Pursuit of the Cross: Spiritual Disciplines

Have you ever wondered how God changes people? Maybe it seems as if old habits never change no matter how hard you try. God desires to transform our souls. This transformation occurs as we recognize that God created us to live in a connected relationship with Him. We connect with God through practicing spiritual disciplines. This will be a seven-week study for our adult Bible classes.

List of Spiritual Disciple Topics

1. Week One- Introduction to the Series and the Discipline of Simplicity
2. Week Two- Prayer and Listening
3. Week Three- Solitude and Silence
4. Week Four- Meditation
5. Week Five- Sacrifice and Fasting
6. Week Six- Humility and Submission
7. Week Seven- Worship

Our adult classes begin a new series entitled Pursuit of the Cross: Spiritual Disciplines.  In preparation read Luke 9:23.  Think about this bewildering statement of Jesus and what that means for me personally.  Spiritual disciplines are training exercises that aide us in pursuing the cross.  (1 Tim. 4:7, 1 Cor. 9:24-27)

For background information knowledge on the discipline of simplicity, read the following scriptures and answer these questions:  Matthew 6: 19-34, Luke 2:15, 1 Tim. 6: 6-10, 17, 18

1. How is simplicity modeled in scripture?
2. How can living more simply help my pursuit of the cross?

Solitude and Silence are disciplines of abstinence. We abstain from being distracted by the noise around us. We surrender the need to talk and to fill the empty air with clever thoughts or banter. To take time for silence and solitude means we assume that God wants to speak to us and relate to us in a personal way. This is such a stretch for those of us accustomed to prayer being an exercise in non-stop talking. Instead, we learn to converse with God and hear God – first in the solitude, then in all of life.

Examples of Solitude:  Mark 1:35; Luke 5:15-16; Luke 6:12-13; Matthew 14:13; John6:15; Genesis 28:10-22, 32:22-32.

Activities in Solitude:  Psalms 37:1-11; Isaiah 30:15-18

Results of Solitude:

So what is the end result of all this solitude and silence? God’s presence, a steady habit of solitude and silence changes the way we behave towards others. There is a shift when we move from the peacefulness of solitude to the chaos of relationships, but solitude affects our relationship with God and our relationships with others. In solitude God speaks to us about the people we love (and those we don’t) through prayer, Scripture reading, and so on. God draws us toward them. God uses solitude and silence to change us – we bear fruit, obey difficult commands and offer others selfless, Christ-driven love. Read John 15:1-16.

Jesus explains that as we do the connecting, God does the perfecting. As we abide in Christ, we bear fruit of loving obedience. This bonds us as friends of God, and the abiding becomes more automatic.

How can quietness and rest help us hear God?