“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

— Colossians 2:9-10

When we engage in spiritual practices and disciplines, we start from a place of completion in Christ. Christ has done the work of salvation. Our inner spirit man is complete already in Christ. We can do nothing in our flesh to improve our salvation, and our spirit is whole. Spiritual practices are to be actuated in our lives so we will experience the things that God has already given us in Christ on a more regular basis.

We are not trying to engage in a self-development program where we become something that we are not. Instead, we are training our mind, soul, and body to yield to our spiritual identity. You can not improve on your salvation, but you can experience more of it. Jesus paid for your complete and total salvation, but we must discipline ourselves to believe and receive.

There is no formal list of spiritual practices in scripture, only a gathering of ideas rooted in scripture. Spiritual practices vary from Bible study, silence before the Lord, generosity, service to others, giving to the poor to prayer, meditation, and contemplation. All of those activities and actions do not gain us more righteousness or make us more holy. Instead, they are either an expression of our faith or mind-renewal exercises to more deeply believe what’s already true of us spiritually.

We can be empowered in our minds, soul, and bodies from our completed spiritual state to reflect our perfected inner identity outwardly. Not to retain salvation but to express it. Not to become more holy, but to allow our holy state to influence the rest of our being. As we do so, we bear the fruit of Christ’s spirit within us, and we show the world what it looks like to yield to the transformative power of God.

The world is starving for truth. Our lives can reflect the ultimate truth, God is real, and He loves humankind. In this world, we should want to be the best version of ourselves we can be. I challenge you to aim as high as you can. You’re not striving for righteousness or anything Jesus paid for, and you are just optimizing your faculties to experience all that is yours in him fully.

Discipline yourself to break off the limitations of your old way of thinking, otherwise known as the flesh. You no longer live according to your own strength, or your flesh, you walk influenced by the power of God’s Spirit.

Living by the spirit optimizes your potential. Your potential is not derived from your flesh or your human nature, it’s derived from a divine nature, Christ in you the hope of glory. The hope of life according to the way God sees it. Therefore, endeavor to believe, do whatever you can to discipline yourself to believe. When you believe, all things are possible. Make every effort to repent and believe.

Prayer

Prayer is perhaps the most fundamental spiritual discipline we can practice. Prayer is a conversation with God. It’s when you rent all that is fearful and ungodly from your soul. Prayer is when you set your mind of things above and allow your thinking to be shaped in the spiritual realm of God’s Kingdom. Prayer is when you let your requests be known to God. Prayer is when you contend for something Jesus paid for, whether for yourself or another person. Prayer is declaring the promises of God into your life. Jesus gave us insight into the proper inner state of prayer.

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

We have more teaching on prayer from Jesus here.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

This is the ultimate paradox. Believe that you HAVE RECEIVED and it WILL BE yours. The result of your prayer life should leave you believing that you have already received something. What? Everything Jesus paid for. What did Jesus pay for? That’s a good question. I suggest spending time studying atonement and what Jesus accomplished through his self-sacrificial offering. You’ll find that it includes peace, wholeness, deliverance, provision, healing, and several other things.

When you pray, pray according to God’s will as expressed in the life, death, grave experience, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. In that is the will of God for you. In that is what you can legally pray in your life. Prayer is an exercise in mind-renewal to believe that you have ALREADY RECEIVED what you are requesting from God. The prayer becomes more of a declaration of the finished work of Jesus.

When you pray, BELIEVE that it is ALREADY YOURS, and it SHALL come to pass.

I recommend taking some time to write a prayer for yourself. Include your health, finances, ministry, family, and whatever else God would lead you to include. Then, speak from a place of completion, thanking the Father for it already being yours in Christ.

Watch the video above for the full sermon on this topic.

Watch the Spiritual Practices and Disciplines Series on YouTube.

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