1. Foster says spiritual disciplines are not designed to be ends in themselves., but are intended to facilitate a person's journey into greater freedom in living a Christ-like life. How did your practice of the disciplines this semester (either some in particular or all together) help you grow in your faith and obedience to God?
Solitude definitely helped me grow a lot spiritually. Becoming detached from the world and focusing on God is very important in my life. Being able to separate time out for just you and God is a tough thing to do. Making time to be with the all powerful and holy God is also a scary thing but doing it is very important.
Submission probably brought me closest to God. Having faith to trust God with such a mundane thing was very difficult. However I realized how it was necessary and how much it gave me freedom from sin. Being obedient is all about submission because truly we cannot control anything. It is really all in God's hands. When we take away ourselves and give it all to God, then, he is truly glorified.
2. What were some of the distractions or hindrances that kept you from practicing or practicing to the fullest, the assigned disciplines this semester? What does this show you about yourself? How do you plan to address this area (or these areas) of struggle?
Praying was difficult for me because I wouldn't really think about it a whole lot. I had time to pray but I just couldn't seem to remember to do it. I think about God and talk to him a lot but I don't really fold my hands and pray a whole ton. I found it easy to pray in my car when I'm alone the most. But I still got distracted by having such a busy life. Whenever something good or bad happened I could remember to thank God or talk to God but setting a time just for prayer was very difficult. This shows that I am a pretty busy person. I need to take more time out of my day and just pray to God and read my Bible. Focusing on God just sometimes or when I feel like it, is not a good relationship. I should be reliant on him all the time and give him time everyday.
My mind is probably my biggest hindrance. When I'm at work I think about my problems a lot more and that doesn't help them go away. I'm constantly analyzing things and thinking about how to make things better. Sometimes relaxing is almost uncontrollable. Through these disciplines I have realized that I am prone to anxiety and being overly analytic. I really need to trust God more and give up my cares to him. Solitude and prayer can definitely help with this. Along with Simplicity.
3. Identify three disciplines you think mesh together well and explain how you see them interrelating. How do you plan to practice them together?
Simplicity, submission and prayer definitely go hand in hand. Time with God leads to prayer. Simplicity brings a focus to your life and submission makes that focus under God. You can only have a good focus if you submit to God's will. Prayer is acting out simplicity and prayer also creates simplicity. All three of these work together to bring you closer to God. I plan to practice them by doing them all at once. When I pray, I will pray for guidance and focus. I have to submit to God in order to be guided correctly. Submitting to God may also require me to detract from the worldly wants and desires.
4. Identify one discipline you would urge a new believer to practice. How would you instruct them in the discipline? Why do you think this discipline is especially well-suited to the formation of a new believer?
New believers should definitely practice study. Study is one of the most important things a Christian can do. I would do this by first picking up my bible and reading part of it. Could be a chapter or a few verses but it shouldn't be random either. You may have to research the different purposes behind different books of the bible to understand where to start but it is important. Then I would study that section over and over. Repeat this a lot so you may understand it better. If you are still not satisfied pick up a commentary and read what a good theologian thinks about it. Study is important because that's how we learn some of the most important characteristics of God. Learning God's characteristics means we can understand his will for our lives all the more. A believer cannot grow without knowing who God is.
5. Spiritual disciplines fortify believers against some of the universal struggles and weaknesses all Christians battle against. Identify and describe an area of weakness you observe in Kuyper College student population. What spiritual discipline, if corporately practiced, would target this area of weakness and why?
The biggest weakness that I see at Kuyper would be the lack of desire for outreach. We are a community of believers and are constantly teaching ourselves. However we are called to make disciples and if there is not a desire to do this, then there is a huge problem. The only discipline I can relate this to besides service is to study. We need to know God's will more. Jesus had twelve disciples. These disciples went out two by two and spread the gospel. Studying God's word can give us the desire to do this. If we really wanted to know God and do his will because we love them. Then we would see it in his word and be convicted and then share the gospel. We study the bible a lot at Kuyper. It is a good thing but it can also be a bad thing. Too much of it means we ignore some of it. In order to realize what we need to do, we need to reflect on the word. This means to understand it and apply it. True understanding is applying it to our lives. Also we need to know humility so we can be taught what to do. Many of us can be too prideful to realize our faults and what things we need to do better. We can be too prideful to listen to Jesus.
6. What advice would you give to the next class of spiritual formation students at Kuyper College who will be practicing the disciplines?
I would suggest that they take these disciplines seriously. Learning how to further your walk with God is the most important aspect of our lives. No one is responsible for your growth and change but yourself and God. Learning from others is nice and helps but actually making your faith your own is the Christian life. Doing these disciplines will help you! Also read the Foster book a lot. He is a really smart guy and will teach you a lot. I think the quizzes should have been on Foster instead of Sittser but that is just me. Understand these disciplines well and apply them better. Figure out how to apply your theology you have learned to these disciplines and you will be very happy in the rest of your life.
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