One reason more Christians don’t regularly practice more of the traditional spiritual exercises is because they usually try to do them alone. While many of them are personal, they don’t have to be done in private. Some are just difficult enough that they’ll never become habits as long as we attempt to do them alone.
When church leaders encourage exercises like quiet time, Bible reading, prayer, meditation, and scripture memorization, most of us probably envision getting up early in the morning and doing these things alone. While there have been many Christians who have done this and benefited from the practice—just like there are some long-distance runners who love to go out and run 20 miles by themselves—most of us will find such training to be more sustainable if we do it with others. Running club anyone?
What if we organized spiritual training groups where people came together to do spiritual exercises they struggle to do by themselves?
I’ve long been attracted to the discipline of contemplative prayer. I would love to begin every day with 15 to 20 minutes of being absolutely quiet and still, doing nothing but enjoying the presence of God and making myself available to hear God’s voice should he have anything he wishes to say to me. As much as I want to do this, and as much as I’ve benefited from it in the past, I’ve never been able to make it a habit. Contemplative prayer is hard for me. My mind wanders. I get fidgety. I can always find something more productive to do instead of sitting still and wasting time with God.
Why must contemplative prayer be something I have to do by myself?
Several years ago, I experienced the power of communal contemplative prayer when I visited a monastery that engaged in several sessions of contemplative prayer throughout the day. When it came time to pray, the members of the community didn’t scatter and find a quiet place to pray in private. They all gathered in the same room and sat there in silence and prayed for 20 minutes. I was right there doing it with them. For most of us, twenty minutes of silent prayer is just as challenging as doing as doing twenty unbroken pull-ups. What I discovered that day is that what I found almost impossible to do by myself, was quite doable when sitting in an absolutely quiet room with twenty others.
My experience as a pastor tells me that most Christians don’t read or study the bible by themselves. The only exposure they get to the scriptures are when they attend bible studies, small groups, or church services. We can assume the same is true for prayer, meditation, and fasting. These things are too challenging to be done alone. They must be practiced in community if they are to be done at all. Even fasting becomes more doable if we know that ten others are fasting on the same day we are and that we’re going to get together later that day to break the fast and talk about our experiences.
Spiritual fitness is a personal endeavor. We’re responsible for our own progress as Christ-followers. This doesn’t mean it’s best to train alone. Voluntary shared suffering will draw us closer, make us stronger, and get us ready for anything.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons