While most Christians desire to become more consistent in studying the Bible, many struggle with making it a daily part of their lives. We commonly bear witness to Paul’s battle revealed in Romans 7:15, “…For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” So how can a Christian move from godly desires to godly actions? In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul gave us some insight into that question when he said, “…I discipline my body and bring it into subjection…”

Everyone has attempted to discipline their body at some point by trying to eat better, exercise, read more often, quit smoking, etc. How come some succeed at making these changes while others fail? Jesus told us in John 15:5, “…without Me you can do nothing.” We must abide in Jesus each day and ask Him for the grace we need to empower us to serve Him. The major ingredients for transformation in the life of a believer are God’s grace to strengthen us as well as our will to partner with Him. We must even depend on the Lord for our internal will to serve Him as Paul shares in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Never forget it will be by God’s grace alone by which we draw near to Him!

The difficulty comes on our end when we try and override our flesh’s desire for wickedness, laziness and selfishness. It was with this understanding that I decided to see if a secular book on the science of habits would have any insight as to how God wired our minds to accomplish tasks. I picked up a copy of the New York Times bestseller, The Power of Habit: Why we do What we do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg and read it to see if I could glean some wheat and spit out the chaff.

I’d like to give some practical tips on how Christians can create some wise habits of daily Bible study using the techniques the author mentions, while filtering it with a Christian worldview. The following are some tips I believe Christians can work into their grace-empowered pursuit of spiritual disciplines.

1. UNDERSTAND WHAT A HABIT ACTUALLY IS

Duhigg offers a combination of real life stories and scientific research to help us understand our habits. Much of the book contains his evidence for a simple three-step habit loop: cue, routine, reward. Something happens that causes us to begin a consistent routine of actions that eventually leads to some form of reward that reinforces the habit. The author states, “Researchers have learned that cues can be almost anything, from a visual trigger such as a candy bar or a television commercial to a certain place, a time of day, an emotion a sequence of thoughts, or the company of particular people. Routines can be incredibly complex or fantastically simple…rewards can range from food or drugs that cause physical sensations, to emotional payoffs, such as the feelings of pride that accompany praise or self-congratulation.”¹

He argues, “By learning to observe the cues and rewards…we can change the routines.”² The Christian’s goal would be twofold: to ask God for help to reprogram sinful habits into creator honoring responses and to create new habits that strengthen the inner man. It’s basically “bearing fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8) and “walking in wisdom” (Ephesians 5:15).

Duhigg believes the research reveals a basic truth when he writes, “When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit—unless you find new routines—the pattern will unfold automatically.”³ That is why it can be so tragically easy to give into temptation sometimes. We’ve wired our fallen minds to head in that direction.

2. TALK TO GOD EACH NIGHT ABOUT YOUR SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES

The author cites research about why people continue to exercise. He writes, “In one group, 92% of people said they habitually exercised because it made them ‘feel good’ – they grew to expect and crave the endorphins and other neurochemicals a workout provided. In another group, 67% of people said that working out gave them a sense of ‘accomplishment’ – they had come to crave a regular sense of triumph from tracking their performances, and that self-reward was enough to make the physical activity into a habit.”4

He goes on to say that, “If you want to start running each morning, it’s essential that you choose a simple cue (like always lacing up your sneakers before breakfast or leaving your running clothes next to your bed) and a clear reward (such as a midday treat, a sense of accomplishment from recording your miles, or the endorphin rush you get from a jog). But countless studies have shown that a cue and a reward on their own, aren’t enough for a new habit to last. Only when your brain starts expecting the reward – the craving for endorphins or sense of accomplishment – will it become automatic to lace up your jogging shoes each morning. The cue, in addition to triggering routine, must also trigger a craving for the reward to come.”

So what reward do Christians crave? As much as we enjoy coffee, tea and treats, a believer in Jesus craves His presence! Take some time at night praying that the Lord would give you the desire and the strength to be faithful with your morning devotions. Talking to God about the joy of His presence will cement this spiritual reward in your mind.

3. CREATE A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE PLAN

1. Choose a CUE:
The noise from your alarm clock each morning. (Additional cues could be: making your breakfast or coffee, etc.)
2. PERFORM the Spiritual Discipline:
Studying the Bible, praying, worshiping, etc.
3. Reap the Spiritual REWARD:
Enjoying the presence of God! (Additional rewards could be: the peace you feel, the Bible knowledge you gain, etc.)
4. ANTICIPATE that reward:
Each night for the first month before you go to bed, take a few minutes and think what you’ll do in the morning. What book of the Bible will you read? Will you journal? Think about how good it will feel to spend time with the Lord each morning. Remind yourself how past experience has shown you that your best days start with Jesus. Then pray and ask the Lord to give you the strength to get out of bed. (Some people may even want to leave their Bible open to the page they are going to read the next morning and write the date on the journal the night before for added pressure to actually write something.)

It helps to write out your plan in a journal to solidify it in your mind: “When ____________, I will ________________________, because it blesses me by __________________________”.

4. COMMIT TO A ONE MONTH CHANGE

Research varies that it takes between 21-36 days to form a new habit. By then your spiritual discipline has become a healthy routine already and by God’s grace, you will more than likely continue with it. You’ll have “tasted and seen the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8), and you’ll never want to go back.

In part two of this article I’ll share five more tips I gleaned from this book.

RELATED CHARTS:
• How to Create a Habit Flowchart
• How to Change a Habit Flowchart

¹Duhigg, Charles. “The Habit Loop.” The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. New York: Random House, 2012. 25. Print.
² Ibid, 27.
³ Ibid, 20.
⁴ Ibid, 51.

What does it mean to be sanctified? According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the definition of sanctification is “consecration” and “purification.” God’s children have been secured from the clutches of death to remain in His holy presence and righteous kingdom (consecration). But to remain in God’s presence, the child must be free of decay and rotting carnality (purification). Thus, God transforms the sinner into a saint through the purifying cocoon called sanctification. To be true, when a person turns to Christ and becomes a child of God, they are immediately called a saint, which is the title of those who are sanctified.

Positionally, they are perfect in God’s eyes. Practically, however, every saint is a work in progress and wrestling in the cocoon in order to break free from the world’s gravity and soar on the back of the dove. But our sanctification is foremost contingent on God’s immutability. In writing to the Philippians, the apostle Paul confidently stated, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God always intended, not only to save souls, but to transform them into the image of Christ, which includes making them perfect.

But how does God do this? What is the process of sanctification?

Oftentimes Christians assume being sanctified involves charitable service. And the more they serve God by doing good, the closer they feel they are to God, making them a better person or a good Christian. But is this God’s process? Actually, God is much more interested in our hearts than what we do for Him. He wants us to seek His face and draw near to Him before anything else. Martha, in the midst of her frantic service, discovered this was the one necessary thing Jesus desired and an area she was struggling in (Luke 10:38-42). Though God can and does use our service to help sanctify us, it isn’t His primary method. He starts within the intimacy of our relationship with Him.

Therefore, our primary objective should be knowing God as deeply as possible. According to Jesus, this is what eternal life is all about, “knowing God” (John 17:3).

When knowing God is our primary objective, the sanctifying work of God is far more effective. This does not diminish the ability of God’s effectiveness in our lives. He is all-powerful, but it is of our willingness to allow Him to work in our lives. The fact is, we are God’s project (Ephesians 2:10), and He will not rest until the work is finished since our sanctification is His immutable plan.

Now if God is concerned primarily with the welfare of His people and not so much their charitable service, then should Christians engage in the work of God? The short answer is, yes. Of course!

The second half of Ephesians 2:10 says we’ve been created in Christ Jesus to fulfill the good works He prepared for us. Before the creation of time, God prepared works for His children to accomplish. Since God is immutable (unchanging), the works of His hands are unchangeable. Meaning, there are certain things God has set in place for every one of His children to do. Things ranging from good deeds, to career paths, to ministry assignments. The psalmist wrote, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He (God) delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23).

God has predestined our steps that we might accomplish His work and fulfill His will. But only the steps of “a good man” are ordered by the Lord. The good man is the person surrendered to God and walking in step with the Holy Spirit. And because they’re close to God, God’s desires have unconsciously become their desires so that the things they want to do are actually the things God wants them to do. Which explains why God delights in their way. The path they have chosen (of their own free will) and the tasks they’re doing is the completion of the pre-planned works of God and the fulfillment of God’s will. But the real reason God is delighted with them is because the completion of His works is born from intimate communion and sanctified thinking i.e. because their heart belongs to God, their mind is aligned with Christ’s, and they’re living to carry out His will.

The bottom line is, God is longing for us to know Him that others may come to know Him through the tasks He calls us to perform.

And the best way of fulfilling Gods immutable plans is by remaining close to Jesus. This relieves us of the pressures of trying to figure out the will of God for our lives. I wonder if the children of Israel ever grew anxious wondering if the daytime cloud or the night fire was going to move (Exodus 13:20-22)? Did they walk around looking up murmuring over the motionless cloud? Or did they rest in the assurance that as long as they remained under the cloud, they were in the center of God’s will? Jesus is our cloud by day and the fire by night. As long as we remain in Him, we are being sanctified and fulfilling the will of God. Our work is knowing God. His work is changing us. When we realize this, then we can rest in His immutable plans and promises (Hebrews 4:1-3).