The Lost Disciplines

We have spent the last four Wednesday nights dealing with spiritual disciplines and how they will feed our hunger for the Lord. I believe that in some ways these disciplines have been forgotten by the church and so we have lost the power of a close relationship with the Lord. The first discipline is meditation. God tells Joshua to meditate on His law day and night and that if he does his ways will prosper. David tells us in Psalms chapter 1 that the blessed man meditates on Gods word. Isaac was meditating in a field when God brought his bride to him. Meditation focuses our mind on the Lord. In a day when there are so many things to distract our minds, meditation gives us our focus back. The second discipline is prayer. Prayer is the means by which we communicate with God. Prayer is broken down into four parts: communion, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving. The third discipline is study. Paul tells Timothy to study so that he can learn how God wants him to live. Study renews our minds and gives us knowledge. Jesus tells us in John chapter 8 that knowledge of truth gives us freedom. The fourth discipline is fasting. Fasting brings our whole body into subjection. Paul said that he beat his body into a place of subjection so that he would not be disqualified from this race of faith. As a whole these disciplines will cause one to be focused on the Lord, to communicate with Him, to know what He expects of us, and to be in obedience to His commands. With this comes the power of God in ones life. I pray that we the church will once again turn our whole selves to the Lord. God bless