21 Days of Prayer and FastingSample

Discipline

It happens every year. Resolutions for living a better life declared on December 31st are all but forgotten within a month. Stats show that gym memberships surge 30-50% in January, while attendance plummets 80% in February.

Much of the difference between our life and the life we want can be found in our habits and discipline. Hebrews says that discipline “seems to be painful at the time” and most would likely agree. But when we think about it, it’s not a choice of pain versus no pain, but the choice of hard now versus pain later. Exercise is hard now; feeling rundown and easily winded is pain later. Saying no to a Netflix binge is hard now; being exhausted all day because of poor sleep is pain later. Holding our tongue in humility is hard now; loneliness from broken relationships is pain later.

Discipline is absolutely necessary for any Christ-follower who desires growth. A healthy and thriving relationship with God requires that we say “yes” to things such as prayer, Bible study, and hearing sound teaching, which will mean we say “no” to other things that could occupy that time. However, discipline gives us the power to choose: what we want now or most. When we choose what we want most over what is in front of us, that temporary “pain” changes us and grows our character.

PRAYER:

Father, I desire to give you all my YES. When I stick to disciplines in my life, those yesses are seeds that produce a great reward. I ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of what I desire to see most in my life over what I want in the moment. Temporary things will pass; Your goodness and love remain forever. I want to align my values with yours so that my choices line up accordingly. As your Spirit shows me the areas of my life that require discipline, I want to humble myself to adjust and obey. I submit every area of my life to You, knowing that when I walk in your way, it leads to righteousness and peace.