As part of the course, we looked at Spiritual Disciplines; - what they are, what implication they have for us, and how they can be practised. As a way into this, we used Richard Fosters book:- Celebration of Discipline. He suggests that the disciplines come in three forms - inward, outward, and corporate, and within each form he looks at four disciplines.
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When practised, these disciplines are ways in which we can draw closer to God, and He to us, either as individuals or as a group of people. They are ways in which we can move deeper into the spiritual life. However, as Richard Foster says (p6) 'by themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done'. In placing ourselves before God, through these disciplines, we bring ourselves into His presence so that he can continue to change us. They are ways in which we can get to know God, and allow Him to know us, change us, and use us.
Richard Foster says, - 'The purpose of the spiritual disciplines is the total transformation of the person. It aims at replacing old destructive habits of thought with new life-giving habits'. Thus this book is most helpful when you are in the place of wanting and willing to be changed. (Foster, 1989)
For each discipline, Foster gives his understanding of what the discipline is, its importance as emphasised in biblical terms, and practical advise and suggestions of ways of undertaking this discipline.
It is important to note two things here:-
these disciplines are not rules to be obeyed but techniques and ways of simply deepening ones relationship with God.
each is a continual learning process, experiment - and learn how these disciplines work best for you.
