Author: Jay N. Forrest

If you want to live a spiritual life, and really know God in personal experience, it takes a change of behavior. Habits can help us or they can hinder us. Here are five habits to help us.

1. Prayer

The first habit is prayer. Most Christians don’t pray on a regular basis. It’s important to form a routine of prayer. We should at least have a prayer time every morning and evening.

My personal suggestion is that you use the Book of Common Prayer (1979). In it you’ll find devotions for individuals. This would be a great thing to do everyday. At least do the morning and evening prayers. There’s also an online version of this as well by Forward Movement.

Another thing that I do is I use a prayer rope and do the Jesus prayer. I do 100 Jesus prayers at least once a day. After I do the Jesus prayer, I sit in the presence of God and open my heart to him. This sometimes leads me into contemplation.

2. Worship

Another daily habit would be worship. By this I mean verbal or singing praises and thanksgivings to God. I personally like praise and worship music.

3. Reading

Another daily practice should be some kind of reading. By that, of course, I mean spiritual reading. This should be of the Bible or other spiritual masters.

To read devotionally means to slow down and really soak in what you’re reading. Ponder the words, meditate upon it. Sometimes the most meaningful reading is reading very little, but reading with depth.

To help you in this process, I suggest you buy the book “Let Go” by Francois Fenelon. And read only one chapter a day. But read it slowly, very slowly. Read it if it was written directly to you.

4. Contemplation

Another daily practice should be contemplation. By that I mean you should take moments where you sit quietly in the presence of God. This is usually best after prayer or worship. Just sit and listen to God.

In Eastern spiritual practices this is called meditation. But in Christianity it’s called contemplation. It is about becoming mindfully aware of the presence of God within you, around you.

In order to become aware, quiet the mind through the Jesus prayer or mindfully following your breath. Just sit in the stillness. Open your awareness. God’s presence is like the rays of the sun, it is an invisible warmth and expansion of awaeness.

5. Work

And lastly, you should do some kind of moderate work regularly. For many of us, this is our job. But if you have a mental job, you should add in some walking or exercise. I’m lucky, in my job. I walk several miles everyday.

And if you’re retired, you should find something to do to exercise your body. Whether that means going for a walk, playing golf, or exercising in a gym. Physical activity is important.

Conclusion

Well there you have, five things mystics do everyday. These will help you to grow spiritually, and draw you into oneness with God. Make it your purpose to please God in all you think, say, or do. May God increase and you decrease.

Many people misunderstand asceticism and its relationship with mysticism. Asceticism is self-discipline. It deals with the spiritual practices that we use in order to open ourselves to the presence of God.

Mysticism is the experience of God. It’s the experience of oneness with God. This is both a gift of God and something we prepare ourselves for. But even in the spiritual disciplines we need grace.

It is not mysticism or asceticism, but rather it is both. We need to do the spiritual practices to prepare our heart, to deny ourselves, and to die to self. It is through this death to self that we move into oneness with God.

Both the spiritual disciplines and the experience of God are given by grace. It is God working in us both to do and to will for his good purpose (Phil. 2:13). We would not seek God unless God had first sought us. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).

So mysticism speaks of the experience, while asceticism speaks of the practice. The two are distinct, but should never be separated. They go together, work together, and are the two wings of spiritual growth.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church there’s her tradition called hesychasm. This can be roughly translated as stillness. It is usually related to the practice of the Jesus prayer.

Contemplation is used in the Western tradition of Roman Catholicism and Anglican tradition. Contemplation can be roughly translated as inward gazing or beholding of the Divine.

The Same Experience

Hesychasm and contemplation are two aspects of the same experience. Is the wordless awareness of the Divine presence. It is both a beholding and a stillness. It is mindful awareness of Reality as it is.

A Way of Practice

One way of practice is to use the Jesus prayer to quiet the mind and focus it within. Say in your mind, “Lord Jesus Christ,” as you breathe in. And say in your mind, “Have mercy on me,” as you breathe out.

When the mind is still, drop into the stillness and silence of the moment, just being attentive to the presence of God. This is true contemplation. “Be still, and know” (Ps. 46:10).

My Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this food. Bless it and nourish it to our bodies. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Catholic
Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Eastern Orthodox
O Christ God, bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for holy art Thou, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Anglican
Bless, O Father, Thy gifts to our use and us to Thy service; for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Lutheran
Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.

Lex Orando, Lex Credendi can be translated as “The law of Prayer is the law of belief.”

As I heard one person explain it, “How we pray is what we believe. Episcopal and Anglican belief is grounded in the way that we pray and worship together.

Two Kinds of Faith

There are two kinds of faith. First is trust in a person. The second is belief in a truth claim. A belief, then, is a claim that is accepted as truth, which then becomes a rule of action. As James tells us, “faith without works is also dead” (Jam. 2:26).

But there are many credences or things we agree with, but which don’t impact our actions. There are not really beliefs, though we usually call them that. But it would be more accurate to call it memtal assent.

Prayer Changes Us

Because prayer is deeper, or should be deeper, than mere agreement, it changes us. It get behind the filters, and walls, and even prejudices. Prayer changes us.

And it is grom this inner relationship with God that our true convictions should arose. Meeting God is transformative. “The law of Prayer is the law of belief.”

Right Thinking

A further thought comes to mind. Related to this is another truth. As Peter A. Giersch put it, “We do not think ourselves into right action as much as we act ourselves into right thinking.”

Prayer is an action, a practice that we do. And what we do has an effect on our thinking. And belief is accepting a claim as true. It is the cooperation of thought and will. Thought is the claim, will is the accepting of that claim as true.