Gaining Discipline

I must confess. I am not a very disciplined person. That's not to say I have no discipline at all, but I lack the amount I need. I know what you're thinking. Well, his parents should have spanked him more growing up. Well, that's not exactly the kind of discipline I'm talking about.

Sunday night I attended my parents' small group at the church building. It was good to finally get to be a part of a small group other than a "youth" small group. We talked about (I don't remember what the book's title was that we studied) prayer and how easy it is to get in a rut when it comes to prayer. Sometimes other things get in the way of prayer and sometimes we just get too tired. One of the things that stuck out to me was that Prayer must be a discipline before it becomes a joy. I think about growing up and learning about God and how we are supposed to talk to him and how we are supposed to act. I found it often times to be a burden more times than I saw it as a joy, but my parents stuck with it and made sure I acted appropriately and continued to teach me about prayer and other spiritual things.

When I say that I am not disciplined I am not just talking about prayer, I'm speaking of Studying my Bible, I'm talking about exercising, eating right, and a host of other things. You may be just like me. I have been struggling with this lately because I have really felt the pull to be more disciplined, especially when it comes to my relationship with God. Sunday night a quote from the book that hit me like a ton of bricks was this: "There are two kinds of pain: The pain of discipline and the pain of regret". I thought how many times I started something only to fail to follow through and later regretting the fact that I gave up. Ever done that before?

So why have I not gained the discipline I need? Well, I think about how many times that I actually pray for it. Not very often. I keep trying to do these things with my own strength, my own power, yet I continue to be surprised when I fail. I have been ignorant to the fact that is God that can give me the strength I need, I just need to ask him, but yet not just ask, but sacrifice the things that get in the way of my time with Him. Like it or not, it does require some work on my part, but too often I try to do all the work and not letting God do what he does best.

I know that sometimes we must suffer through some things before it becomes a joy and a privilege to do it. Maybe it's just God pushing all the bad stuff out and bringing the good stuff to the surface. It's the story of redemption. Suffering always comes before joy (Think Jesus here). I think we are made to feel so guilty for not praying as often as we should that we feel too guilty to pray because we think we're not doing it right, or not sincere enough.

So I am beginning a journey of discipline. Sometimes it will feel like a burden to open up my Bible and study it, sometimes it will be a burden to just sit down and thank God for the day. That's okay, because God will take what feels like a burden and make it a joy. It's the pain of discipline (Remember those spankins you got when you were little). But it's a pain that doesn't compare to the pain of regret (Insert regret story here). See what I mean?

Here is where I would like to start:
Prayer
Bible Study
Praying/Studying with Leslie
excercising regurlarly

There are some others but I am starting here. In what ways would you like to be more disciplined. Shoot me a comment :)