Spiritual Formation Blog

A couple of weeks ago, I was reminded by a friend of the ultimate purpose of the disciplines: God

If you fast, and all you do is not eat, you are not really fasting. If you spend a day by yourself and bring your iPod and books, you are not practicing solitude, you are listening to music and reading.

Spiritual disciplines are not a formula doing x,y, and z, then everything in life is better. They are tools to draw closer to God and open our lives to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

I believe fully that God is in our actions as we participate in spiritual disciplines, but I know that the actions are not the end in and of themselves. Fasting, prayer, service, confession, solitude… all these things and more lose their value apart from a focus on God.

I need to remind myself of this truth over and over. When my weekly fast day comes, I face a struggle deep within to just keep busy and get through it. That’s not fasting, that’s dieting. Confession to me, is a time where I confess my sins to another person, with God as our mutual witness. I’m declaring actions and thoughts to be wrong and asking for the forgiveness of God in the moment of that discipline. In prayer, we should not just be delivering a laundry list to God (though we certainly should ask for the desires of our hearts and make requests on behalf of others), but our prayer times should be communion with the Creator. In choosing how to help and serve others, we need to invite God into the process. When in solitude, we should be aware we are not truly alone.

I don’t know if any of you get down on yourself for just going through the motions, but I do. That’s what this post is about. A reminder to myself, and anyone else who may share my struggle, that these practices are meaningless if they do not find their root in God.