When you think about growing in your faith, what actions come to mind that you need to take? What do you have to do? Oftentimes, when we think about growing in our faith, we think about praying more and reading the Bible. But is there more that you can do? The answer is yes! In fact, there are at least 10 other actions you can take that will help you grow in your faith.
In his book “The Celebration of Discipline“, Richard Foster highlights 12 spiritual disciplines that people can implement in their life for spiritual growth. They are meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, guidance, worship, and celebration. By incorporating them into our lives, we are able to run the race and win the prize as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
“Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. 25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. 26 So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Growing in your faith takes time and effort. Think about it, a great athlete doesn’t just become great because he or she thinks they are great. They have to work hard at it. They incorporate a variety of different disciplines into their life so that they can become great. In the same way, believers have to incorporate different spiritual disciplines into their life so that they can grow in their faith. Each discipline is unique and helpful. But, apart of prayer and study, very few are rarely practiced often.
That is why we are encouraging everyone to take the next 53 days to begin to incorporate them into your daily rhythm and make them habits you practice regularly. To help incorporate the spiritual disciplines into your life, we are starting a group where we send 1 discipline and 1 scripture reference each day to encourage you. Each day you can read the scripture reference, apply the discipline and get more and more comfortable doing that discipline. The more comfortable you are at doing it, the more likely
To be part of this group, text the word “Faith” to 703-454-5990. In addition to this, to be part of other Bible Study encouragement groups where you can pick out other Bible Studies to do throughout the year, go to this page.