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BOOKS ON SPIRITUAL HABITS

When we rush through life, everything else becomes a blur, including God. With everything vying for our attention and affection, it’s very easy to tune out and miss His voice amongst all the noise. Spiritual formation doesn’t happen in a hurry. It requires us to intentionally slow down and pay attention while displaying a posture of humility, openness, and vulnerability.

We need to practice being in His presence by engaging in disciplines that position us to connect with our Creator. The books below offer insight and inspiration on ways to develop spiritual habits that further one’s walk with God and pursuit of His heart and character.

 

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster

Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found. Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration bring us nearer to one another and to God.

Another book by Richard Foster highlighting spiritual disciplines is Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Formation.

 

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer

“Who am I becoming?” That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.”

It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.

 

The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard

Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers and author of The Divine Conspiracy(Christianity Today's 1999 Book of the Year), presents a way of living that enables ordinary men and women to enjoy the fruit of the Christian life. He reveals how the key to self-transformation resides in the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and how their practice affirms human life to the fullest. The Spirit of the Disciplines is for everyone who strives to be a disciple of Jesus in thought and action as well as intention.

Another book by Dallas Willard focusing on spiritual habits is Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ.

 

Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose by Rebekah Lyons

Daily struggles with anxiety and stress make it difficult to receive God's peace. Rhythms of Renewal will help you trade your anxiety for the vibrant life you were meant to live through four profound rhythms: rest, restore, connect, and create. With encouraging stories and practical steps, Rebekah Lyons will help you begin an intentional, lifelong journey toward sustained emotional, relational, and spiritual health.

As a society, we are in the throes of a collective panic attack. Anxiety and loneliness are on the rise, with 77% of our population experiencing physical symptoms of stress on a regular basis. We feel pressure chasing careers, security, and keeping up. We worry about health, politics, and many other complexities we can't control. Eventually we find our minds spinning, trying to cope or manage a low hum of anxiety, unlike ever before. But it doesn't have to stay this way.

By taking time to rest, restore, connect, and create, you will discover how to: (1) Take charge of your emotional health and inspire your loved ones to do the same. (2) Overcome anxiety by establishing daily habits that keep you mentally and physically strong. (3) Find joy through restored relationships in your family and community (4) Walk in confidence with the unique gifts you have to offer the world.

 

The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg

The Life You've Always Wanted offers modern perspectives on the ancient path of the spiritual disciplines. But it is more than just a book about things to do to be a good Christian. It's a road map toward true transformation that starts not with the individual but with the person at the journey's end--Jesus Christ.

As with a marathon runner, the secret to finishing a race lies not in trying harder, but in training consistently--training with the spiritual disciplines. The disciplines are neither taskmasters nor ends in themselves. Rather they are exercises that build strength and endurance for the road of growth. The fruit of the Spirit--joy, peace, kindness, etc.--are the signposts along the way.

Paved with humor and sparkling anecdotes, The Life You've Always Wanted is an encouraging and challenging approach to a Christian life that's worth living--a life on the edge that fills an ordinary world with new meaning, hope, change, and joy.

Another book by John Ortberg focusing on spiritual habits is Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You.

 

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren

In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God's presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us.

Each chapter looks at something―making the bed, brushing her teeth, losing her keys―that the author does every day. Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Tish Harrison Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday. Each activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship. Come and discover the holiness of your every day.

 

Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God by Gary Thomas

It's time to strip away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and discover a path of worship that frees you to be you. Experienced spiritual directors, pastors, and church leaders recognize that all of us engage with God differently, and it's about time we do too.

Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise.

Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here. Sacred Pathways will show you the route you were made to travel, marked by growth and filled with the riches of a close walk with God.

 
 

Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton

Do you long for a deep, fundamental change in your life with God? Do you desire a greater intimacy with God? Do you wonder how you might truly live your life as God created you to live it? Spiritual disciplines are activities that open us to God's transforming love and the changes that only God can bring about in our lives. Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a "rule of life" that allows for regular space for the practice of the spiritual disciplines, this book takes you more deeply into understanding seven key disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life. Each chapter includes exercises to help you begin the practices--individually and in a group context. The final chapter puts it all together in a way that will help you arrange your life for spiritual transformation. The choice to establish your own sacred rhythm is the most important choice you can make with your life.

 

The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Jason Whitmel Earley

Habits form us more than we form them. The modern world is a machine of a thousand invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy, and depressed people. We yearn for the freedom and peace of the gospel, but remain addicted to our technology, shackled by our screens, and exhausted by our routines. But because our habits are the water we swim in, they are almost invisible to us. What can we do about it? The answer to our contemporary chaos is to practice a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs.

The Common Rule offers four daily and four weekly habits, designed to help us create new routines and transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor. Justin Earley provides concrete, doable practices, such as a daily hour of phoneless presence or a weekly conversation with a friend. These habits are “common” not only because they are ordinary, but also because they can be practiced in community. They have been lived out by people across all walks of life―businesspeople, professionals, parents, students, retirees―who have discovered new hope and purpose. As you embark on these life-giving practices, you will find the freedom and rest for your soul that comes from aligning belief in Jesus with the practices of Jesus.

 

Life Hacking Spiritual Disciplines: How to Find God in a Noisy World by Joe Fontenot

What does it take to establish a regular prayer time? Often, a crisis will do it. But what about the rest of the time–the time when life is good? This is when our prayer habits tend to wane.

In Life Hacking Spiritual Disciplines Joe pulls from over 20 psychologists, neurologists, and behavioralists to describe exactly what it takes to create the habits and structure necessary to have a regular and dependable time with God.

YOU WILL LEARN:
• How to create a successful habit—and how to build it into your already busy schedule.
• Why relying on willpower alone isn’t enough to make and keep good changes.
• How to leverage small changes to your diet and physical routine for big impact on energy and motivation.
• How to stop and focus, even with a thousand things on your mind.

A daily and vibrant prayer life is more than possible–it’s within reach. But it starts with first understanding how God’s wired us. From there, it’s a matter of following the right path. That’s what this book is about.