Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life

This is the starting point, where we begin to push into God's presence. We must be willing to be open to God's showing us what we need to confess in our lives. I introduce three kinds of confession—personal, familial, and national.

We begin with personal confession. First John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, God is willing and to forgive them and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Here we'll learn the meaning of confession, it's purpose and importance for connecting with God.

This section is about putting personal confession into practice. There are various ways you can let God speak to you about the areas you need to change in your life. I'll introduce three confession guides to help you: 7 deadly sins, 10 commandments, and the 3 types of sin. Don't miss this section!

As a Christian, are you being led by the Holy Spirit of God or are you trying to be a good person all on your own? Join me for this section on the disciplines to learn how to allow God the Holy Spirit guide, direct, and train you.

When you became a Christian, you received the Holy Spirit to nudge, guide, and train you to do righteous things. How can we know how to hear the Holy Spirit and what things to do to yield to Him? Find out in this section.

How can we be sure that what we thought we heard was really from the Holy Spirit? Was it from the devil, our own thoughts and desires, something the world tells us, or the Holy Spirit of God?

Three exercises for how to get wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

Biblical Meditation is a powerful practice most Christians have never been taught. By learning to meditate on God's Word, you'll experience a transformation process because of the blessings God promises.

Biblical Meditation is different from other types of meditation practiced throughout the world. Learn the difference in this section.

What does is mean to meditate biblically? What does it do to you? Learn 10 keys of Biblical Meditation starting with the first one, Slow Repetition.

Attached are 3 handouts of different verses to help you get started on meditating biblically.

Many people love to dig into the scriptures, myself included. Let this technique be the way you biblically meditate! Try it!

Personalizing a scripture is a very powerful form of biblical meditation. Examine how you feel or emote about a scripture or something God is bringing to view.

Agreeing to the truth of scripture by learning to confess it turns our will upside down. Learn this powerful technique of biblical meditation.

Get creative as you use diagramming and drawing to express the meaning of the scripture passage.

Taking a look at Colossians 3 helps us to understand the power of visualizing biblically to bring heaven here on earth.

Learn to allow the Bible passage to be your prayer guide. Pray word for word what the Bible wants for you or your loved ones.

When you write things down and journal what God is teaching you, it goes deeper into your soul. Find out how.

Use the voice God gave you to practice biblical meditation by singing! Learn the 3 key ways.

Saying or writing the scripture in your own words leads to deeper meaning and connection. Learn how.

God communicates with us through the Scriptures. How can you mine the depths of God's Word so that it radically transforms you? Introducing three simple steps.

How do you observe a passage of Scripture? There are 6 things you need to do. Have fun with this using Psalm 19:7 or one of your own examples.

Next up, interpretation. Learn the 5 key steps to move from observation to interpretation in studying the Bible.

What does God want me to know, feel, or do in response to a passage of Scripture? Let's find out.

Prayer is an area most people don't understand. There should be a dynamic nature for prayer because if done correctly God will talk back. Learn the power of prayer by looking at 20 different ways of praying to live a Christian life of interacting with God. This is a powerful section, don't miss it!

What are the different types of prayer? Let's look at the first 10 ways to interact with God.

Next, let's look at ways 11-20.

There is a secret for learning how to be a great prayer. Learn how to deepen and broaden prayer past your own narrow focus.

Many people already practice the spiritual discipline of service, using it as one way they connect to the Lord. In this section, we will introduce 3 types of service and how to serve God using the way He wired you to do so.

We need to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading about who He wants us to serve and what He wants us to do. Who does God want you to serve today?

Examine the spiritual gifts God gives us to encourage other believers.

There are plenty of ways to serve God in the community, whether organized by a church, non-profit, or one person at a time. Let God direct who and where He wants you to serve.

Introduces two basic ideas for serving and why listening for His prompting is the better way.

Is too much service a bad thing? In many cases, yes. Unbalanced living can cause issues with your faith life when there is an excess of service. Balance is the key.

There are many issues with worship. Many people think it's just about singing, but true godly worship is so much more. What does worship really mean? What does it involve? Let's start by learning how to enter into a time of worship, and then I'll introduce the 3 phases of worship. I'll be asking you to practice first before going on to the remaining worship lectures. When you do, I think they'll make more sense to you. Get ready, this one will teach you many new things.

In this lesson, we'll look at why so much is built around worship, and why the immediate presence of God is so available when we worship with a whole heart.

What does worship signify and what does it do for us and for God? What is the purpose? In this lesson, we'll look at 2 kinds of true biblical worship.

In this section, we'll learn ways to center on the Lord and how to pursue Him. We'll also examine distractions that keep us from focusing on God.

Learn how to enjoy the presence of God as He speaks into your very soul. We'll also look at distractions that keep us from connecting with Him.

When we hear from God, it is very common for Him to reveal something about our life that He wants us to work on. It begins by agreeing with Him and moving forward. We'll also look at distractions that keep us from moving forward with God.

True worship requires a full surrender of all your life to God. When you do this, He tenderly loves you right where you are. We'll also look at distractions that keep us from fully surrendering.

When the word of God comes alive, you'll feel His presence and know what it is you have to do. We'll also look at distractions to hearing from God.

Many people, especially those in the West, struggle with this concept of fellowship. Our individualistic culture can thwart this spiritual discipline that is absolutely crucial to a healthy Christian life of growth. Find out what it means to enter into a community of believers, one of God's essential disciplines for us.

This lesson focuses on the biblical depth of why fellowship is so crucial. Some people won't grow in their faith without a group.

Why are some fellowship groups healthy and why do others fail? Learn how to make a huge impact in your small group.

Now is the time to act! Create a community that cares for each other, that carries one another's burdens and serves the community. This is the way to practice how God will speak to you through a group.

This section covers three disciplines that identify us a believers in Jesus Christ -- baptism, communion, and witnessing. Learn what identification means and why it is important.

What does baptism symbolize and why should we do it? Three truths on baptism you'll want to know.

Identifying with Jesus Christ by remembering what He did for us. We will talk on a broad sense in our need to practice communion.

What is witnessing? What is involved in evangelizing? In this section, we'll learn how to deliver the Good News and the process of conversion.

Learn 4 essentials for conversion. How can you prepare to be a witness of Christ?