The short answer
Spiritual disciplines are intentional habits — prayer, Scripture reading, worship, service, fasting, solitude — that make space for God to work in us and shape us over time. They fall into two broad kinds: practices of engagement, like worship and service, and practices of abstinence, like fasting and solitude. They are not a way of earning God’s favour but a way of cooperating with the grace already given. Paul told Timothy to “train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7) — the language of training points to steady practice, not occasional effort.
The question has become newly practical. Barna research found weekly Bible reading among US adults rising sharply — from 30% to 42% in a single year. That surge is really a surge in one spiritual discipline, the habit of regular Scripture intake. As more people pick up such habits, it is worth asking what disciplines actually are, why they matter, and how to practise them without sliding into either burnout or legalism. This article covers each in turn, treating the practices together rather than one at a time. For the two that anchor the rest, see prayer and fasting.
What counts as a spiritual discipline
A spiritual discipline is any intentional, repeatable practice undertaken to be with God and be changed by him — and the classic practices divide into engagement and abstinence. Engagement disciplines are things we take up: reading Scripture, prayer, worship, study, fellowship, service, generosity. Abstinence disciplines are things we set down for a time: fasting, solitude, silence, simplicity, rest. One helpful summary notes that the disciplines include “abstinence practices like solitude and fasting, complementing engagement practices like worship and service” (GCU).
The two kinds work together. Engagement fills us with what is good; abstinence clears away what crowds God out. Fasting, for instance, “reveals the things that control us,” because when we stop covering our inner life with food and comfort, what is really there rises to the surface. The point of any of them is never the activity for its own sake. A discipline is a means, not an end — a deliberate arrangement of ordinary life so that God has room to do what we cannot do for ourselves.
Why practise them at all
We practise spiritual disciplines because growth in the life of faith, like growth in any deep relationship or skill, comes through regular practice rather than occasional intensity. No one becomes fluent in a language or close to a friend by sporadic bursts of effort; the same is true of life with God. Fasting paired with prayer, for example, “emphasizes humility, dependence on God and a desire for deeper communion with Him,” and such postures are formed by repetition, not by a single dramatic moment (GCU).
The disciplines do several things at once. They draw us closer to God by removing distractions so we can better sense his presence. They build self-control, which helps break old habits and resist sin. They surface what quietly rules us, so it can be surrendered. And they keep the relationship alive in the long stretches between high points of feeling. Jesus himself set the pattern, beginning his ministry with a forty-day fast in the wilderness — a reminder that even the Son of God lived a life of deliberate spiritual practice.
Not legalism: the heart behind the habit
Spiritual disciplines become legalism only when the heart behind them goes wrong — when the practice is done to earn standing with God rather than to be with him. Legalism is the attempt to buy God’s acceptance through performance. The disciplines, rightly understood, are the reverse: they are responses to grace already given, ways of placing ourselves where that grace can keep working. Jesus warned sharply against fasting and praying “to be seen by others” (Matthew 6:16–18) — the problem there was never the fasting but the motive.
This is why the same action can be worship in one person and empty religion in another. The habit is good; the heart is what must be guarded. A useful test is to ask what the practice is for: am I doing this to impress God, others or myself — or to be present to God and shaped by him? Kept in that frame, disciplines protect against legalism rather than producing it, because they continually return us to relationship instead of achievement. For the difference between relationship and mere religion, the wider site explores whether faith is a relationship or a religion.
How to begin without burning out
The way to begin is small and consistent: pick one or two disciplines, keep them modest, and let steadiness do the forming. Most people who abandon spiritual practice do so not because they tried too little but because they tried too much at once — an ambitious plan that collapses within a fortnight. Far better to read a short passage of Scripture and pray for a few minutes each day, every day, than to attempt an hour and quit by the end of the week. Guides for new readers consistently stress building “a consistent habit rather than trying to read large sections quickly.”
Once a daily rhythm of Scripture and prayer is steady, other disciplines can be added gently: a weekly Sabbath rest, an occasional fast tied to a decision or a season of seeking God, regular service or generosity. Let the practices grow out of relationship rather than guilt. And expect dry stretches — they are normal, and faithfulness through them is itself part of the training. The goal is not a crowded spiritual to-do list but a life quietly arranged so that being with God is woven into the ordinary day.
Disciplines as our portion of responsibility
In the light of the Divine Principle, spiritual disciplines are how we take up the human portion of responsibility — the small daily share of the work of growth that God entrusts to us. The Principle teaches that God supplies everything needed for a person to mature, but that growth is not forced upon us; it requires our own cooperation. God does his part completely, and we are asked to do our part faithfully. Disciplines are that part in practice: the deliberate, repeated acts by which we place ourselves within reach of the grace God is always extending.
This frames the whole subject helpfully. Disciplines do not cause growth the way a machine produces a result — God is the one who gives the increase. But neither does growth happen without our participation. Prayer, Scripture, fasting and the rest are the way we answer God’s initiative with our own effort, so that the two meet and bear fruit. Understood this way, spiritual disciplines are neither optional extras for the especially devout nor a ladder we climb to reach God. They are simply how a person takes up their share in a relationship God has already begun. For that share itself, see the human portion of responsibility, and for the practice at the centre of it all, what prayer is and how we pray.
Frequently asked questions
What are spiritual disciplines?
Spiritual disciplines are intentional practices that make space for God to work in us and shape us over time. They include engagement practices such as Scripture reading, prayer, worship and service, and abstinence practices such as fasting, solitude and silence. They are not ways to earn God’s favour but habits of cooperation through which growth happens.
Why should Christians practise spiritual disciplines?
Because growth in the spiritual life, like growth in any relationship or skill, comes through regular, intentional practice rather than occasional bursts. Disciplines create the conditions in which God can mature us: they draw us closer to him, build self-control, reveal what quietly controls us, and keep the relationship alive between dramatic moments. Jesus himself practised them, including a forty-day fast in the wilderness.
Are spiritual disciplines a form of legalism?
No — unless the heart behind them goes wrong. Legalism is trying to earn standing with God through performance. Spiritual disciplines are the opposite: they are responses to grace already given, ways of placing ourselves where God can work. The practice becomes legalism only if it is done to impress God or others rather than to be with him. The habit is good; the motive is what must be guarded.
What spiritual discipline should a beginner start with?
Start with daily Scripture reading and prayer, kept small and consistent — a few minutes each day rather than an ambitious plan you cannot sustain. Once that habit is steady, add others such as a weekly Sabbath rest or an occasional fast. Consistency in one or two disciplines forms a person far more than a long list attempted and abandoned.
How do spiritual disciplines relate to our part in salvation?
In the Divine Principle, God’s grace and the human portion of responsibility work together. God supplies everything needed for our growth, but we must do our part by cooperating daily. Spiritual disciplines are that cooperation in practice — not the cause of growth, but the way we take up our share of it so that God’s grace can bear fruit in us.