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STUDY
- All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness (2 Tim.3:16)
- Of all the disciplines, none may be more important than the study of God’s Word.
- Only through the instruction of the Bible can we understand the ways and the will of God. The theology and practice of every spiritual discipline are rooted in Scripture.
- Without the study of God’s Word, we cannot hope to grow spiritually.
Jesus knew Scripture better than anyone. As a boy, he amazed the teachers in the Jerusalem temple with his understanding (Luke 2:46-47).
“After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
He quoted Scripture from memory when tempted in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). And he regularly quoted it in his teaching (e.g., Matt.5:21; Mark 10:5-9). He even began his ministry with a public reading from the book of Isaiah (Isa.61:1-2) (Luke 4:16-21). Jesus embodies the Word (John 1:14).
Today the discipline of study may have many forms:
We can read the Bible in a physical book, on a digital device or by listening to an audio Bible. Studying the Word of God brings you blessings (Rev.1:3)
We can also meditate. But we must make a crucial distinction here because meditation can be misunderstood. Eastern meditation focuses on emptying the mind; Christian meditation focuses on filling the mind with God’s Word. For example, (Ps.119:97) says, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all day.”
PRAYER
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
- Prayer is our-talk to God. When we pray, God listens.
- Jesus taught many things about prayer. He warned against the prayers of hypocrites who make a show of their prayer, and taught us to pray humbly (Matt 6:5-6).
- We should persevere in prayer until the Lord answers (Luke 18:1-8), but we must have faith for our prayers to be effective (Matt 21:22).
- Jesus also modelled prayer for us in his actions. He frequently sought to get away from the crowds to pray in solitude and silence (Matt 14:23; Luke 5:16, 6:12, Mark 1:35).
- Today, like Jesus, we should withdraw regularly for time alone with God in prayer. And whenever we gather with fellow believers, we should pray for one another.
- FASTING
Their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. (Phil.3:19).
- Fasting is abstaining from eating food for spiritual reasons. It is a focused time of spiritual dependence on God to sustain you, almost always accompanied by prayer.
- But in our self-indulgent culture lacking in self-control, fasting may be the most neglected discipline today.
- Jesus fasted (Matt 4:2-4), and he expected that his followers would fast (Matt 6:16-18).
- When asked why his disciples were not fasting, Jesus said that they would not fast as long as he was with them, but “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” (Luke 5:35).
Those days are today as we await Christ’s return.
Since there is no direct command of exactly how to fast in Scripture, we are free to fast as the Holy Spirit leads us. However, the normal practice in the Bible is abstaining from all food.
How long should we fast? Some people fasted for one day – After Israelites punishing Benzamites (Judges 20:26), one night (Daniel 6:18-24), three days – Saul’s conversion (Acts 9:9), Seven days – David fasted for Abigail’s first child (2 Sam 12:16-23), fourteen days – During shipwreck on the voyage to Rome (Acts 27:33-34), and forty days – Moses while receiving Stone Tablets on Mt. Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:9). So, the length can vary.
- Fasting gives greater power and emphasis to our prayers and confessions as we depend on God.
- Fasting is feasting on God, hungering for him alone.