Pray the WordSample

A Disciplined Pursuit of God

There have been seasons in my life, even as a pastor, where I have lacked discipline—discipline in seeking God, discipline in his Word, discipline in prayer, discipline in study and meditation, discipline in fasting. And when I have lacked discipline, it has had a disastrous effect, not only on my life and my relationship with God, but also on others around me.

Growth in spiritual disciplines will not happen accidentally. We must be intentional, and our sinful flesh will often resist it. That’s why we need God to help us. We don’t want to be led into “folly,” as this verse puts it, but rather to carry out our lives in a disciplined pursuit of God.

When we think of spiritual disciplines, we shouldn’t think of rigid, obligatory, dutiful discipline. There’s no set amount of time required for prayer and the Word, or for any other discipline. We don’t do it because we have to. We should have a disciplined pursuit of God because we want to.

The book of Proverbs repeatedly encourages us to seek wisdom, to keep to the right path, to trust the Lord, and to avoid evil. All of that requires discipline and intentionality and a desire to please God. We don’t want to wander from him into evil. We don’t want to live foolish lives. We don’t want to die for lack of discipline.

Prayer

God, we pray for discipline in our lives. We pray for a disciplined pursuit of you. We pray that by your Spirit you would strengthen us to disciplined praying, reading, studying, and meditating on your Word. Give us the discipline to gather together with the body of Christ for worship and fellowship. God, help us to be disciplined in our obedience to all these things that you’ve called us to in your Word.

As we do these things, help us not to drift into folly to be led astray into evil. We don’t want to die for lack of discipline. God, we pray that you would help us to be disciplined by your grace, for our good and for your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.