Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Developing Good Spiritual Habits

LUKE 22:39 – And Jesus came out and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.

THEME OF THE DAY. DEVELOPING GOOD SPIRITUAL HABITS. Let’s imagine starting tomorrow morning and for the next seven days, you observed me 24/7. Then the following week, I did the same with you. After those two weeks, we were required to give a written report on what we observed of each other. The report directs us toward two areas, who was the most important person (s) in our lives and how consistent were we in practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer and time in God’s Word. Obviously, we will not do this, but the One who really matters already observes us 24/7, and not for a week, but a lifetime. And He already knows who the most important person in our lives is and that is determined by what He also already knows – our spiritual disciplines or habits.

When it comes to obeying the command of the Apostle Peter, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus” (2 Peter 3:18), such growth does not just happen. We do not wait for the Lord to “zap us into spiritual maturity.” Doesn’t work that way. We are responsible to develop disciplined spiritual habits to grow. We must exercise the necessary self-control and self-denial to grow in the Lord. Without our part, the Holy Spirit will not do His. And if we truly want to know the Lord, if we truly have the desire to reach a condition of spiritual maturity, it will take work. King Solomon tells us this principle in his book of Proverbs – “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Proverbs 13:4).

So, what is necessary to build a lifetime of spiritual habits of prayer and the Word proving Jesus Christ is the most important Person in our lives? Three things . . .

First, we need a great model to follow. In today’s scripture we have it in the Lord Jesus. “As was His custom” refers to Jesus regularly going to the Mount of Olives. This was not for a picnic or scenic hike. What was in the Mount of Olives? The Garden of Gethsemane – the place of prayer for Jesus and not just for that one time. If we hope to develop good spiritual habits, keep our eyes on the Supreme Model – the Lord Jesus.

Next, to build strong spiritual habits we need a set apart place. Yes, I know we are not restricted to meet God in one place, but if we discipline ourselves daily to go to the same place, at roughly the same time, it will develop within us a strong habit of “ meeting God in our place of meeting.” Jesus had such a place – The Garden of Gethsemane. And if we strive for that set apart place, it will quickly become our “Habitual Place of Meeting the Lord.” A disciplined time in a set apart place go a long way in building good spiritual habits that takes us into closer fellowship with the Lord.

Finally, if any strong spiritual habit for spiritual growth is going to occur in our lives, we must do all-out war against our flesh and its always screaming voices for ease and comfort. We simply have to refuse to be mastered by the flesh and its bent toward laziness. And this is a fight for every Christian. The Apostle Paul writes, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Either be controlled by the flesh or control the flesh. Which one marks us will determine if good spiritual habits are forming.

Observation. By the developing and maintaining of good spiritual habits, it would be easy to see who the most important person is in our lives. He would be revealed by the discipline we have developed to seek Him.

PRAYER: “Father, may I know the power of Your Holy Spirit to build within me good spiritual disciplines like prayer.”

QUOTE: “The Christian life doesn’t just happen. Any growth is a cooperative effort with God and our self-discipline.”