A Man's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines: 12 Habits to Strengthen Your Walk with Christ

By Patrick Morley

Spiritual strength—like surgical skill or athletic excellence—requires training and practice.

Have you been wanting to cultivate a deeper walk with God? Let Patrick Morley help you craft a personalized set of spiritual practices. In his updated, expanded book, A Man's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines, you will discover twelve energizing habits that can strengthen your walk with Jesus, including:

• Experiencing God in creation
• Letting the Bible change your life
• Learning the power of prayer
• Grasping God’s greatness through worship
• Gaining strength through Sabbath
• Thriving through fellowship
• Succeeding through wise counsel . . . and more

Morley presents each discipline with a concise overview, relatable stories, and application ideas. This powerful guidebook will help you develop the maturity every man of God was designed to reflect. With an all-new focus on the next generation of men, this book includes updated illustrations and statistics, twelve energizing habits that can strengthen your walk with Christ, and a new expanded section to create your own action plan for the spiritual disciplines.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Release date: May 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9780802473028

Patrick Morley

Patrick Morley (maninthemirror.org) is a business leader, speaker, and the bestselling author of twenty-one books, including The Man in the Mirror, Ten Secrets for the Man in the Mirror, The Seven Seasons of the Man in the Mirror, and Devotions for the Man in the Mirror. He lives with his wife in Orlando, Florida.

Book preview

Praise for A Man’s Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines

Morley’s book demonstrates his passion to help men become devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. He knows that the life of a disciple is characterized by discipline. And yet, he avoids the errors of those who see the disciplines as ends in themselves and thus muddy the pure waters of the gospel.

DONALD S. WHITNEY

Professor of biblical spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Spiritual Disciplines within the Church

Patrick Morley has helped a generation of men reflect on what they should be in God’s sight. Now, A Man’s Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines will help thousands more to manifest the character of God in the twenty-first century.

R. KENT HUGHES

Senior pastor emeritus, College Church, Wheaton; author, Disciplines of a Godly Man

Whether you are new to the spiritual disciplines or a longtime devotee, you will love Morley’s fresh take on how to engage them effectively. And if you struggle with the obligation of spiritual disciplines, you will really love A Man’s Guide to Spiritual Disciplines. This book joins only a couple of others on this topic as a classic guidebook to help you foster a deep and personal relationship with God as a way of life. It’s not just a book about knowing more Scripture or praying better; it’s about living a vibrant life as a man who knows himself and his God a little better every day.

BRETT CLEMMER

President and CEO, Man in the Mirror

© 2007, 2023 by

PATRICK MORLEY

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Edited by Kevin Mungons

Interior design: Ragont Design

Cover design: Erik M. Peterson

Cover image of walking legs copyright © 2022 by Akela/Stocksy (225505).

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8024-3176-9

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8024-7302-8

Originally delivered by fleets of horse-drawn wagons, the affordable paperbacks from D. L. Moody’s publishing house resourced the church and served everyday people. Now, after more than 125 years of publishing and ministry, Moody Publishers’ mission remains the same—even if our delivery systems have changed a bit. For more information on other books (and resources) created from a biblical perspective, go to www.moodypublishers.com or write to:

Moody Publishers

820 N. LaSalle Boulevard

Chicago, IL 60610

To Jim Seibert,

My friend and coworker for two decades. Your servant heart and passion for Christ inspire me to be a better man. Thanks for making me laugh.

CONTENTS 

Read This First

1. An Overview of the Spiritual Disciplines

Part 1: Discipline Related to the Works of God

2. A Man and Creation

Part 2: Discipline Related to the Word of God

3. A Man and Scripture

Part 3: Disciplines Related to the Whisper of God

4. A Man and Worship

5. A Man and Prayer

6. A Man and the Sabbath

7. A Man and a Small Group

8. A Man and Counsel

9. A Man and Fasting

10. A Man and Spiritual Warfare

Part 4: Disciplines Related to a Witness for God

11. A Man and Stewardship

12. A Man and Service

13. A Man and Witnessing

Part 5: Turning the Disciplines into Habits of Action

14. Creating Your Own Action Plan for the Spiritual Disciplines

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Discussion Leader’s Guide

Notes

Friend,

Thank you for choosing to read this Moody Publishers title. It is our hope and prayer that this book will help you to know Jesus Christ more personally and love Him more deeply.

The proceeds from your purchase help pay the tuition of students attending Moody Bible Institute. These students come from around the globe and graduate better equipped to impact our world for Christ.

Other Moody Ministries that may be of interest to you include Moody Radio and Moody Distance Learning. To learn more visit www.moodyradio.org and www.moody.edu/distancelearning.

To enhance your reading experience we’ve made it easy to share inspiring passages and thought-provoking quotes with your friends via Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and other book-sharing sites. To do so, simply highlight and forward. And don’t forget to put this book on your Reading Shelf on your book community site.

Thanks again, and may God bless you.

The Moody Publishers Team

READ THIS FIRST

Because the world is changing so rapidly for men, I have updated and expanded this book. Let me tell you why …

God needs you to be a man.

A man in the sense He created men.

What it means to be a man, and particularly a Christian man, has been under severe attack for the entire twenty-first century. There’s no end in sight. Pendulums swing one way until the spring tension slows, then they reverse in the other direction. We’re nowhere near such a turning point, humanly speaking.

Some will tell you the ship has sailed. They will tell you, Things are different now. You don’t understand. The culture has changed. Christianity is obsolete. You’re out of touch. That’s sheer nonsense. Yes, the issues we face as men have changed—just as they have changed in every generation.

What hasn’t changed—and will never change—are the core affections of the human heart. That’s why, whether you’re eighteen or eighty, you can pick up the book of Ecclesiastes and feel the blade of those white-hot words slice open the deepest, darkest questions of your soul.

That’s why, regardless of your generation, you can read the Psalms and want to scream, Yes, yes, yes! Finally, somebody gets what I’m going through! And that’s why, regardless of your color, creed, or family background, you can hear the Sermon on the Mount and realize you have just been in the presence of something so otherworldly that you tremble in awe.

WHAT MEN WANT 

My message has always been simple. Men want a cause they can give themselves to, a companion to share it with, and a conviction to explain why the first two wants are so difficult.

The famous psychologist Carl Jung said, Among all my patients in the second half of life—that is to say, over thirty-five—there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost what the living religions of every age have given their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.¹

I have studied the religions (and philosophies) of the world. Christianity is by far the most coherent conviction to satisfy the core affections of your human heart.

Far from being obsolete, the practice of authentic Christian faith is hands down the most successful way to get everything you want—and need—in this life. That’s where the spiritual disciplines come in.

Spiritual disciplines will change the core affections of your heart. They will usher you into a deeper communion with God. You will grow in your knowledge and love for God. You will gain confidence about how to discern His will. You will find yourself yearning—aching—to follow the example of Jesus.

Sound too good to be true? Here is a small sample of personal spiritual insights I’ve learned by practicing the spiritual disciplines described in the pages ahead:

• My worst day with Jesus has been infinitely better than my best day without Him.

• Because God is good, my life isn’t turning out as I planned.

• The least wise follower of Jesus is infinitely wiser than the wisest man who rejects Him.

• God will not force us to revere Him, but He will make it impossible for us to be happy until we do.

• Suffering has compelled me to seek the God that success made me think I didn’t need.

• Even if I’m right, I’m wrong if I don’t say it in love.

God has equally deep and personal insights for you too. And the spiritual disciplines are how you can get them.

But there’s more. These spiritual habits will penetrate every aspect of your daily experience to help you get what you want. For example, they will show you how to love a woman, be a dad who is in the picture, find satisfying work that honors God, and figure out who you are and what your life is all about—all things the Bible refers to as becoming a disciple of Jesus.

Plus, in this updated and expanded edition, I’ve added a bonus chapter to help you turn these practices into habits: Creating Your Own Action Plan for the Spiritual Disciplines. You can use that chapter to create a trail map to seek God. Then, long after you’ve put down this book, you will still have your own personal plan to help you reflect honestly, pursue God wholeheartedly, and live vibrantly.

So wherever you are in your faith, I invite you to join me on this journey. Turn the page, and let me introduce you to twelve waypoints that are going to light your heart on fire for God.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES

Imagine you’re a baby chick inside an egg about to hatch. It’s a dark little world, and the only reality you’ve ever known.

But instinctively you peck, peck, peck away at the shell. Suddenly, a pinhole of light appears. Your adrenaline kicks in. You feel excitement and curiosity, but also trepidation and fear. You feel compelled to find out what’s on the other side. You keep pecking away until the shell cracks open and falls away.

You squint until your eyes adjust to the light. You look to your left. You look to your right. Filled with awe, you blurt out, I had no idea! Where has all this been? That bigger world was always there of course. You just couldn’t see it.

In many ways, the same is true for us spiritually.

I’ve never met a man who doesn’t want spiritual insight. Yet, we often miss the spiritual connections that are present in the common details of everyday life.

Every day, we are walking around in this shell of what we can tangibly see and touch. But there’s a whole other spiritual dimension that we can also experience—if we know how to crack through the thick shell of this world’s darkness.

The spiritual disciplines are here to help you crack your way completely out of the shell. Before we dive in, let’s make sure we agree on a few things.

WHAT THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES ARE AND ARE NOT 

A man said, half-jokingly, Do me a favor. Tell me how to be good. I already know how bad I am. That sentiment captures the purpose of the twelve spiritual disciplines.

The spiritual disciplines are very specific tools, resources, and practices that will equip you to reflect honestly, pursue God wholeheartedly, and live vibrantly.

As important and valuable as they are, spiritual disciplines do nothing to improve your record with God. They are not necessary to make God happy (or avoid His wrath). Through Christ, you already have all the merit you need. We place our trust in God—not in the disciplines. The disciplines are not ends in themselves—they are means to an end.

The disciplines are 100 percent about God—both knowing Him and knowing about Him. Knowing Him is communion. Knowing about Him is discipleship. Both are essential.

Anyone who has ever excelled at anything understands the benefits of discipline—every parent, athlete, scientist, soldier, business owner, and so on.

Most of us also understand what happens when we don’t have discipline. Consider two twenty-five-year-old men. One works out at the gym and the other doesn’t, but you don’t see any visible difference. By the age of forty, however, it’s obvious who exercises his body. And when they turn sixty-five, which one is more likely to be washing down a dozen different prescriptions every day?

What’s the difference? Self-discipline. As my mentor Jim Gillean taught, You can choose your way but not the result.

The problem is that the benefits of discipline (in any arena) are not usually immediate. We often find self-discipline hard, don’t see quick results, and are tempted to give up without allowing enough time for discipline to work.

That’s why sometimes you have to substitute discipline for a lack of natural motivation. But if you will do what you don’t naturally want to do, you will get what you truly need.

That’s what the disciplines can do for you. Make them into habits, and they will always be at your fingertips to help you:

• Know Him better.

• Know more about Him.

• Discover His Will.

• Be transformed into His likeness.

• Receive power to abide in Him.

• Learn how to love Him with your whole heart.

• Desire to sacrificially serve others for the greater good.

• And so much more.

Sound attractive? You can get there from here.

FOUR WAYS THAT GOD COMMUNICATES 

Hearing God is simple but not easy. The Bible tells us God has, on occasion, spoken to men from burning bushes or pillars of fire. But even in ancient days, those experiences weren’t common. Fast-forward to today, and probably none of us know anyone who has heard God speak in that way. So how does God speak to men now? God reveals Himself every day in four ways:

• Through His works

• Through His Word

• Through the whisper of the Holy Spirit

• Through the witness of believers

Here is a preview of the disciplines we will study, organized around the four ways that God communicates with us.

First, God