Practising the Way | St Mary's with St Peter's

Back in 1980 Richard Foster wrote the book 'Celebration of Discipline' as a way of introducing and engaging everyone with the classical spiritual disciplines. In the introduction he wrote:

"In one important sense, the Spiritual Disciplines are not hard. We need not be well advanced in matters if theology to practice the Disciplines. Recent converts - for that matter people who have yet to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ - can and should practice them. The primary requirement is a longing after God" Richard J. Foster, Richard Foster Omnibus (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000). P124

For many this seems like hard work, and even though they may dabble with various disciplines from time to time, they never truly put them into practice. They fail partly because of ingrained habits and way of life that takes them away from focusing on God. Yet as Foster comments above these disciplines are for everyone but the key is a longing for God.

Brother Lawrence recognised the importance back in the 17th Century. In his book 'Practising the Presence of God' he urges that all can come to God and dwell with him.

"We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life without the actual and continual help of God: let us then pray to Him for it continually. How can we pray to Him without being with Him? How can we be with Him but in thinking of Him often? And how can we often think of Him, but by a holy habit which we should form of it?' [quote from ninth letter in book]

We need to escape the bad habits of our lives and come to God. For this to be effective it need s to be a continual way of life that forms new habits. Foster sees this as a path, a new journey that we will travel along. The danger for many is that they see the process, the joining of the path as enough to make the change in their life, and because of that they fail. The path (or journey) does not produce the change, merely places where change can occur. (Foster p. 131)

This is where the Spiritual Disciplines come in. It is about changing how we live so that we use the right practices to help us be formed in the image of Christ. In his book 'Practising the Way' that has been written to go alongside the course of the same name, John Mark Comer writes about the importance of the practises. He points out that at the beginning and end of the Sermon on the mount Jesus uses the word practise:

He comments that this is not how people see following Jesus and being formed by to be like Jesus. They do not see things as practices. (Practising the Way p.105). If they did see things as practices then they may view things differently. Too many people want the easy way and forget that it is not just about trying but of training. To change the habits (often of a lifetime) we need to retrain ourselves so that we can begin to learn how to put the practices into action. Comer uses the illustration of the person attempting to run a marathon. They world not just stick a pair of new trainers on and expect to run 26.2 miles. To complete the marathon they would need to train. Over weeks they would build up their training so that by the time the marathon comes around they are ready to complete it. (Comer p. 106)

This is how e need to view the Spiritual Disciplines. They are practices that we can begin to include in our lives to help us come closer to God, and to become more like Christ. We can learn how different disciplines work, and how to build these into our lives. Over time these will build so that they become the norm, they become the new habit that helps us dwell with God.

The book and course 'Practising the Way' are a great way to help us learn what the Spiritual Disciplines are and how we can begin to build what is often termed a 'rule of life'. What does this mean:

"A Rule of Life is a schedule and set of practices and relational rhythms that create space for us to be with Jesus, become like him, and do as he did, as we live in alignment with our deepest desires. It's a way of intentionally organising our lives around what matters most to God."

Rich Villodas said it well:

This rule doesn't mean a list of rules. It's more of a set of practices, relationships, and commitments that are inspired by the Spirit for the sake of our wholeness in Christ." (Comer p. 161)

Comer goes onto say that a rule of life bridges the gap and helps turn them into habits, in one sense rewriting our nervous systems. "Without a rule, these ideas will likely devolve into sentimental cliche." (Comer. p. 169)