Spiritual Discipline Questions

*PRAYER AND BIBLE READING SURVEY!

1. What is a spiritual discipline?

simple habits and practices that help us to develop, grow, and strengthen our faith in Christ.

* ANALOGY Christian Patterson is going to be a great football player. But to get there he needs to be discipline right.

He needs to show up for practices

He needs to eat right

He needs to work out and lift weights

He needs to mentally prepare. RIGHT…He needs to learn the plays.

He needs to learn how to react to different situations.

These are all things he needs to be disciplined in, in order to reach his goal....and be a great football player.

Spiritual discipline is a means to a the goal of being in union with God the father through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The spiritual discipline does not save you! Some of you may think that reading the Bible, coming to church, praying, or tithing is what you have to do in order to be saved. NO, those are spiritual disciplines that after receiving the gift of salvation shape us into looking more like Jesus.

Spiritual disciplines are like the tools or equipment that football players use in order to become that better football player. And guess what if a football player doesn’t have a desire or passion to be a better football player he won’t care to use the tools, or equipment that he has access too.

-and in the same way if your a Christian, a follower of Christ…and you don’t have a passion to be more like Jesus you probably won’t practice spiritual discipline.

-However if you are passionate about being a follower of Christ and to be more like Jesus I want to show you how Jesus practiced spiritual discipline.

EVEN JESUS PRACTICED SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE. numerous times in the BIBLE, Jesus goes off by himself to pray and connect with God the father. The relationship between Jesus and his father God was priority. There are a lot of reasons why Spiritual Discipline is good and helps us grow, but I want to look into 6 different benefits of spiritual discipline, that Jesus himself displays.

1. To prepare for a major task Luke 4:1-2, 14-15. After Jesus was baptized He spent 40 days praying in the wilderness. After this He was tempted by Satan and then began His public ministry.

2. To recharge after hard work Mark 6:30-32. Jesus sent the 12 disciples out to do ministry. When they returned He encouraged them to separate from the people who were following them to rest.

3. To work through grief Matthew 14:1-13. After Jesus learned that his cousin John the Baptist had been beheaded, He went away by Himself. Yes, even the Son of God grieves.

4. Before making an important decision Luke 6:12-13. Early in His ministry Jesus spent the whole night alone in prayer. The next day He chose his 12 disciples.

5. In a time of distress Luke 22:39-44. Hours before Jesus was arrested He went to the Mt. of Olives and went a short distance away from His disciples to pray. He was in great emotional agony knowing what he was about to face.

6. To focus on prayer Luke 5:16. Many times in Jesus’ ministry He spent time alone in prayer.

You guys have crowds of people coming after you, demanding your attention in sports, music, friends, family, food, boys, or girls, events, school and I’m sure a lot more.

With everything screaming for your attention, are you setting aside time for the relationship that that truly matters? Are you spending time in the word and prayer.....talking with your heavenly father. Learning more about who he is, what he’s like, how he loves you.

Because here is the thing everyone on earth is serving a master Matthew 6:24 it says:

Matthew 6:24 ESV

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

YOU CAN NOT SERVE TWO MASTERS. YOUR EITHER SERVING GOD OR THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD.

Paul cautions us in Romans 12:2

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Do not be conformed to this world. Don’t be lovers of the world. If you desire to be more like Christ then start practicing these spiritual disciplines

***SURVEY RESULTS!!!

HERE IS YOUR CHALLENGE -

Step 1 -READ THE PASSAGE Find a passage to read. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount. The gospels are full of small chunks of scripture like the parables.......Find a passage to read. Read through it and then take a couple minutes to just sit and think about the passage you read. What was it saying, what was being taught, what was the intent or purpose for this passage being written?

Step 2 -THINK ABOUT IT - take a couple minutes to just sit and think about the passage you read. What was it saying, what was being taught, what was the intent or purpose for this passage being written? Keeping the scripture in context, what is it teaching? JUST THINK THROUGH EVERYTHING YOU JUST READ.

Step 3 -PRAY THROUGH IT - Thank God for how he revealed himself through the scripture you read, Thank him for his Love for you, pray for help applying the truths you just read, and pray for continued growth in your relationship with him.

Step 4 -JOURNAL IT - Write down what God has taught you, write out thoughts that popped into your head while you were reading, sometimes people or situations from your daily life pop into your mind, write them down. Write out how you understood the scripture. As you continue to grow and become more spiritually mature you will look back at this journal and you will be able to see your growth. Just like when you start a diet, or workout program you take a picture when you begin and then later on you take another picture and you can see the changes that have occured. Journaling is a great way to see your progress and growth in spiritual maturity.

Discuss how your going to apply spiritual disciplines into your lives with your small group.