Reflection Options  

Journal  (Reflect on one or more of these questions)

• How has using the practice of journaling enhanced or hindered you from developing spiritual disciplines?

• Reflect on a person who think is really good at being spiritually disciplined.  Ask that person what their spiritual discipline practices are and how well they follow them. Journal about any surprises or encouragement you get from their answer.

• Often we think that Jesus’ spiritual discipline was prayer, and it definitely was one of them.  Write down as many other spiritual disciplines you can remember him practicing (feel free to look in the gospels to find out).  It may help to look at the article on the 12 spiritual disciplines in the Media section above.

Quote Interaction (Agree, disagree or otherwise engage with the quote/quotes)

• “Gratitude goes beyond the 'mine' and 'thine' and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”  Henri J.M. Nouwen

• "We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the culture of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail." Oswald Chambers

• "Spirituality is about being ready. All the spiritual disciplines of your life - prayer, study, meditation or ritual, religious vows - are there so you can break through to the eternal. Spirituality is about awakening the eyes, the ears, the heart so you can see what's always happening right in front of you."  Richard Rohr

• “As a rule of thumb: if it is easy for us to engage in a certain discipline, we probably don't need to practice it. The disciplines we need to practice are precisely the ones we are not 'good at' and hence do not enjoy."  Dallas Willard

Reading & Reflection from the book, Shaping The Journey of Emerging Adults: 

• Read “Spiritual Hydration” (pp. 64, 65)  How does the metaphor of hydration connect to spiritual discipline?  What is the link between “spiritual hydration” and dependence?

• Mentor: Read “Strategies for Effective Reflection” (pp. 104-105). Several of these options could be considered spiritual disciplines.  Think through how you might practice them on behalf of this relationship.  Try the last one (fasting something) and talk to the young adult about what you were fasting about and how the Lord met you in it.

• Mentor: Use the section “Ask questions that allow you to assess movement” (pp. 139-140). First answer them for yourself (your own growth).  Share that with the young adult and then explore their answers to the same or similar questions.