One day someone asked Abba Silvanus, ‘How have you lived, father, in order to become so wise?’ He replied, ‘I have never let a thought that would bring the anger of God upon me enter my heart,’”

When we are aware of our inner influences, we can take steps to mitigate those influences. While silence, solitude, and fasting expose the heart, remembrance softens the heart, then watchfulness keeps the heart trained towards the things of God.

All these disciplines dovetail into a mature expression of the Godhead within our hearts. The goal of the spiritual life is always that we become more loving people, willing to give and sacrifice on behalf of others.

This brings us to Day 10 and that means we’ve reached the end of our devotional. I really hope you’ve enjoyed it because I just can’t say goodbye yet. As a thank you for participating in Discovering Your Spiritual Rhythm, I’ve got one more BONUS day for you with some special resources to help you continue on with this ever deepening journey of life with God.

I’ll be back in your inbox (one last time) tomorrow!

Blessings,

Joshua Hoffert

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  • How have you trained yourself to become continually aware of God’s presence? Have you ever considered what it may mean to “pray unceasingly”? (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

  • In what ways do you respond to God’s presence?

  • The fruit of the Spirit and God’s presence cannot be divided. How has His presence and this fruit increased in your life? How do you think this may relate to His will for you?

  • What has God been doing in your life and speaking to you recently (the past 3-6 months)? What themes have emerged, and how do you plan on attending to them?

DAY 9: Discovering Your Spiritual Rhythm

 
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“By the constant ascent of his mind to God, he is more and more enlightened by the rays issuing forth from Him, until he eventually becomes the habitation of God.”
— Abba Isaiah the Solitary

The Effect of Remembrance

When you are alone, what do your thoughts dwell on? A number of years ago, I had been asked to drop a friend off at the local ferry terminal. Within a few hours of agreeing, my wife and I had been invited over for dinner by a couple we rarely were able to spend time with. The times were in conflict. I consented joyfully and completely forgot about the promised ferry terminal trip.

My ferry-terminal ride friend texted me around the time of pickup and sent me scrambling to re-adjust plans. I had really been looking forward to sharing a meal with the other family. Rushing, I dropped off my family at our friend’s house and drove as quickly as I could to take my other friend to the ferry terminal. As I pulled through the drop-off zone, hundreds of cars piled off the ferry that had just arrived. By the time I had dropped him off, the ferry was empty and I was the last car in a long line of vehicles driving back towards the city.

To make matters worse, construction crews were working on a major intersection just down the road. The traffic lights had been set to only let a few cars through at a time. I was stuck in that line for over an hour.

As time passed, my frustration grew. By the time I made it close to the intersection, I was hot with anger towards those crews. “Why today?!” I yelled silently inside. When I pulled up to the light, exasperated, and finally about to get through, the Lord spoke to me.

“What if I arranged all of this just to have a little more time with you?.”

When Jesus asked us to “Do this in remembrance of me,” was he merely inviting us to spend some time in personal self-reflection? Or was it far deeper? When I was in that long line of cars frustrated, my mind was filled with many thoughts. None of them drew me toward Him. Spiritual disciplines are integral to developing a heart that remembers God.

The battle over anxiety and frustration is not won in the moment of the fight, it is won by carefully cultivating a heart that dwells upon the presence of God. Only then, aided by grace, will we have the strength to turn away from that which angers and vexes us and fall into His life-giving embrace.

“Sit in your cell, keeping your mind free from every earthly or worldly thought and care, and fall with abundant tears before God; then you will surely find spiritual rest.” ~ Abba Sisoes

I’ll see you again tomorrow as we learn to recognize The Effects of a Watchful Heart.

Blessings,

Joshua Hoffert

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  • When was a time in your life when it has been easier to live your life on autopilot than to enter and engage with your thoughts and feelings?

  • Where are you more present to worry, regret, or fantasy futures than to God’s love and care for you?

  • How do you respond to judgments people make about you? How does judging others make you feel?

DAY 8: Discovering Your Spiritual Rhythm

 
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“If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy’s city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh: if a man goes about fasting and hungry the enemies of his soul grow weak.”
— Abba John the Short

The Effect of Fasting

When was the last time you went to a restaurant? Undoubtedly you were given a menu to peruse. As you considered your options for food, you most likely thought about what you felt like eating. What was it that turned you off of one of the meals? What attracted you to the meal you ordered? Somewhere in that process you probably thought about how that food made you feel.

After a large lunch, many of us know the familiar energy lull that creates a sleepy afternoon. The Desert Fathers were all too familiar with this. Not only are our emotions exposed when we deny ourselves food, but our minds would also find clarity. John Cassian put it this way: 

“On the basis of vast experience, they ascertained that daily temperance in eating, that is, a little fasting, is far more beneficial than extensive fasting that lasts three or four days or for the period of an entire week. For, as they say, the who undertakes fasting without moderation often also partakes of food without moderation. Thus, sometimes, from excessive starvation, one weakens the body and becomes lazy in spiritual works; yet another time, he burdens himself from great quantities of food, inviting sloth and indolence.”

To eat is to satisfy desire, to fast is to restrain and re-train desire. When fasting we come face to face with our driving needs. We learn what it is that we crave. Fasting is not so much about the restraint of eating, but rather about how we go about satisfying ourselves.

Fasting humbles us as we see just how little control we have over our own appetite. What our hearts crave is exposed and laid bare. It is there that the process of re-training the inner life truly takes hold.

I’ll see you again tomorrow as we consider The Effects of Remembrance.

Blessings,

Joshua Hoffert

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  • When you feel empty, restless, or listless, what do you do to try to fill the emptiness? What does this tell you about your heart?

  • What is your attitude toward fasting or self-denial?

  • In what ways do you currently deny yourself?

  • When has self-denial brought you something good?

  • What has the experience of fasting been like for you?

  • Where do you operate from an entitlement mentality? How can you wean yourself from this way of life?

Think about fasting a consistent meal this week. Comment below and let me know how it goes.

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