“He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.”
The Invitation of the Father’s Heart
Entering the peace that only the Spirit of God can bring creates times set apart to be in quiet, restful repose, and find to solitude before His heart. The practices of life in the Spirit are an aspect of the set-apartness of the Christian life. We find removal from the noise and distraction and a place of spiritual refreshing and renewing. The Christian life is the way of entering into the presence of God and allowing Him to nourish our soul. As we settle into stillness, we notice the stirrings of our soul, our deeper longings, and God’s quiet whisper to us.
But actually doing so takes practice, routine, and rhythm. Desire absent discipline will fizzle. But where desire and delight meet rhythm is born. And that rhythm is one of engaging the mystery of the life of Christ within.
As you learn to make spiritual disciplines a daily practice in your own life, here are a few friendly suggestions to get you started.
Helpful Tips
Choose a time and place. Stillness is best done in solitude so be sure your time and place are secluded and free of distractions.
Set a timer. 5-10 minutes is a good place to start. (Some disciplines cannot be done in 10 minutes but it’s a good starting point for many of them).
Physically be still in your quiet place. Get away from the noise and find a comfortable position in your favorite chair as a way of telling God you’re ready to listen.
Quiet and still your mind. Try not to empty your mind but rather focus your attention on being present with God.
Offer this time to the Lord in faith. Tell Him you wish to deliberately acknowledge His sovereignty and control over your life. Invite Him to reveal Himself to you in the stillness and give Him the floor.
Wait for the Lord. Don’t go into your time with an agenda. Simply sit before Him. If worries and thoughts take your mind down a rabbit trail, simply tell yourself (gently!) this is not the time for that and again invite the Lord to speak.
Ask God questions. Be prepared to dialogue with God and invite Him to speak to you.
Sit with your disappointments. Feel the reality of your limitations, letdowns, and everything that’s undone. It really is okay!
Keep a journal. Write down your prayers, meditations, and study. Recording our experiences with fasting and solitude. Writing things down preserves them for future reference, but more importantly, it gives God yet another way to reveal new things to you.
Find an accountability partner. Find a friend or relative you can study the disinclines with. Someone with whom you can check in regularly to encourage and support you. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings with them to discuss and pray together.
“When you go to prayer, deliver yourself wholly up into the hands of God, with perfect resignation, exerting an act of faith, believing that you are in the Divine Presence.”
How to start:
When you’re ready to begin a spiritual practice:
Pray a short prayer of dedication. Express your desire to be with God.
e.i. “Here I am Lord, I want to be with you.”Follow the guidelines for the practice. Respond to any invitation you sense from the Holy Spirit. Don’t hurry. You can pick up where you left off on another day.
HINT: You don’t have to do a different exercise every day. You’re free to stay with an exercise for as long as you would like - a few hours, days, months, or even an entire year!
How to finish:
When you’re done practicing a spiritual discipline:
Set aside the last few minutes to respond to God in prayer. Tell God what it was like for you to practice the spiritual discipline. Express your thoughts and feelings freely. Gratitude, anger, frustration, impatience - bring it all to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to seal in your memory what you need to remember.
Take one word or thought with you into the rest of your day. Returning to this word over time develops soul reflexes of attention to God. The practice of noticing God throughout our day shapes the way we live and interact with others.
Offer yourself to God and place yourself in HIs hands for the remainder of your day.
I hope you find these suggestions helpful. I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow to introduce you to our first undercurrent of the spiritual life: The Oscillating Nature of Prayer.
Blessings,
Joshua Hoffert
ACTION STEPS
Make a plan. This is another helpful tip I’ve found our first spiritual discipline practice, consider doing the following:
Pick a quiet, comfortable space. Choose a room in your home or favorite outdoor space to meet with God.
Gather your essentials. Find your Bible, a notebook, a pen, a timer, etc. HINT: Print off your FREE Intro to Spiritual Disciplines Journal.
Remove the noise. Turn off your phone, put a show on for the kids, and let everyone know you’re not to be disturbed for the next little while.
What is one of your quiet time goals? Write it down and/or share your answer below. (You often have more motivation to reach them once you share them with someone else!)