I have always been a good student; school is where I thrive. I have received straight A’s in almost every grade in every subject, all except geometry and pre-calculus in high school. I have always loved learning and have proved to be a good test taker, loving to show off what I learned. This course, Spiritual Formation, has allowed me to take this aspect of learning in a school structure into my faith life. Scripture, prayer, fasting, confession, worship, and intimacy are topics I would never have sought out to research and write about on my own, but this course gave me the opportunity to do just that. Looking at each of these topics with the mindset of understanding their fundamentals and simply learning more about them gave me a whole new perspective of each topic. In my faith life, it is easy for me to rely on feelings and tradition as enough of an understanding of topics like these. However, through this course I have truly seen the fruit of actively seeking out more knowledge. Each topic I learned about, and afterwards wrote about and discussed, in this class has impacted my spiritual formation in a unique and lasting way.
The first topic, scripture, gave me an new understanding and appreciation of how the Bible is a direct route to righteousness in God’s judgement. Reading the provided article and selected bible verses reminded me of a well-known, but often over looked fact; scripture is a God-breathed gift. This reminder relit the fire of a desire in my soul to read more of and memorize scripture. It reminded me the power the Word can have in me and the power it can give when I share scripture with others. Since discussing this topic, I have found myself spending more time reading the Bible, discovering new meanings and lessons, and simply finding encouragement in my faith life.
The second topic, prayer, truly grew my knowledge. I truly loved the insights I found in reading the assigned article, they gave me a whole new perspective on the purpose of prayer and all that prayer could look like. One thing I learned that really stuck out to me was the importance of balancing formal and spontaneous prayer. Since I have grown up Catholic, I have learned a lot of formal prayers and since discovering a deep personal relationship with God I have learned many ways to spontaneously pray, but, I had failed to balance the two. Previously, I had always prayed formally, not knowing God didn’t need big, sophisticated words to hear me and answer me. Recently, I had abandoned the formal prayers I knew so well and solely conversed with God in my prayers. Since discussing the topic of prayer in this class, however, I have come to balance my prayers and understand the benefit of doing so. Now, I start my morning with a spontaneous prayer conversing with God and end the prayer with any one of the formal prayers I know, end each day with another formal prayer then some conversation about my day with God, and some of both, spontaneous and formal prayers scattered throughout the day.
The third topic, fasting, challenged my previous thinking. I was intrigued to research the view of fasting as going above and beyond in a command from God, like the assigned parable said. It was interesting to realize that this act is not something we are commanded to do, but that it is something we are able to do to so that we may find a new depth in our spirituality. The assigned reading reminded me of some of the specifics of fasting that can be easily over looked such as never complaining while fasting, and doing your best not to show off the fact that you are fasting. I also loved discussing my personal favorite aspect of fasting; fasting from physical food and drink makes leaves you to rely solely on spiritual food and drink from God. In this, Christians are able to bring ourselves so much closer to God simply because our physical hunger reminds us of our spiritual hunger for God.
The fourth topic, confession, provided me with brand new knowledge. While I was well versed in and very aware of the aspect of confessing our sins for forgiveness, researching this topic showed me that confessing my faith to the world is just as important. I loved the article that was provided for this topic because of the insights given through personable analogies. The author, Jeff B. Pool, breaks down confession to its core; love. The way he explained that confession comes from love and leads to love really resonated with me. I have always proclaimed that love is the center of the Christian faith and that everything we believe truly boils down to love. Therefore, I was excited to learn another way that yet another aspect of our faith is rooted in love.
The fifth topic, worship, was assigned at a perfect week. That week, I had spent so much of my time just in awe over the Lord worshiping all that He is and all that He does. One of the assigned scripture readings for this topic was in Revelations, which challenged me because, honestly the Book of Revelations scares me. The passage described the throne in heaven and what worship looked like there, which was absolutely beautiful. I loved getting to learn that one of my favorite ways to worship, through song, is the way that God Himself chose to be worshiped on His own throne. As I learned that and discussed all the different ways to worship, I found a new felt love for worshipping and grew to appreciate it all the more.
The sixth topic, intimacy, spoke loudly to me as it is an area of my faith I have been focusing on growing in. One of the scripture passages we were encouraged to read was Psalm 139. This passage opened my eyes to just how well God truly knows each and every one of His children. Knowing how well God knows me makes me want to know Him just as well. Discussing this topic reminded me of all the benefits one can receive by obtaining an intimate relationship with God. As discussed in the provided article, Job reaps the benefits of his intimate relationship with God. Job fully turns to God and converses with Him, relying on Him and what he knows to be true of God. This is what I desire for my relationship with God, and as I read about it in this course, I have come to desire it even more so.
All in all, this course has awakened my need for more knowledge, especially in my faith. With that realization, I can plan to better my walk with Christ. My ultimate goal can be described by the chorus of Hymn 411, by Edward Henry Joy, which says, “All your anxiety, all your care, bring to the mercy seat, leave it there; never a burden He cannot bear, never a friend like Jesus!” I long to deepen my personal relationship to the point where Jesus is my best friend and I can easily give every single thing to Him and never worry. In order to get there I will step out in three major aspects of faith; scripture, prayer, and worship. As for scripture, I have devoted an hour each morning to spend reading my Bible and filling myself with the truths of His Word, seeking out more knowledge and wisdom. For prayer, I will continue to works on balancing my formal and spontaneous prayers as well as beginning to pray big prayers, expecting God to speak to me. Finally, for worship, I will stop under estimating it’s power. I will take the time to appreciate my God and awe over Him in the way I love, songs, and in new ways, like writing. Through all these things, I will grow in intimacy with my Father. I will come to see Jesus as my best friend. I will walk closer, hand in hand, with God in all aspects of my life, constantly seeking more knowledge of God and my faith.
