Essay Example on Discovering Spiritual Disciplines: My Journey Towards Closeness with God

Foster’s book discusses various spiritual disciplines that can help a person get closer to God. He divides them into three categories; corporate, inward, and outward. Reading this book made me realize that I need to make changes to improve my spiritual life. In this paper, I will describe I will talk about my experience practicing prayer, fasting, meditation, confession, study, worship, service, and simplicity.

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According to Foster (2012), prayer is the most vital discipline, as it is a way of conversing with God. It involves listening and talking. I experienced challenges remembering to pray and concentrating. My thoughts would wander off to other things, which made me feel guilty, and like I should stop praying altogether. However, I realized that prayer does not have to be too long and formal. I started writing down things that I needed to talk to God about, looking up to heaven and having a conversation with Him.

The discipline of fasting goes hand in hand with prayer. Foster described it as a way of denying yourself worldly pleasures like food to focus on praying and having a closer relationship with God. After reading the book, I decided to practice regular fasting for two days and partial fasting for the rest of the week. I am not used to going for long without eating, particularly snacks, and the first day was stressful for me. However, I drunk a lot of water to stay hydrated and focused on prayer. I asked God to give me the strength to fast and to speak to my heart. Throughout the week, I spent all my mealtime hours praying, meditating, and listening to God’s voice through His scripture.

Meditation allows one to hear the voice of the Lord. Foster describes it as alienating oneself from distractions and silencing internal and external noises for contemplation. I practiced this discipline every morning after waking up. During the first day, I tried doing it in my room, but I could not concentrate because there were many distractions, and my mind would wander off within a few minutes. I got a yoga mat and started meditating in our backyard with soothing instrumental music recommended for the act. By the end of the week, I would spend one hour meditating every morning.

According to Foster, the discipline of study is the best way of transforming a person. It helps one to discover new life-giving habits to replace old destructive ones. Studying involves paying close attention to reality by reading books, observing situations, and people. I dedicated one week to study the Bible and finished the book of Proverbs within three days. However, I did not grasp the intended meaning, so I joined a Bible study group to discuss the meanings behind scriptures. This approach improved my study habits and inspired me to read about other religions other than Christianity.

Foster says that confession is the only way to achieve forgiveness for our sins. God wants his people to admit that they have sinned and repent so that He can forgive them. This discipline involves confessing one’s needs openly to hear the about unconditional love of God. I followed his example of writing down the sins I had committed in the past and reading them out loud to the people I had offended and asking for forgiveness. The process involves tracking down old classmates and friends through the internet, admitting my mistakes, and repenting. Though it was difficult, it freed me from shame, guilt and gave me a sense of peace that allowed me to live more happily.

Worship is another crucial spiritual discipline. Foster (2012) describes it as a way to experience the reality of Christ through thanksgiving, adoration, and praise. He reminds believers to glorify God, worship Him in truth and spirit, and maintain fellowship with him through songs and prayer. I enjoyed practicing this discipline since I like singing. I would sing worship songs about how great God and glorify Him before in the first phase of my prayers. Following this practice, I stopped idolizing material things such as money and focused on worshipping God alone, which made me more happy and contented.

The discipline of service comes after worship. Foster (2012) admonishes believers to follow Jesus’ example about serving. It requires humility and a genuine desire to help others. With this inspiration, I signed up to volunteer twice a week in a pediatric cancer ward in a local hospital. Seeing young people suffering from all kinds of cancer was overwhelming. There was one particular child who had lost one eye but still was the most playful and jovial a patient there. The experience taught me to appreciate life and be grateful for my health.

Conclusion

The final spiritual discipline that I practiced was simplicity. For Christians, the pursuit of material wealth can be lethal. Foster (2012) describes simplicity as living within one’s means without the pressure to engage in idolatrous attachment with worldly things. After reading this book, I realized that I had a lot of unnecessary clutter in my life. I decided to avoid obsessing over my looks, skin, weight, clothes, and shoes and focused on things that made me feel authentic. This discipline was a revelation for me to stop paying too much attention to worldly possession to be happier and content.

Foster’s book has been an inspiration and blessing in life. It taught me about useful spiritual disciplines and helped me realize the things that I need to do to improve my relationship with God. For the experiences described above, I can practice all the disciplines if I commit to the process. I only need to be consistent and make them a habit.

Reference

Foster, R. (2012). Celebration of discipline. Hachette UK.