Spiritual Disciplines Handbook E-Book

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

• Herausgeber: IVP Formatio
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Transforming Resources
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 606

Beschreibung

The Beloved Handbook for Transformation Through Spiritual Disciplines Maybe you long for a more intimate prayer life or deeper insight from God's Word but just don't know how to get there. Or maybe you want to learn about new spiritual disciplines like visio divina, unplugging or attentiveness. In Spiritual Disciplines Handbook Adele Calhoun gives us directions for our continuing journey toward intimacy with Christ. While the word discipline may make us want to run and hide, the author shows how desires and discipline work together to lead us to the transformation we're longing for—the transformation only Christ can bring. Instead of just giving information about spiritual disciplines, this handbook is full of practical, accessible guidance that helps you actually practice them. With over 80,000 copies in print, this revised edition of a well-loved resource includes: - Seventy-five revised and expanded disciplines to transform your spiritual life, - Thirteen new disciplines for new readers and those familiar with the text alike, and - A new preface by the author.Mothers, fathers, plumbers, nurses, students—we're all on a journey. And spiritual disciplines are for all of us who desire to know Christ deeply and be like him. Here is direction for our desire, leading us to the ultimate destination: more of Christ himself.

Leseprobe

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES HANDBOOK

Practices That Transform Us

REVISED AND EXPANDED

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

For fellow pilgrims at

Christ Church of Oak Brook,

Park Street Church, Boston, and

IVCF/IFES.

Your desires for God have graced my journey.

Contents

Preface to the Revised Edition

The Spiritual Disciplines and Desires

Introduction: Discovering Your Desire

Part 1: Worship

Celebration

Gratitude

Holy Communion

Rule for Life

Sabbath

Visio Divina

Worship

Part 2: Open Myself to God

Contemplation

Examen

Iconography

Journaling

Pilgrimage

Practicing the Presence

Rest

Retreat

Self-Care

Simplicity

Slowing

Teachability

Unplugging

Part 3: Relinquish the False Self

Confession and Self-Examination

Detachment

Discernment

Mindfulness/Attentiveness

Secrecy

Silence

Sobriety

Solitude

Spiritual Direction

Submission

Waiting

Part 4: Share My Life with Others

Accountability Partner

Chastity

Community

Covenant Group

Discipling

Face-to-Face Connection

Hospitality

Mentoring

Service

Small Group

Spiritual Friendship

Unity

Witness

Part 5: Hear God’s Word

Bible Study

Lectio Divina/Devotional Reading

Meditation

Memorization

Part 6: Incarnate the Love of Christ

Blessing Others/Encouragement

Care of the Earth

Compassion

Control of the Tongue

Forgiveness

Humility

Justice

Solidarity in Jesus’ Sufferings

Stewardship

Truth Telling

Part 7: Pray

Breath Prayer

Centering Prayer

Contemplative Prayer

Conversational Prayer

Fasting

Fixed-Hour Prayer

Inner-Healing Prayer

Intercessory Prayer

Labyrinth Prayer

Listening Prayer

Liturgical Prayer

Prayer of Lament

Prayer Partners

Praying Scripture

Prayer of Recollection

Prayer Walking

Welcoming Prayer

Acknowledgments

Appendix 1: Spiritual Growth Planner

Appendix 2: A Series on Spiritual Disciplines for the Congregation

Appendix 3: Suggestions for Spiritual Mentors

Appendix 4: Using the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook with Small Groups

Appendix 5: Names for Worshiping God

Appendix 6: One Anothers

Appendix 7: Postures for Prayer

Appendix 8: Spending Time with God

Appendix 9: Suggestions for Fasting Prayer for the Church

Appendix 10: Seasons, Stages and Ages of Transformation

Glossary

Bibliography

Index of Spiritual Disciplines

Transforming Center

About the Author

Formatio

More Titles from InterVarsity Press

Copyright

Preface to the Revised Edition

In November 2010 I spent eight days “writing” icons on Enders Island—a fantastically small dollop of beauty off the coast of Mystic, Connecticut. Corralled by the Atlantic, my world shrank down to a monastic cell, the art studio, daily Mass and meals with strangers.

Icon writing is an exercise in prayer, theology and painting. I am an amateur (to put a finer point on it—a novice) in all three fields. But the word amateur expresses my love of these three disciplines. It seemed risky to honor all three loves at once; I might end up slighting God, theology or the saint I was to paint. Or perhaps I would fall in love with them all over again.

The process of icon writing began with Mass and a “blessing of the hands” of each would-be iconographer. Anticipating the rigors and challenges ahead of us, the priest anointed our hands with oil. Making the sign of the cross, he prayed, “I anoint your hands for every good work and for the honor and glory of God.” The blessing poured calm over my anxiety and clarified the call and task at hand. I was here to apprentice myself to a master iconographer. Still, I remained clueless of the humbling ahead of me. There would be messes, mistakes, weakness, immaturity, ignorance, fear, inexperience, comparison and the unflagging desire for more.

My fellow students included experienced iconographers (one a member of the British Association of Iconographers) and neophytes like myself. My teacher, Dmitri Andreyev, guided the class with his artistic know-how, theological heft and Russian accent. Lessons began with prayer and without introductions. Dmitri handed each of us a wood panel and launched into the architecture of the universe as revealed in our 12” x 8” x 1” boards. An icon’s genesis begins with listening to the wood.

The Tree of Life

No tree is just a tree. Trees carry theology in their veins. With branches stretched to the heavens in praise, trees are God’s one creation that join heaven and earth. A tree (like an icon) is a visual shorthand and a symbol of God’s redemption story. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of life, the tree for the healing of the nations, the tree of the cross—all bear witness to God’s story. Each tree reminds us of God’s presence and action in our world. In Orthodoxy G. K. Chesterton said the chief aim of Christianity “was to give room for good things to run wild.” Trees reflect those riotous, wondrous truths.

Icons are written on the vertical grain of boards—thus maintaining the branches’ upward reach to God. Each icon acts as a bridge between heaven and earth—holding forth the word of life. The tree of life in Eden and the tree of life in the New Jerusalem both communicate God’s intention to bless, sustain, heal and abide with us forever. The board points to this divine purpose. It also reminds us that the Son of God, with arms nailed wide open to a tree, gave his life for the life of the world. Holding the board in my hand I trace the veins with my fingers. I lift my heart up, and the promise of the new creation opens before me.

God’s Universe on a Panel Board

Icons are “written” rather than painted, because they communicate. Created with prayer and theology—also communication—icons are meant to be “read.” My reading lessons began before I ever held a paintbrush. They began with listening to the wood’s story.

When we understood the visual shorthand of the wood, Dmitri turned to the gesso-covered side of the board and continued the reading lessons. Gesso is a mixture of organic compounds: animal glues, plaster, chalk and white pigment. The whiteness represents the uncreated light of the Creator. The light that God shares to give life to the world. Refract light through a prism and a spectrum of colors appears. The white surface will ultimately be enfleshed with color, reminding us that every shade, hue, tint and tone finds its origin in the uncreated light of God.

Between the gesso and the board is a layer of muslin or canvas (pavoloka). Dmitri wanted us to see that we had a trinitarian board: all three layers cohere in relationship to one another. The gesso represents the uncreated God of light: God over and above me. The board itself represents Jesus, the tree of life: God with us. The pavoloka represents the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, the kiss between the Father and the Son: God within me. We can’t see the pavoloka (literally meaning “veil”). It is hidden between the wood and the gesso. But it is this invisible Spirit that communicates who Jesus is. Together Creator, Son and Spirit (board, pav­oloka and gesso) imprint their image (imago Dei) on humankind.

Once the icon is written it communicates, and like a map guides us into the mystery of Trinity imprinted in human likeness. The board speaks of how the Holy Three create and then stick with their creation when it rebels. It’s not some mystical mumbo jumbo but a reservoir of truth deeper, thicker, stronger, wiser, higher than I know. Dmitri quotes from 1 Corinthians 2:10: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” And Dmitri tells us to contemplate how the God of uncreated light—all sufficient, eternal and holy—out of goodness and bounty says “let there be” and there is! Starfish, nimbus clouds, cocker spaniels and above all these you and me, God’s own image bearers.

These are my first lessons in learning to read the creation history written in the board, gesso and pavoloka. I still have not held a paintbrush. Hours go by. Dmitri turns our attention to the frame and the four corners of the board, and how they limit space. God’s creation has edges and limits, and as such is distinct from the Creator. In transcendence God is beyond all categories and theories and unlike the creation. Still the Creator can be known because creation’s voice speaks of God (Psalm 19). The icon I am waiting to create will also speak. It will become a living and visual prayer, what I believe will be expressed not just in my words but in what I do with my hands. The way of Jesus is faith in action.

Dmitri taught us step by step. He didn’t reveal the whole twenty-one-step process the first day lest he overwhelm and discourage us. As we progressed, he taught us the how-to and the spiritual meaning of mixing egg tempera; laying gold leaf; floating first, second and third lights; and on and on. If someone balked and said, “I don’t want to paint the eyes” or “I can’t grind the pigment small enough,” Dmitri characteristically responded with “trust God” or “pray.” Then he would patiently sort through our messes and help us turn it into a thing of beauty. This is the way of a master.

On the last day of class I spilled a small drop of water on my icon. This small drop ate all the way through the egg tempera leaving a small white-hole of gesso. Thinking I could fix it I tried to puddle some paint and repair the hole. I only made it worse. Unhappy with myself, I walked up to Dmitri’s desk and said, “I spilled water on my painting.”

He replied, “And then you tried to fix it?”

“Yes,” I said.

Looking directly at me he said, “What do you know about repairing icons? Why did you think you could fix it? It takes years to learn how to repair icons. Go back to your seat, and I will come help you later.”

Chastened, I returned to the task at hand. Time passed. Dmitri helped others. But he didn’t come to my desk. Several hours later I went to his desk and said, “I have waited patiently for your help.”

He said, “I have been patient too.”

What was I to say? His comment was an understatement if I ever heard one. But then he took my icon and—with skill, technique and method entirely beyond me—repaired it and restored its beauty. The light that glimmered in his eyes as he handed my icon back was an eikōn of the Master’s grace to me.

As I returned to my desk it registered—over and over again—I make messes. But rather than go to the Master, who is in the room, and say, “Help! I’ve made a mess,” I take things into my hands. I try to patch and coverup the mess. The spiritual practice of icon writing held up a mirror to the eikōn that was me.

It led me into the deep waters of submission, prayer and waiting for the Master before I simply went with the flow. Writing an icon of John the Baptist led me to ponder the cloud of witnesses, the good news and how light is always coming into to our darkness to set us free. How generous of God that even a novice painter, pray-er and theologian can reflect the light of God through divine grace.

Discovering New Disciplines

When I discovered the practice of painting icons, I was uncovering the gifts a new spiri­­tual discipline could bring to my life. New ways of being present to God were presented through the unique and visual lens of iconography. This volume includes a number of other disciplines that were not included in the first edition: Blessing Others/Encouragement, Face-to-Face Connection, Forgiveness, Iconography, Listening Prayer, Mindfulness/Attentiveness, Pilgrimage, Prayer of Lament, Sobriety, Solidarity in Jesus’ Sufferings, Visio Divina, Waiting and Welcoming Prayer.

I pray that on your journey you continue to seek the God who is seeking you. When the world tries to squeeze you into its mold, break the mold! Step back from the busy and make some space for God through spiritual practices. A spiritual practice isn’t magic. It won’t change you by itself, but it puts you in a place to partner with the Holy Spirit to become an ever fresh eikōn of Jesus. Spiritual rhythms help us contemplate the face of God in Christ. And you can be sure that doing this activity goes with you from this life to the next. May your hands be anointed for every good work, and for the glory and honor of God.

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

The Spiritual Disciplines and Desires

DisciplineDesireAccountability Partnerto give a regular and honest account of my choices, priorities and temptations to a godly and wise companion who points me to ChristBible Studyto know what the Bible says and how it intersects with my lifeBlessing Others/ Encouragementto instill courage, confidence and hope through expressing the delight God has in othersBreath Prayerto pray a simple, intimate prayer of heartfelt desire before GodCare of the Earthto honor the Creator by loving, nurturing and stewarding his creationCelebrationto take joyful, passionate pleasure in God and the radically glorious nature of God’s people, Word, world and purposesCentering Prayerto quiet the heart and rest in God aloneChastityto revere God by receiving and honoring my body and the bodies of others with purity of thought and actionCommunityto express and reflect the self-donating love of the Trinity by investing in and journeying with othersCompassionto become the healing presence of Christ to othersConfession and Self-Examinationto surrender my weaknesses and faults to the forgiving love of Christ and intentionally desire and embrace practices that lead to transformationContemplationto wake up to the presence of God in all thingsContemplative Prayerto develop an open, restful receptivity to the Trinity that enables me to always be with God just as I amControl of the Tongueto turn the destructive way I use words into authentic, loving and healing speechConversational Prayerto talk naturally and unself-consciously to God in prayer times with othersCovenant Groupto enter into authentic, confidential and healing relationships with a committed group of fellow pilgrimsDetachmentto nurture the spirit of trust that is attached to God aloneLectio Divina/ Devotional Readingto prayerfully encounter and surrender to the Living God through attending to ScriptureDiscernmentto delight in and recognize the voice and will of GodDisciplingto be in a relationship where I am encouraged or where I encourage another to become an apprentice of JesusExamento reflect on where I was most and least present to God’s love in my dayFace-to-Face Connectionto connect face to face, in person, below the surface of words and conversationFastingto let go of an appetite in order to seek God on matters of deep concern for others, myself and the worldFixed-Hour Prayerto stop my work and pray throughout the dayForgivenessto live into Jesus’ forgiving heart and stop the cycle of vengeanceGratitudeto be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to live with a grateful heart, cognizant of God’s work in my life and my abundant resourcesHoly Communionto be nourished by Christ, tasting the sweet depths of redemptionHospitalityto be a safe person who offers others the grace, shelter and presence of JesusHumilityto become like Jesus in his willingness to choose the hidden way of love rather than the way of powerIconographyto open myself to knowing God through the visual shorthand of icons that portray the lives of biblical characters, events and seasoned saintsInner-Healing Prayerto assist the emotionally broken and wounded as they seek God for the healing only he can giveIntercessory Prayerto turn my concerns and worries into prayer; to enter God’s heart for the world and then pray from thereJournalingto be alert to my life through writing and reflecting on God’s presence and activity in, around and through meJusticeto love others by seeking their good, protection, gain and fair treatmentLabyrinth Prayerto make a quiet, listening pilgrimage to GodListening Prayerto quiet the inner and outer noise so I can open my heart and listen for God’s voiceLiturgical Prayerto open myself to God through established patterns or traditions of written prayers and readingsMeditationto more deeply gaze on God through the written Word and created orderMemorizationto carry the life-shaping words of God in me at all times and in all placesMentoringto accompany and encourage others to grow to their God-given potentialMindfulness / Attentivenessto live wholeheartedly in the present moment, alert to God and without judgmentPilgrimageto go on an outer journey that will lead me closer to GodPracticing the Presenceto develop a continual openness and awareness of Christ’s presence living in mePrayer of Lamentto take my complaints, anger, sufferings, frustrations and heartaches to GodPrayer of Recollectionto rest in God, allowing him to calm and heal my fragmented and distracted selfPrayer Partnersto share the journey of prayer with a trusted companionPraying Scriptureto allow God to shape my prayer life through the words of ScripturePrayer Walkingto align myself with Christ and his intercession for the kingdom to come while walking in particular placesRestto honor God and my human limitations through restful rhythmsRetreatto pull back from daily life and spend extended time with GodRule for Lifeto live a sane and holy rhythm that reflects a deep love for God and respect for how he has made meSabbathto set apart one day a week for rest and worship of GodSecrecyto follow the simple and often hidden way of ChristSelf-Careto value myself as my heavenly Father values meServiceto reflect the helping, caring and sharing love of God in the worldSilenceto free myself from the addiction to and distraction of noise so I can be totally present to the Lord; to open myself to God in the place beyond wordsSimplicityto uncomplicate and untangle my life so I can focus on what really mattersSlowingto curb my addiction to busyness, hurry and workaholism; to learn to savor the momentSmall Groupto take my spiritual journey with a community of trusted friendsSobrietyto live with moderation and full attachment to God—without dependence on substances that are harmful to my lifeSolidarity in Jesus’ Sufferingsto be with Jesus in my pain and with Jesus in his painSolitudeto leave people behind and enter into time alone with GodSpiritual Directionto give caring attention to my relationship with God, accompanied by the prayerful presence of someone who helps me listen well to GodSpiritual Friendshipto develop a friendship that encourages and challenges me to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strengthStewardshipto live as a steward of God’s resources in all areas of life; to live out of the awareness that nothing I have is my ownSubmissionto have Jesus as the Master of my life in absolutely every wayTeachabilityto remain a lifelong learner who is continually open to the fresh wind of the Holy SpiritTruth Tellingto live an authentically truthful lifeUnityto live in harmony with Christ’s desire for the church to be one; to be a bridge-builder and peacemaker in the body of ChristUnpluggingto be fully present to and uninterrupted in my interactions with God and othersVisio Divinato worship God in the beauty of created thingsWaitingto patiently trust in God’s goodness and timing in the events and relationships of my lifeWelcoming Prayerto welcome Jesus into every part of my life, body, circumstances and relationshipsWitnessto reveal the life-changing love of Jesus to othersWorshipto honor and adore the Trinity as the supreme treasure of life

Introduction

Discovering Your Desire

Week after week good church people come to me with their R-rated lives and a question: “Does God’s presence in me really change anything?” A woman who reads the Bible every day asks, “Why don’t I get something out of all that reading? Isn’t it supposed to help me when my husband is verbally abusive?” An overtired, busy bank officer asks, “Is spiritual dryness a permanent state?” A distressed pastor uncomfortably sits in my office and asks, “What does it mean when I’m too busy to pray?” A married couple asks why God seemed closer to them before they were married. The banker, the woman, the pastor and the couple have something in common: in the midst of busy, scattered, exhausted and hurting lives they want to experience a great love with God. Desire and desperation gnaw at their hungry souls, and they want to know if God will show up for them.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (The Message)

Living “freely and lightly” can sound too good to be true. How can hectic and demanding schedules yield to the aching desire for “unforced rhythms of grace”? What good is a desire to “recover your life” if you’re plain old “burned out”?

I believe the desire for a different sort of life doesn’t appear out of thin air. The longing for something more, no matter how weak or crackling with heat, is evidence that God is already at work in your life. You wouldn’t want more of God if the Holy Spirit wasn’t first seeking you. It is the Trinity’s action within that fans the small flame of desire motivating us to “keep company” with Jesus. In fact, the very desire or desperation you feel can be God’s way of readying you to walk and work with Jesus. Take heart; transformation happens as you keep company with Jesus.

What Do You Want Jesus to Do for You?

Wanting to work with and watch Jesus is where transformation begins. Willpower and discipline alone can never fix your soul. Striving, pushing and trying harder will not recover your life. Unforced rhythms of grace depend on something more than self-mastery and self-effort. The simple truth is that wanting to keep company with Jesus has a staying power that “shoulds” and “oughts” seldom have. Jesus wants us to recognize that hidden in our desperations and desires is an appetite for the Lord and Giver of life. In fact, he says, “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat” (Matthew 5:6 The Message).

The very first thing Jesus asked his soon-to-be disciples was, “What do you want?” (John 1:37). Over and over again he asked about desires:

“What is it you want?” (Matthew 20:21)

“What do you want me to do for you?” (Matthew 20:32; Mark 10:36, 51)

“Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6)

Jesus knew you wouldn’t get well if you didn’t want the responsibility that came with wellness. He also knew that the mother of James and John was clueless about the meaning of her request to have her sons be power brokers in Jesus’ kingdom (Matthew 20:21). So he pressed her to consider what her desire might mean. Jesus never attempts to shut down people’s longings, nor does he ask people to transcend their longings as some religions do. He knew human desire to be an incurable black hole of opportunity. Accompany him and watch him welcome people who want something more:

“A man with leprosy . . . begged [Jesus], . . . ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’” (Mark 1:40)

“They pleaded with [Jesus] to leave their region.” (Matthew 8:34)

“Save us! We’re going to drown!” (Matthew 8:25)

“Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left.” (Matthew 20:21)

“Sir, give me this water.” (John 4:15)

“If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22)

“The man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with [Jesus].” (Mark 5:18)

“Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1)

Jesus doesn’t grant requests like a genie in a bottle. He works with people, allowing their desires to draw him into the core conversations of life. For Jesus, requests for water, healing, rest, vindication, approval, status and so on all engage soul hungers. Misguided, self-destructive, true or addictive desperations and desires opened doors to relationship.

Learn from Jesus as he keeps company with people who want something. Watch him attend to the hole in their heart that is bigger than the galaxy. Many of his deepest interactions with people get at two things: (1) the true nature of people’s desires and (2) a spiritual practice that helps them make space for God in their lives (in the verses below, the spiritual discipline is in quotation marks).

Martha desperately wants Mary to help her. Jesus tells Martha to “detach” from her drivenness to serve, and attend to the first thing—to him (Luke 10:41-42).

The man cured of demon possession wants to go with Jesus, but Jesus calls him to be a “witness,” knowing that telling his story to those who know him can change their lives (Mark 5:19).

The rich young ruler wants eternal life, but he doesn’t want it enough to give his earthly wealth away. Jesus calls him to “confess” and reorder his priorities (Mark 10:21).

I love the fact that the Lord’s Prayer comes to us through a disciple’s desire to connect with God like Jesus did. “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Jesus gave the disciple a spiritual practice to learn and do. He offered him a prayer to say. There was no seminar on prayer. No steps and techniques for talking to God. Through praying this prayer the disciples had access to the same relationship with the heavenly Father that Jesus did.

Centuries of Connection Between Discipline and Desire

From its beginning the church linked the desire for more of God to intentional practices, relationships and experiences that gave people space in their lives to “keep company” with Jesus. These intentional practices, relationships and experiences we know as spiritual disciplines. The basic rhythm of disciplines (or rule) for the first believers is found in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching [a practice] and to the fellow­­ship [relationships], to the breaking of bread [an experience] and to prayer [another practice].”

The desire to know and love God fueled these disciplines. But as the early church community ran into new situations of want, conflict, temptation and persecution, they wanted and needed help to persevere in keeping company with Jesus. The book of Acts recounts a variety of ways the first-century believers made space for God as they faced difficulties:

Acts 3—the discipline of compassion

Acts 4—the disciplines of witness, intercession and detachment

Acts 7—the discipline of service

Acts 3:1; 10:9—the discipline of fixed-hour prayer

Acts 14:23—the discipline of fasting

Acts 15—the discipline of discernment

It can be freeing as well as overwhelming to realize how many disciplines thread their way through the church era. As the gospel spread throughout the Roman world, the church continued to respond to people’s desires to keep company with Jesus. The Didache, an early Christian text, gave instruction to believers on how to grow in love of God and neighbor. It addressed disciplines like stewardship, chastity, fasting, prayer, humility and the Lord’s Supper. In the fourth and fifth centuries, as the church was relieved of its persecution, the desert fathers found that the politicized and nominal nature of Christianity sabotaged their first love. Longing to recover the passionate flame of love for God that characterized the early church, they moved into the desert where they could more intentionally partner with Jesus for transformation. Their longing to be conformed to the image of Christ gave rise to spiritual disciplines of silence, solitude, contemplation, spiritual direction and detachment. The desert fathers’ passion to love and keep company with Jesus reverberated through the secular life of Rome. Believers who shared a desire to go deep with God established communities characterized by spiritual rhythms that made space in their lives for God. These monastic communities forged their lives around disciplines of fixed-hour prayer, memorization, devotional reading, service, chastity, simplicity, hospitality, meditation and service. During this period of church growth, public worship also developed into fixed liturgies that guarded the church from heresy. These liturgies and their derivatives are still in use in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions today.

In the sixteenth century the coinciding advent of the printing press, world-class sailing ships and the Reformation fanned the flames of change. The Bible was translated from Latin into native tongues and made available to ordinary people. God’s written Word could literally go to the world’s end. Ministries focusing on mission outreach and service were launched by both Catholics and Protestants. Bible study, witness, stewardship, discernment and intercessory prayer became the property of common people, not just the educated elite.

The modern era ushered industrialization, individualism, psychology, ecology and global awareness into the mainstream of Western life. People began to keep company with Jesus through journaling, self-care, care of the earth, conversational prayer, accountability partners, small groups, mentoring and inner-healing prayer.

The technological age, with its peculiar temptations and desires, is opening paths into disciplines like slowing, centering prayer and unplugging. Furthermore, classical disciplines like solitude, silence, rest, spiritual direction and retreat are resurging as people desperately seek a quiet, still center in the midst of the whirlwind.

Throughout the centuries the disciplines of prayer, confession, worship, stewardship, fellowship, service, attending to Scripture and the Lord’s Supper have remained constant channels and disciplines of grace. These time-resilient disciplines give the church in every age and culture ways to keep company with Jesus. In Christ’s presence, temptations, weaknesses, sin, and life’s desires and desperations are addressed. It is not spiritual disciplines per se that transform us into the likeness of Christ. Without the work of God’s Spirit within, practices guarantee nothing. Paul says, “Such regulations [disciplines] indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (Colossians 2:23). Disciplines done for the wrong reasons actually sabotage transformation and numb us toward God and the truth. When we use spiritual practices to gain secondary things like spiritual cachet, success, approval and respect, we rob the discipline of its God-given grace. Jesus said of the most spiritually disciplined people of his day:

These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain;

their teachings are but rules taught by men. (Matthew 15:8-9)

Spiritual practices don’t give us “spiritual brownie points” or help us “work the system” for a passing grade from God. They simply put us in a place where we can begin to notice God and respond to his word to us.

Spiritual disciplines give the Holy Spirit space to brood over our souls. Just as the Spirit hovered over the face of the deep at the dawn of creation, so he hovers over us today, birthing the ever-fresh Christ-life within. The Christ-in-me identity is not bound to a generic one-size-fits-all program for union with God. The Holy Spirit knows the spiritual practices, relationships and experiences that best suit our unique communion with God. He knows how to help us move into the “unforced rhythms of grace” that Jesus offers to teach us.

Spiritual transformation, “recovering your life,” comes from partnering with the Trinity for change. That doesn’t mean we give the Holy Spirit an agenda or a demand. We simply desire. We bring our ache for change, our longing for belonging, our desperation to make a difference. Then we keep company with Jesus by making space for him through a spiritual discipline. Our part is to offer ourselves lovingly and obediently to God. God then works within us doing what he alone can do. Our desires don’t obligate the Holy One. God is free to come to us in spiritual disciplines as he wills, not as we demand. But unless we open ourselves to him through spiritual practices, we will miss his coming altogether.

Keeping company with Jesus in the space between wanting to change and not being able to change through effort alone can be a difficult thing to do. Desiring God and not demanding an outcome keeps us in the risky place of waiting and longing. The truth is that we do not know how God intends to conform us to the image of his Son. God’s Spirit of truth may use our spiritual practice to reveal false self-conceptions and idols of our heart. Becoming aware of what is true and false about us is essential for spiritual growth, and it is not always comfortable. So when we find ourselves in the space between desire and demand, when we are waiting on God and nothing seems to be happening, we must remember this space is an opportunity. In the unfixables of our lives we are invited to keep company with Jesus and take a risk that God’s intentions toward us are good. Day after day this is what Jesus did. It is called trust. He calls us: “Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:30 The Message).

Spiritual Disciplines Open Us to God

I believe the root of all desire stems from our innate need to open our lives to God in worship. Consequently, I have chosen to catalog spiritual disciplines in accordance with the acronym WORSHIP. But there are many other ways of getting your hands around the disciplines. Richard Foster divides the disciplines into inward, outward and corporate. Inward disciplines are practiced in the privacy of our intimate walk with Jesus. Outward disciplines affect how we inter­­face with the world. And corporate disciplines are practiced with others. Dallas Willard distinguished between disciplines of engage­­ment and disciplines of abstinence. Disciplines of engagement connect us to the needs of others and the call to be God’s heart and hands in this world. They address sins of commission. Disciplines of abstinence detach us from hurry, clutter and busyness, and open us to being with God alone. They remind us that we are human beings, not human doings, and that God is more concerned with who we become than what we accomplish. They address sins of omission.

Worship is not something we work up or go to on Sunday morning. Worship is every discipline’s end game! We miss the point and endanger our souls when we think of spiritual disciplines as ends in themselves. Spiritual practices exist to open us into God. They are never the “be all and end all” of discipleship. The “be all and end all” is a loving trust of and obedience to the God who is within us yet beyond us and our very best efforts.

In worship we live into the reality that the first and best thing in life is nothing less than a transforming relationship with the God who made us, named us and called into being. Worship ignites and attaches us to this truest and best-of-all desire—the desire to let God have his way with us. There is nothing more valuable, nothing more desirable, nothing more worthwhile and nothing more wondrous than the divine life of the Holy Three. From the beginning we were designed to be part of their divine community. We are not soul freelancers, but beings created to dance in the arms of the Trinity. And our worship is always a response to the Trinity’s unchanging ardor and desire for us. Spiritual disciplines that do not help us partner with the Trinity in worship are “empty worthless acts and a perfect waste of time.”

Disciplines are intentional ways we open space in our lives for the worship of God. They are not harsh but grace-filled ways of responding to the presence of Christ with our bodies. Worship happens in our bodies, not just our heads. Paul writes in Romans 12:1, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Offering our bodies to God lands us smack in the middle of our weaknesses and limits. We don’t have unlimited energy, time and personal resources. We are finite. We need to be realistic about what our bodies can do and sustain. Burning the candle at both ends can burn out the soul as well as the body. Spiritual disciplines are ways we give our bodies to unhurried rhythms of grace. They are ways we unhurry our souls before God. It is important to remember that we are not meant to do all the practices at once.

Following Desire to a Discipline

Each letter of the word worship points us toward a particular way of creating space for God in our lives. Within each letter you can find particular spiritual disciplines that stem from your God-given desires. Listen to your desires and desperations. Your desires may reflect

your needs;

an area of struggle;

desperation;

barrenness in routines or relationships; or

concern with lack of motivation and what is not working in your life.

Ask yourself, How do I want to or need to be with God? Circle the letter in WORSHIP that most catches your attention:

Worship God

Open myself to God

Relinquish the false self and idols of my heart

Share my life with others

Hear the word of God

Incarnate Christ’s love for the world

Pray to God

(If you are not particularly intuitive or find self-reflection on your desires difficult, consider using the Spiritual Growth Planner in appendix 1.)

Once you have chosen a particular letter, turn to the list of spiritual disciplines and desires at the front of the book (pp. 13-16) and slowly read through the desires in your chosen category. Which desire catches you? Make a mark beside the corresponding discipline. Remember, you are not choosing a spiritual discipline all on your own or in a vacuum. The Holy Spirit is at work in you stirring up your desire. Because reading about spiritual disciplines can be a great deal easier than practicing them, don’t spend lots of time reading every discipline in the category you chose. Mastery of every discipline is not the goal. Surrendering to God is. Follow your desire to the Trinity. At times you may notice that you are off track and have lost your way. You may find you

compare yourself to others;

think you are further along than you really are;

turn a spiritual discipline into a legalistic requirement; or

substitute the means for the end.

Do not berate yourself. The Holy Spirit is helping you recognize how you still try to fix your spiritual life by yourself. Be thankful for what you see, and gently return to God and begin again. The spiritual journey is made in small incremental steps. We rise and we fall and we rise again. Remember, the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook won’t make you disciplined, fix your spiritual life or force something to happen in your soul. A book can never make God appear on demand. But this book can give you a way of following your heart’s desire into the arms of God. Let it help you keep company with Jesus through disciplines that give God room to work in your relationships, attitudes, appetites and nature. As you intentionally embrace disciplines that conform you to the image of Christ, you will find that you can learn to live like Jesus did—“freely and lightly.” In his book The Shattered Lantern, Ronald Rolheiser says, “Freedom is always experienced in relationship to some lord.”

Remember, the discipline you are being called to needs to fit with your life now. It must work within the givens of your human limits. If after reading about your discipline it seems impossible, check out appendix 10, “Seasons, Stages and Ages of Transformation.”

Practice in Community

My life has been shaped by men and women who loved me and handed me something of God in their very human lives. Their spiritual practices were woven into the fabric of their lives on the loom of relationships—both with God and with me. They had no halos. They told me the truth about their good, bad and ugly while passing on the lore of the spiritual terrain they had traversed. I believe this is the way spiritual disciplines are to be learned. We are to learn them in relationships.

For the sake of brevity, this handbook often leaves the stories and relationships surrounding spiritual disciplines for another to tell. For me, all these disciplines come with faces and names and times and places. It is my prayer that these thumbnail sketches of spiritual practices will open you to the breathtaking and inexhaustible world of relationship—relationship with God, others and even yourself. Let these disciplines draw you deeper into your life and the people you live and work with. Let them reveal the human, authentic, God-given truth of you that we all long to see.

How to Use the Disciplines Catalog—a Journey, Not a Fix

For those of you with an antipathy to reading a book cover to cover—relax. This is not a book you read from beginning to end. In fact, it’s probably a bad idea to try. The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook is like a compass that gives you your bearings. It provides you with ways of responding to Jesus, the polestar of the soul. Once you figure out how to navigate the material, you can find your way forward from any point on the spiritual journey.

Many of the disciplines found in this book can be practiced alone or in community. Feel free to experiment with the discipline in both contexts. Some of the disciplines could easily be in more than one category. For the sake of simplicity they appear only once. Other disciplines, like community, small groups, retreat, intercession and contemplative prayer, are container disciplines for a number of other disciplines that appear in this book. If you are looking for a particular discipline, be sure to check the index.

Which letter of WORSHIP best matches your longings or hungers or desperations?

Set aside fifteen or twenty minutes to orient yourself to the disciplines in this letter.Scan the desires preceding the spiritual disciplines. Which ones resonate with your longing?Note the fruit of the discipline at the bottom of the chart. Which of these transformative changes resonate with your desire to become more like Jesus?Read the short description of the disciplines that intrigue you, and choose your practice based on what best suits your life situation now.

Set aside twenty minutes for the practice of your chosen discipline. (Some disciplines cannot be done in a twenty-minute time slot, but twenty minutes is a good starting point for many of them.)

Pray a short prayer of dedication, such as, “Here I am, Lord. I want to be with you. Open me up.” Express your desire to be with God.

Unhurriedly read the Scripture preceding your discipline. Let it settle into your heart. You may want to copy it out and place it somewhere your eyes normally land in the course of a day.

Turn to the desire at the top of the chart. Thank the Lord for giving you the fuel of desire. Offer your desire and your body to Jesus. Acknowledge that while the desire does not entitle you or obligate God, you are open to take the path desire has opened before 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.

The reflection questions offer you ways of searching your heart in the presence of Christ. The questions take your spiritual pulse and enable you to explore resistance you may feel, past experiences—positive and negative—that might affect your practice of the discipline or areas of confusion that might bog you down. You may find some of the questions make you feel uncomfortable, but remember Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 16:12: “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is” (

The Messag

e

). The more intentionally open we are to the truth about ourselves, the more authentic our dialogue with the Trinity can be.

You are not wasting time by answering the reflection questions. John Calvin wrote in The Institutes: “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” Our partnership with the Holy Spirit is the linchpin of the transformation process.

You do not need to take the questions in order or do more than one at a time. Take your time with them, listening deeply to the Spirit and to what your life wants to tell you. If you process your thoughts well on paper, journal your response. If you think best when you walk, then go for a walk. You may find that when you return to the same question at a later time, the Holy Spirit has taken you to a deeper place of self-awareness so the dialogue with God can deepen even more.

The spiritual exercises provide hands-on ways to begin practicing the discipline. Read through the exercises, choosing one that is possible for you at this time. Don’t try to do a different exercise every day. You can stay with one exercise for as long as you want. When you are ready to begin a spiritual exercise:

Set aside the last five 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.

The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook invites you to journey with Jesus into the God-given desires within you, to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” It is my prayer that Jesus will give you a way of keeping company with him that opens you wide to God.

Part One

Worship

Human beings are made for worship. Everyone worships someone or something. In The Everlasting Man, G. K. Chesterton wrote, “The crux and crisis is that man found it natural to worship; even natural to worship unnatural things. . . . If man cannot pray, he is gagged; if he cannot kneel, he is in irons.” Human beings cannot help but assign ultimate value and worth to someone or something. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone worships God. One’s ultimate devotion can rest in money, success, a person, a garden, a creed, a cause and so forth. Ultimately what we are devoted to will shape our lives.

Many of us are devoted to the same things our culture worships: houses, money, retirement plans, vacations, comforts, success. In and of themselves none of these things are bad. But when we value these things more than we value God, we end up worshiping secondary things. Secondary things can never satisfy core longings. Only a love relationship with our Creator can do that.

In worship we fall into the arms of God and say “Have your way with me.” The early church fathers sometimes spoke of a dancing Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit moved together in a rhythm of self-giving love. Worship is a response to God’s invitation to join the dance. It is a way we tap into what is true about us—we do desire God. As Ruth Haley Barton writes in Invitation to Solitude & Silence, “Your desire for God and your capacity to connect with God as a human soul is the essence of who you are.”

Spiritual disciplines are one way we join the dance and learn basic rhythms and steps that help us respond to God. Disciplines of worship put us in a place to be receptive and responsive to the Holy Spirit’s movements and invitations.

Though all disciplines lead to worship, for the sake of cataloging the disciplines, only classical worship practices have been included under the letter W. The classical disciplines of worship focus our attention on the beauty of the Trinity—the source of all that is good, true and beautiful.

“May the Son of God who is already formed in you grow in you—so that for you he will become immeasurable, and that in you he will become laughter, exultation, the fullness of joy which no one can take from you.”

Isaac of Stella

Celebration

Desireto take joyful, passionate pleasure in God and the radically glorious nature of God’s people, Word, world and purposesDefinitionCelebration is a way of engaging in actions that orient the spirit toward worship, praise and thanksgiving. Delighting in all the attentions and never-changing presence of the Trinity fuels celebration.Scripture “The LORD your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me. . . .

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure. . . .

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:7, 9, 11)

“Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo!

Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs!” (Psalm 47:1 The Message)

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14)

Practice IncludesIdentifying and pursuing those things that bring the heart deep gladness and reveling in them before the Lord. This may include time spent with others, sharing meals, working, serving, worshiping, laughing, listening to music, dancing and so on.God-Given Fruitkeeping company with Jesus no matter what happensliving from a mentality of abundance rather than of scarcityparticipating in the celebration and love of the Trinityrejoicing always in the God who rejoices over you (Zephaniah 3:17)enjoying every good and perfect gift as coming from Godliving out of the joy of your salvationcultivating a spirit of gladnesstaking yourself less seriouslyfreedom from the addiction to criticism or negativityhaving holiday traditions that guide your celebration

Celebration

God celebrates. He invented delight, joy and celebration. And one way we enter into the divine life of the Trinity is through celebration. Whether solemn or exhilarating, formal or spontaneous, celebration can enlarge our capacity to enjoy and serve God. Celebrating God does not depend on perfect circumstances or happy feelings. Even in prison Paul and Silas found something to sing about (Acts 16). And Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, wrote:

My soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:20-24)

Jeremiah found reason to delight and hope in God even in lament.

The world is filled with reasons to be downcast. But deeper than sorrow thrums the unbroken pulse of God’s joy, a joy that will yet have its eternal day. To set our hearts on this joy reminds us that we can choose how we respond to any particular moment. We can search for God in all circumstances, or not. We can seek the pulse of hope and celebration because it is God’s reality. Heaven is celebrating. Right now the cherubim, seraphim, angels, archangels, prophets, apostles, martyrs and all the company of saints overflow with joy in the presence of their Creator. Every small experience of Jesus with us is a taste of the joy that is to come. We are not alone—and that in itself is reason to celebrate

To abandon ourselves to celebration can feel like a risky thing. What if we are misunderstood or seem to take hard things too lightly? King David was so “undignified” in his celebration of the Lord that his wife rebuked him for his public impropriety! But David replied, “I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes” (2 Samuel 6:21-22). Set your eyes on God as you celebrate, and forget how you look. God delights in all kinds of worship.

Reflection Questions

Where are you most prone to celebrate God? Alone? With others? In worship? In music? In nature?

What does this tell you about how God made you and how you most naturally meet with him?

How is your celebration enhanced or curtailed by your ability to remember the past, live in the moment or anticipate the future?

When you see others celebrating God in a way that is new or foreign to you, what goes on in your mind and heart?

Is there is a heaviness about you, an overly serious side or an entrenched critical spirit? How might celebrating God affect these traits and move you into new areas of transformation?

Who do you know who really celebrates life and God? What attracts you to them?

Spiritual Exercises

Identify the place you most readily connect with God. Is it in nature? Listening to Christian music? Participating in corporate worship? Solitude? Go to that place. What do you want to tell God about the joy you receive there?

Intentionally place yourself in the presence of God. Recall all of God’s gifts, provisions, guidance and love toward you. • To celebrate God’s grace to you, write a song of celebration, make a collage that represents your joy, write a poem of praise, play music and dance before the Lord, or memorize a verse of praise and repeat it all through the coming days.

Familiarize yourself with the church calendar. (If you don’t know about the church year, do a Web search for “church calendar.”) • Consider ways you can go all-out in your celebration of Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and All Saints Day this year. Plan a way of celebrating God alone or with friends.

Attend to the people who give you joy. Ask God how you might celebrate them in a way that encourages them.

Plan to celebrate someone’s birthday, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day in a way that reminds the person of how precious he or she is to you and to God.

Consider how God loves you. Read Zephaniah 3:17. Then be still and listen. How is God celebrating you? • Celebrate the God who celebrates you. Intentionally ask for the gift of appreciating yourself the way God does.

Resources on Celebration

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, chapter 13, “Celebration”

“But we who would be born again indeed, must wake our souls unnumbered times a day.”

George MacDonald

Gratitude

Desire

to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to live with a grateful heart, cognizant of God’s work in my life and my abundant resources

Definition

Gratitude is a loving and thankful response toward God for his presence with us and within this world. Though “blessings” can move us into gratitude, it is not at the root of a thankful heart. Delight in God and his good will is the heartbeat of thankfulness.

Scripture

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1-2)

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

Practice Includes

prayers and songs that focus on God’s generosity

gratefully giving and sharing all you are and have as a sign of your thankfulness to God

expressing gratitude to others; the habit of saying “thank you,” “I am so grateful,” “you are so kind” and so forth

gratefully noticing God’s presence and gifts throughout the day

practicing an

abundance

mentality; counting the blessings of life

keeping a gratitude journal of the myriad gifts God has brought you

God-Given Fruit

keeping company with Jesus no matter what happens

being aware of the abundance of gifts, benefits, mercies and grace that have been poured into your life

curbing critical tendencies by upstaging them with thanksgiving

seeing what you have as quickly as you see what you don’t have

treasuring and valuing people by thanking them often and clearly for who they are to you or to someone else

daily thanking the Lord for his presence in your life

noticing your lack of gratitude and repenting of the idol that has your heart at that moment

receiving everything you have as a gift rather than as an entitlement

Gratitude

I have a friend who is bent on teaching her grandchildren about gratitude. When one of them begins to complain or cry about some disappointment, she says, “Sweetheart, I know you don’t like what is happening, but you have the choice of making this a happy day or a sad day. What kind of day do you want to have? Do you remember all we have to be glad about in this day?” My friend is teaching her grandchildren that everything is gift. Everything from water to smiles, from bicycles to an education. Nothing is deserved. All is gift from God. And the only appropriate response to all life’s gifts is gratitude.