Spiritual formation is not a religious duty.
It is a divine romance.
This class is helping us learn more about ourselves and our Creator—how to spend time with Him in intentional, meaningful ways.
The spiritual disciplines are practices that invite us into deeper communion with God.
Prayers of meditation, intercession, listening, silence, reflection, confession. Dedicated times of journaling, worship, reading, studying, fasting, celebrating—each one a different act of conversation with God.
Spiritual formation invites us not only to pray when that’s all we’re doing, but also to pray no matter what we’re doing. To grow in mental and spiritual awareness of God—in our actions, our thoughts, our words, our circumstances.
Pray when that is all you are doing.
Pray no matter what else you are doing.
Spiritual formation is walking with our Mentor. The Creator reminds us: we are His artwork, crafted in His image. Jesus leads us into transformation—shaping us to become more like Him. The Holy Spirit is here—with us, within us, around us, among us.
Spiritual formation rewires our thinking. It’s the neuroplasticity of the soul. It’s spending time with our best Friend.
It’s hearing our Creator ask, “Where are you hiding?”
It’s hearing our Teacher say, “Come, follow me.”
It’s hearing the Wind whisper, “I will change you—and I will also change the world through you.”
So what are we to do?
Become more aware. Be still and know. Ask and believe. Ask even when you doubt.
Schedule time to practice the many ways of communicating with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
And as you do, gain a greater awareness of His presence—no matter what else you’re doing, all day, every day.
Reading this blog makes me realize that my spiritual journey is really about building a caring, evolving relationship with God. It’s about becoming more aware, opening my heart wider with love and staying receptive to God’s presence and guidance in my everyday life.
This blog strongly shows the premise that this class intends to instill into us, I loved the wording and how creating that bond with the lord requires your willingness as well. This we know but we can so easily be distracted in todays world that we all tend to be forgetful of what truly matters, and our relationship with him.
I think this blog is very important of showing prayer in time even when it is not easiest. Prayer should be something you can do at all times to show.No matter what you are going through, you can put god in this scenario to help yourself out and help out others. Adding things to help your relationships such as prayer or community is so important to the bond.And growth between your relationship with god and people around you.
While reading this blog, the mentioning of prayer really stood out to me. As a Christian, we know that we hold so much power in our words and more importantly our communication with God. Our prayer time is such a sacred and intimate time with Christ and it also opens so many emotional and spiritual doors in our own lives. As well as praying to God, praying over others creates such an intimate bond between each other, cultivating a community in which we are all called to do.
One of my favorite ways to think about my relationship with God is like an intimate friendship. The words “divine romance” describe that perfectly. I am learning that I do not have stress about striving to follow God. He wants me to rest in Him. I want to find that communion with Him on a daily basis and in all hours of the day. This week the theme God continually reminds me of is His search for me. He is pursuing me. I must get serious about pursuing Him through spiritual disciplines that will produce aundant fruit in my walk with Him.
This blog emphasizes no matter what we are doing. And how busy we are.We should take time and appreciate the lives We have and thank god for what he has given us every day. He knows it can be difficult at times to fit that into a busy schedule. But even doing it when you are busy can show the appreciation you have for him. And the love he has for you Is eternal.
I like where you said “Pray no matter what else you are doing.” I always heard people say pray no matter what situation your in. and its true when we are even in a good situation still pray. because the power of prayer goes a long way.
The part of the blog that said ” To grow in mental and spiritual awareness of God—in our actions, our thoughts, our words, our circumstances” stook out to me the most. This is because sometimes as Christians we can feel like we are close to God, but also going through the motions of faith. Every day we should be seeking to grow our relationship with the Lord and be stronger doers of the word. We will never be sinless, but we can grow in faith to sin, less.
This blog has opened up my eyes to really intentionally incorporate prayer, journaling, and reflection into my daily life, being mindful of the divine in my actions and thoughts a lot more than I am doing today. I feel like if I managed to do this more, I could gain a deeper sense of awareness and understanding.
Thank you for posting this blog.
God Bless!
I completely agree that praying should never just be a moment and that we can always be in prayer, no matter what we do. Prayer is not a moment; it is a lifestyle. When we are always aware of his presence, we can constantly walk in the will of the Father through everything we do.
While reading this blog, I just kept saying I agree and agree. The words we had mentioned in class are something I have to take into consideration. Prayer can do a lot for me, just telling God what’s going on in my life, and he always stops rushing the time. Just be patient. If we just listen to him and be patient, he will keep blessing us.
The simple words, “we are His artwork, crafted in His image,” is so comforting and breathtaking to me. Its easy for me to view myself based on the situation, my performance, where I am at physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and also the way others view me. But, once the Lord reminds me of who He is and who He created me to be, I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders and a true sense of gratitude to be created in His image.
This blog is a fresh reminder of the Lord wanting to be involved in all aspects of my life. The thing about a relationship is it takes 2 parties constantly pursuing the other and the Lord is always pursuing me. It’s convicting to me that sometimes I shut him out simply because sometimes I feel I’m not worthy of a relationship, friendship, or communion with Jesus but his nearness and his words assure me that I am his artwork that he never gets tired of seeing or regrets making but in me his well pleased and loves me dearly.
I really enjoyed reading this! This shows us the beauty of spiritual formation and it being a relationship not a duty. I really like how you describe prayer as both intentional practice and continual awareness. The way you talk about God’s presence is very inspiring and it reminds us that transformation comes from us walking with him personally every day of our lives with love.
While reading the post, I was reminded of the importance of knowing who Lord is to me. He is my father, master, best friend, creator, Lord, and etc…
This made me think about how small things are reminders to stay close to God all day and not just at times. Making prayer a way of living instead of a obligation or checklist item on the to do list is vital. It makes it a more authentic deeper relationship that I desire.
It is important that we take time purposely to spend with God. Before this class, I had a few ideas of what spending time with God looks like, and that is worship, prayer, and reading the Bible. I didn’t really know of many other ways we can spend time with God and I’m looking forward to learning about those and finding one or more of them that fits me and that I like not just to communicate to God but also hear from him and listen. Sometimes it is hard because there isn’t a physical person to talk to or to hang out with, but that is the point of faith, and I am hoping to grow it because God wants to be a part of our daily lives. We just have to let him in and keep an open mind and an open heart.
While reading this blog I realized that it is very important to set time aside with God and to be able to have those difficult conversations with him. He is always with you even if you don’t feel his presence he is with you. Spending time with God can look like many different things. Worship, prayer, and reading the Bible are the main ones but you can worship him and spent time with him doing everyday things.
Reading this blog really made me aware of the importance of being intentional in our relationship with God. We as Christians should set aside time to spend with God. This helps us grow our relationship with him. We can spend time with God through worship. Not only does this include singing, but all acts that honor God.
Thank you pastor Chris. I love your saying “Spiritual formation is not a religious duty. It is a divine romance.” It just shows me that it isn’t something we have to do but something we get to do and we should be grateful and thank God for it.
As I was reading this blog, it made me realize just how many different ways we can be with God. He is always with us, even when we don’t realize it. This year more than ever, I have been really trying to grow my faith and grow my relationship with the Lord and with doing that, I have felt His presence more and more. I’ve become more aware of Him. It’s so wonderful to know that our King is always with us, no matter what. I have read somewhere that even if we feel like God’s been distant, He’s still there, like a teacher that stays silent during a test. God’s never away from us, but He does give us times where we have to apply what we learn and lean on our faith and trust Him. I think that’s where spiritual disciplines really come in and we have to focus on them, even in our everyday life. Put time aside to grow closer to Him.
Prayer is so important throughout life. I love how you said it’s “neuroplasticity of the soul” because it truly is just that. When I get overwhelmed or stressed, I pray because I know it will calm and reorganize my thoughts. He is always there for us and will always listen. I love knowing that.
“I will change you—and I will also change the world through you.” That is sucha powerful statement because we are sometimes the only thing some people know about Jesus, and the Lord can use us in so many powerful and unexpected ways. I also think it’s a good thing that this class teaches us different ways to communicate with the lord and different forms of spiritual disciplines because before this class, the only spiritual disciplines I actively made a plan to follow were fasting, prayer, and worship, but your class teaches us about so many more.
I really enjoyed this blog, but my favorite part was when you described spiritual formation as “spending time with our best friend”. I think when we get into the mindset that God wants to be our best friend changes how we treat him. When I think about my best friend, I think about talking to them constantly, telling them ever little thing, going to them when I need help, giving them every update of my life, and even sitting with them in silence. That is how we should be with our Father. He wants us to be in constant communication with us, He wants to know all the little things happening in our lives, He wants to help us when we need it, He even wants to sit with us in silence. God is the perfect best friend, He gives us grace and forgiveness when we mess up and even hurt his heart, and he can guide us through any situation. So I agree that spiritual formation is just treating God as our best friend wanting to spend ever moment with Him.
I loved this blog because it reminds us that spiritual formation is based on our relationship with God, not on rules we need to follow. As you said, “Spiritual formation is not a religious duty. It is a divine romance”, and it is so important for us to remember that. Also, I loved when you said “Pray no matter what else you are doing” because it shows us that we need to pray daily, not only when we are struggling.
Thank you for this amazing blog. This helped me realize what God has really done for us and how there are so many ways for us to communicate with him. I will gladly put these spiritual disciplines into practice and will continue to grow my faith with God.
I really like how you defined spiritual formation as divine romance rather than a religious duty. We try to become spiritually formed so that we can spend time with God, growing and deepening our relationship with him. Just as we love and enjoy spending time with our best friends, so should be be spending time with God.
While reading this blog I thought of multiple ways to enhance my spiritual formation and relationship with God. Some of them being, praying daily and in everything I do, worshipping through music and singing which is my favorite, asking God to speak to me and show His will for my life, and also to dive into His word and teachings to help guide and nourish my life.
This blog reminds me that spiritual formation is about relationship, not obligation. Seeing it as a divine romance helps me approach time with God more naturally and honestly. I can apply this by being more aware of His presence throughout my day, not just during set prayer times. Simple practices like quiet reflection, journaling, and talking with God while I work or rest can help me stay connected. By intentionally making space for these disciplines, I can grow closer to God and allow Him to shape my thoughts and actions.
Very nice blog its fun to do assignments this way!