Tony Kummer asks, "What's So Great About Seminary?" - and gives some good answers. As I have completed one year of studies, it was an encouragement.
Tim Ashcraft commemorated Calvin's birthday yesterday with a quote on prayer.
Tim Adkins writes about "Our Chief Entangling Sin."
Mike Belcher on "An Unusual Wednesday Night" - a story of God's blessing on perseverance through an inconvenient difficulty.
Jeff Robinson highlights Don Whitney on Church Discipline - an act of love.
A Simple, Helpful Lesson Learned in Don Whitney's Class
by Doug Smith
In the recent course on Biblical Spirituality I took, Dr. Don Whitney showed us how and why we should pray through Scripture. This practice has benefited me greatly, and I have been able to share it with some others. I requested Dr. Whitney's permission to post handouts I have prepared for use in sharing this material, which he has granted.
After Dr. Whitney instructed us on praying through Scripture, he said that if we ever taught this to others we must be sure to do two things:
1) Give people time to pray Scripture themselves.
2) Give time for people to give testimonies about their experience.
This fastens the truth to their minds and hearts better than simply lecturing and moving on to other things. If a person is told how to use a tool, he should then get some practice in utilizing it. People need the experience of praying through Scripture in order to have its advantages driven home to them. As Dr. Whitney put it, many people will be likely to get "hooked" on praying Scripture if you explain how to do it and then let them do it and give testimonies.
Let me explain the handouts. There are three pages I have posted.
I cannot overemphasize the value of praying Scripture. Please contact me at glorygazer@gmail.com if you have any questions about the handouts. For additional information about this practice, I commend to you Dr. Whitney's book Simplify Your Spiritual Life: Spiritual Disciplines for the Overwhelmed (
Handouts for Praying Through Scripture:
Lessons Learned from Biblical Spirituality with Don Whitney
by Doug Smith
Our bodies are not the only component of us that needs exercise. Our spiritual lives can sometimes become too flabby and weak as the result of a lack of discipline in our lives. Recently, I was privileged to get the benefits of several weeks of a spiritual workout, the most intense part being the time I had at a modular course at the Midwest Center for Theological Studies in
The course was book-ended by lectures on 1 Timothy 4:7 and 1 Timothy
The Bible gives us many exercises for godliness and this course covered several of them: the importance of Bible intake, meditation (which focuses on better understanding Scripture so that one may live in obedience to God), prayer, family worship, fasting, silence and solitude, how to approach the Lord's Day, and keeping a journal. These exercises help us to have time with, and grow to be more like, Jesus Christ. We were given the Biblical basis for all the Spiritual Disciplines covered and much practical advice for practicing them.
Our reading assignments also drove home the importance of the Spiritual Disciplines. We were assigned four books: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Roger Steer's George Müller Delighted in God, and Dr. Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.
The entire course was quite helpful. All of these disciplines are important. But three things have left a stronger impression than the others.
1) The importance of keeping a spiritual journal
Journaling is not explicitly commanded by Scripture, but it is demonstrated. The book of Lamentations and many of David's Psalms are forms of journals. Church history, while not our authority, confirms for us the value of journals for preserving a record and growing in godliness. Many of the Christians known for their godliness, such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, kept spiritual journals where they recorded their struggles and progress. David Brainerd's journals have been an encouragement to the missionary cause.
I was impressed with the fact that if I do not record my thoughts and many of my experiences, my children will have no way of knowing about them. I know very little about most of my ancestors because I have no access to any record of their lives or thoughts.
Keeping a journal also helps me chart my spiritual growth. I can look back over what I have written and see how I am progressing in my spiritual life. This motivates me in the other Spiritual Disciplines. It gives me a place to record insights from Scripture and to reflect on what God is doing in my life and what I am learning from Him.
My journal gives me a place to pour out my heart. Writing helps me by providing an outlet for expressing things that I might not be able to express to just anyone.
Dr. Whitney made sure that we understood that keeping a journal did not require daily entries, although we should write with regularity if we want to keep it as a practice. He also emphasized that the right way to do a personal journal is whatever is best for that person. For some it may be typing, but others may do better handwriting it. Even a weblog could have potential for serving as a journal (just to clarify: I make far more entries to my personal journal than to my blog, so they are not the same thing for me). There is no set amount of words one needs to write each time; short entries and long entries may both be appropriate.
2) The delight of silence and solitude
One of our assignments was to spend at least four hours in silence and solitude before the Lord. In other words, we needed to get away from other people and distractions so we could focus on the Lord. We were to spend time praising Him in song, reading His Word, praying through Scripture, meditating on Scripture, journaling, and reading a devotional book of our choice (I chose Joseph Carroll's How to Worship Jesus Christ). We were to do no sermon preparation or studies for class.
This was a time of great refreshment. I wish I could have spent more time this way, and hope to be able to take extended time for silence and solitude at least every several weeks. Much of my time dealt with how worthy our God is of praise. I prayed through Psalm 29 and meditated on Revelation 4:11: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." I spent some time in Revelation 4 and 5 (especially verses 9-14), mainly because of the devotional book dealing with those chapters. I ended my time listening to "Worthy Is the Lamb" and "Amen" from Handel's Messiah and thought about how the glory of that music is nothing to compare with the praises we will give and hear in Heaven for our Lord Jesus Christ. This was a little taste of heaven on earth for me.
3) The blessing of praying through Scripture
Prayer has been an area in which I have struggled much. I have often been frustrated with wandering thoughts. My mind has drifted onto things other than what I was supposed to be focused upon. Sometimes I have felt like I was in "autopilot" mode, praying but not engaged in thinking about what I was saying to God. Praying through Scripture has helped combat these tendencies.
I had heard about praying through Scripture, but had not made it a practice. I came away from the lecture on this topic with a different approach to prayer and a renewed desire to pray. Dr. Whitney shared – very simply – how to pray through passages of Scripture (particularly Psalms) line by line, turning the words of the Bible into praise for God and requests for ourselves and others. This helped me deal with much of the drudgery, coldness, formality, and frustrating repetition and wandering of mind I have suffered from in prayer. It should be no big surprise, but my immediate reflection was that this is like having a real conversation with a real Person (and God is real). I was struck by the realization that we don't have to think of everything to say when we pray. Praying Scripture lets God initiate and carry the conversation – He sets the agenda. He speaks in the Word, we respond in prayer, then He speaks and we respond, and so on. I still have much growth to do, but praying through Scripture has been of more help to me spiritually than anything else I am conscious of.
A spiritual workout was very helpful to me, but I realize that getting in shape does not keep one in shape. There must be continual exercise. Even so, I must continue to practice Spiritual Disciplines. I have to contend with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Each is a formidable enemy to my soul. It is a battle. A soldier must be trained and conditioned to face the conflict, and this course was a great help in reminding me of those things I need to be doing regularly to stay in shape spiritually, so that I may be strong in the Lord and grow to be more like Christ.
If you are interested in more information about these things, I strongly recommend to you Don Whitney's books Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (chapters covering 10 spiritual disciplines in detail) and Simplify Your Spiritual Life: Spiritual Disciplines for the Overwhelmed (bite size chapters covering various aspects of the Spiritual Disciplines). Also, be sure to visit the Center for Biblical Spirituality at www.BiblicalSpirituality.org.
UPDATE (12/20/07): Here are links to some audio very close to what I was privileged to hear -
From Omaha Bible Church:
FAMILY WORSHIP TIME
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (Genesis 18:19)
A pastor and friend of mine recently suggested that I read Donald S. Whitney's book, Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life (Colorado Springs, Colorado: NavPress, 1991). God is using this work to challenge and enrich my devotional life, particularly in regard to Bible intake and prayer.
Whitney, who teaches Biblical Spirituality at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky ( www.sbts.edu) has also written a very helpful 32-page booklet (including study/discussion guide) entitled Family Worship: in the Bible, in History, & in Your Home. As the title suggests, the author presents the Scriptures relevant to family worship and shows us its importance in church history. Then he tells us how we can implement family worship in our own homes, answering objections (such as single parent homes, variety of ages of children, homes where dad is not a believer, etc.), and pressing upon us the urgency of the delightful duty of family worship.
So, what is family worship? According to Whitney, all you need to do is 3 things: read, pray, and sing. You could read a chapter of the Bible, spend time in prayer, and praise God with song. The time need not be long, but it should be regular. It need not be burdensome, and can often be incorporated into a family meal time. If time permits, you could also use a catechism (question & answers to help children learn the teaching of the Bible), memorize Scripture, and read other good Christian books. Family worship is a great way to emphasize the priority of God in your home.
Now, if you think my little blog entry here is "preachy," let me be very open with you and admit my own struggles for consistency in this area. I have two small children and a somewhat busy life with the different responsibilities I juggle. But that does not excuse me. I am accountable to God for the training of my children and for the spiritual aroma of my home. I am beginning to implement these principles of family worship, and, with the help of God, desire to establish this as a distinctive part of my family life for all my days.
I know I am not alone in this struggle. I recall hearing of a visiting preacher who asked a church how many had family worship regularly at their home. No one said they did. Is this not a sad commentary? Should this not be a joyful, daily part of the lives of the people of God? I strongly urge you to consider yourself in this matter. Do you have family worship? If not, why not? Will you start now? Whitney's book should be a help to you as you begin or reexamine your family worship.
You may order the book from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service at www.cvbbs.com & The Center for Biblical Spirituality at www.biblicalspirituality.org/fworder1.html or email info@BiblicalSpirituality.org . (If you are a pastor, you may be interested to know that the Center for Biblical Spirituality offers discounts for multiple copies.) Another helpful article by the same author is "Simplifying Family Worship," available at www.biblicalspirituality.org/fworship.html.
For the glory of God and the sake of your family, take Whitney's advice: begin family worship today.
