Spiritual Growth
Channels of Grace, Channels of Growth
May 7, 2006

Discipline (train) yourself for the purpose of godliness. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8


1. What are the spiritual disciplines?

· God-ordained means by which we bring ourselves before God, experience Him, and are changed into Christlikeness.

· Routines versus disciplines. Disciplines are something to which we submit in order to change.

· Categories.

Personal – Bible intake (reading, studying, meditating and memorizing scripture), individual prayer, fasting, solitude, journaling, personal worship.

Corporate (requiring others) – congregational worship, corporate prayer, fellowship, serving, stewardship.

· Other characteristics.

o Biblical.
o Sufficient.
o Unique.
o Practices, not attitudes.


2. Why should I practice the spiritual disciplines?

· In them we can experience God’s glory and grow in grace. (2 Pet 3:18).

· God’s presence and power are intensified in our lives.

· Trusting God that the spiritual disciplines, instead of being drudgery and a boring duty, will lead to a deeper love for Jesus and for our neighbor.

· Is the prize worth the pain? Paul would say yes:

You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. 1 Cor 9:24-27 (The Message)


3. What are the dangers of the disciplines?

· The spiritual disciplines are not by themselves the marks of Christlikeness as much as they are the means to it.

o Example of the Pharisees.
o Example of the cults.

· Only God’s grace working through the disciplines can transform those who practice them.

· The danger of imbalance.

o All the disciplines are important, not just a favorite few.
o The example of Jesus.


4. Practical guidelines.

Devote ourselves more to the pursuit of Christlikeness and the enjoyment of God through the spiritual disciplines than to the pursuit of efficiency and the completion of to-do lists.

Resist the temptation to believe in microwave spirituality or shortcut Christianity.

Read the list of spiritual disciplines. Do an honest self appraisal.


Brief Description of the Spiritual Disciplines


Bible Intake The most important of the spiritual disciplines. Nothing can substitute for it in our spiritual growth. This involves hearing, reading, studying, meditating, and memorizing scripture.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psa 119:105

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Ezra 7:10

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psa 119:11

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8


Prayer Prayer is talking with God about the things that are on our heart, offering praise and thanks to Him for His goodness and grace, and interceding with Him for the needs of others. One of the main reasons for a lack of Godliness is prayerlessness. Jesus expects us to pray:

Matthew 6:5-9 “And when you pray…” (Repeated in all four verses)

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Col 4:2

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thes 5:17

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil 4:6


Fasting Voluntary abstinence from a normal activity, most often food, for a spiritual purpose. (Examples: To strengthen prayer, to seek God’s guidance, to express repentance, to humble oneself before God, to intercede for others. Jesus expects us to fast (But recognize that there may be medical reasons why one could not participate in fasting from food):

Matthew 6:16 and 17 “When you fast…”

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. Ezra 8:23

Even now declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Joel 2:12

However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Mat 17:21


Solitude To voluntarily and temporarily withdraw to privacy for spiritual purposes. (Examples: To hear the voice of God better, to express worship for God, to be physically and spiritually restored, to regain a spiritual perspective, to seek the will of God).

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Mat 14:23

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psa 62:1-2

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles. Luke 6:12-13


Journaling A journal is a place to record the works and ways of God in your life. It is one of the best places to chart your progress in the spiritual disciplines and for holding yourself accountable to your goals. The primary Biblical example is David’s Psalms. It is a help in meditation, in expressing thoughts and feelings to the Lord, in remembering God’s works, and a help in monitoring goals and priorities.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Rom 12:3


Worship To give praise and thanks to God, to offer ourselves anew to Him and to hear His Word as it guides, comforts and encourages us.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Mat 4:10


Fellowship Sharing of common life of Christ with other believers. God has made us in such a way that our fellowship with Him is fed by our fellowship with fellow-Christians, and requires to be so fed constantly for our own deepening and enrichment.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb 10:24-25


Serving An outward demonstration of our love for our neighbor. Jesus is the example:

You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:13-17

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. Gal 5:13


Stewardship The disciplined use of time and resources to further the kingdom of God.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Eph 5:15-16

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Phil 3:13-14

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. Psa 24:1

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Cor 8:7

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor 9:6-7