This book also reminds me that we worship in spirit and truth, pushing me to be more in tune with the Spirit. Our prayer is that when we get to the other side of these 12 weeks we will look just a little bit more like Jesus. I've come to prefer the term “means of grace” to refer to these kinds of practices, which keeps the focus on God’s part, rather than Spiritual Disciplines, which puts the focus on my part. In “The Cost of Discipleship” Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes it clear that grace is free, but it is not cheap.

But then I grew Reformed, and it helped me that I ended up pinpointing what so discomfitted me when first reading it: its emphasys on mystical disciplines deviate from Scriptures and end up deemphasysing grace in favour of a focus on works.I fall out of the habit more often than not, but my hope is that this will grow into more of a conversation and a sense of journeying with him in my day – expectant for him to point things out as we go. What's the use of being God if every run-down schmuck with a two dollar prayer book can come along and fuck up your plan? As a reader I came across some useful fuzzy idea or concepts, but they were often associated with practices I would never employ.

Since Jesus lives in the eternal now, this work was not just for those around him, but he took in all the violence, all the fear, all the sin of all the past, all the present, and all the future. It’s about making time and space to be aware of Jesus and to bring him our heart, exactly as it is, and asking him to touch it. By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. The corporate disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration bring us nearer to one another and to God.It is wonderful when a particular meditation leads to ecstasy, but it is far more common to be given guidance in dealing with ordinary human problems” (p22). We can detect a note of sadness in the word of the Lord, 'they have rejected me from being king over them' (1 Sam.

I still stand by doing a lot of things suggested in this book, for these kinds of things have moved me in the right direction. If you’re reading the book alongside us then have a read and choose whichever route you want to practise.Perhaps this emphasis stems from Foster's own walking of the Quaker path where experience is prized over head-trips. Even a quick perusal of the lists should indicate that there are overlapping terms for maturing in discipleship. Three keys to simplicity are: 1) treat all as a gift from God, 2) ask all to be cared for by God, and 3) make all available to others (p.