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Detaching from Spiritual Disciplines


              I feel I spend half my life encouraging others to develop spiritual disciplines.  I have quite a few that are firmly established.  I never realized that my own spiritual disciplines could become detached from God until I followed the Holy Spirit’s leading recently.  It was very revealing and so good for my soul.
              I was led to develop a class around spiritual disciplines that have had a great impact on the women and men who have gone through the class.  In the class, they are introduced to the Christian Classics, have an overview of the entire Bible and are asked to try out a spiritual discipline for a week.  After the class is completed they write a rule of life, choosing the spiritual disciplines that help them remain most connected to God.  It’s not the class itself that has the impact.  It is the time, place, persons that God calls to meet together to become a community of spiritual of transformation through the Holy Spirit.  I have taught this class one-on-one, in a two-hour weekly teaching setting, and in a small group using the same curriculum about seven times.  This season I am using the material one-on-one again in a discipling relationship.  So, when we arrived at the spiritual discipline of detachment and one of the suggestions was to detach from your spiritual disciplines, I was familiar with the instruction.  However, I never thought that idea was for me.  I love my spiritual disciplines.  In fact, it is the first thing I do each morning after grabbing a cup of coffee, of course.  I am so committed to my spiritual disciplines that I painstakingly photocopy the 5 different books I read each morning in addition to the journal where I write my daily examen, Bible word or phrase, and prayer focus.  In addition to all of that I have added Centering Prayer for 20 minutes.  When I am on a mission trip or even a family vacation, I do not miss the practice of my spiritual disciplines.  It is just that important to me.
              That was clearly the reason that the Holy Spirit nudged me to give detaching from my spiritual disciplines a try.  What a sweet journey.  I can’t say I didn’t miss my devotional books.  I like to be inspired by Christian classic instruction that has lasted through the centuries.  I did not miss a deep awareness of God’s love and presence with me that I learned to experience by reading His word daily.  The word literally became flesh for me as I drove east and observed the most unique sunrise that seemed to be meant especially for me.  I was driving just at the time that the sun was a red-orange giant ball, and it remained that way for a long time.  As it diminished to a smaller size, it remained that brilliant color and never hurt my eyes.  I felt that I was pleasing Him by not having my daily devotion time and thought of Him more throughout the day.  My four-day detaching was spiritually fruitful and made day five when I went back to my normal practices more meaningful.
              It’s important to develop holy habits.  Most people I talk to have not developed a deep attachment to focusing on God daily through prayer and the word.  I don’t know a better place to start if you really want to hear from God.  You need to learn His language.  I needed to be careful that my holy habits weren’t leading me to a delusion that I was meeting with God when perhaps I was boxing God into my own experience of Him.
              What a beautiful reminder of Isaiah 55:9:  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Who would have guessed that leaving my holy habits behind would produce a more holy experience?  I’m so amazed by our wonderful God who longs to commune with us.  How patient, kind, and personal he is!

Copyright © 2017.  Deborah R Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.
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