One of the biggest misconceptions about spiritual discipline is that it is mainly about perfection. When people hear the phrase, they often imagine someone who wakes up before sunrise every day, prays for hours, memorizes entire books of the Bible, and never struggles with distraction. But honestly, that has never been my experience. The more I have reflected on this topic, the more I have realized that spiritual discipline is not really about perfection at all. It is about intentionality. During a recent workshop, we defined spiritual disciplines as intentional practices that place us before God so He can shape our character, attention, and obedience. That definition changed the way I thought about the conversation because it reframed spiritual disciplines not as a way to earn God’s approval, but as a way of creating space for transformation.
The challenge, of course, is that we live in a world designed to fracture our attention. As I have shared about this topic, people have shared all kinds of distractions that pull them away spiritually: work, stress, comfort, social media, entertainment, exhaustion, poor health, and constant noise. I think one of the greatest struggles facing young adults today is not necessarily rebellion against God, but the inability to sit still long enough to hear Him clearly. Psalm 46 says, “Be still, and know that I am God,” but stillness feels increasingly unnatural in a generation trained to consume content every waking moment. We wake up and immediately check notifications. We fill silence instantly. We multitask constantly. Even when we rest, our minds are overstimulated. And yet throughout Scripture, intimacy with God consistently requires withdrawal from noise.
That is one of the things that stands out to me most about Jesus. The Gospels repeatedly describe Him stepping away from crowds to pray, meditate, and reconnect with the Father before returning to ministry. If Jesus prioritized solitude and intentional rhythms of communion with God, then clearly spiritual discipline is not optional for those trying to follow Him. Oddly enough, while thinking through all of this, my mind kept going back to Batman. I know that sounds random, but I was reflecting on examples of extreme discipline in culture, and what struck me about Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s films was not the superhero aspect. It was the process. Before he becomes who he is meant to become, he withdraws, trains, reflects, and disciplines himself. Obviously Batman is not a biblical model, but the pattern itself reminded me of something true spiritually: transformation rarely happens accidentally. Growth requires intentionality.
Scripture shows us this pattern repeatedly. Moses spends years in the wilderness before leading Israel. Elijah retreats into solitude. Daniel develops consistent rhythms of prayer long before the lions’ den. Paul spends years learning and unlearning after his conversion. Spiritual maturity is cultivated through rhythms, habits, and surrender over time. One framework that helped me think about this more clearly came from Richard Foster, who categorizes spiritual disciplines into inward, outward, and corporate disciplines.
Inward disciplines include prayer, meditation, fasting, reflection, and Scripture study. Outward disciplines involve service, generosity, simplicity, and even rest. Corporate disciplines include worship, fellowship, studying together, and gathering in community. I appreciated this framework because it reminded me that spiritual formation touches every part of life, not just private devotion.
One of the most meaningful parts of talking about spiritual discipline with people is hearing them connect spiritual discipline to areas like mental health, physical health, and technology. I remember one person talking about how exercise, nutrition, sleep, and healthier rhythms dramatically improved their ability to focus spiritually after struggling with PTSD and emotional exhaustion. Another reflected on how constant scrolling and short-form content are weakening our ability to concentrate, think deeply, and discern clearly. Those conversations matter because discipleship is holistic. We cannot separate our spiritual lives from the ways we care for our minds and bodies. Romans 12 talks about the renewing of the mind, and renewal does not happen passively. Every habit is shaping us into something.
I had to confront that reality personally during college. Ironically, I struggled with something as simple as getting to church on time, even though the church was literally on campus. I somehow managed to be on time for classes, social events, and things I enjoyed, but when it came to spiritual priorities, discipline often disappeared. Eventually, a pastor challenged me directly. He asked why I treated spiritual things differently than everything else I considered important. That conversation stayed with me because it exposed something deeper: our habits reveal our priorities. Daniel did not suddenly become disciplined when he faced the lions’ den. His faithfulness had already been shaped through years of consistent prayer and devotion. The same is true for us. What we repeatedly practice eventually becomes instinctive.
I think many young adults genuinely desire a deeper relationship with God. The issue is not desire. The issue is rhythm. We live reactive lives instead of intentional ones. That is why I like to encourage people to identify practical ways they can begin building spiritual disciplines immediately. For me personally, that has looked like prioritizing Scripture before turning fully toward my phone in the morning, creating moments throughout the workday to step away from noise and reset mentally, and ending the evening with reflection rather than endless consumption. None of these practices are dramatic, but spiritual discipline is rarely built through dramatic gestures. It is built through consistency.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that spiritual discipline is ultimately about attentiveness. Every day, something is discipling us. Technology is discipling us. Entertainment is discipling us. Algorithms are discipling us. Culture is discipling us. The question is whether we are intentionally allowing God to shape us too. That shaping requires silence, surrender, and space. It requires us to sit with God long enough for Him to redirect our attention and transform the way we think. And honestly, I am still learning how to do that myself.
I have not mastered spiritual discipline but I know how deeply I need it. I know what distraction feels like. I know what inconsistency feels like. I know what it feels like to desire depth while struggling to create rhythms that sustain it. But I also know this: God honors intentional pursuit. Not perfection, but pursuit. Maybe for you that starts with ten minutes of prayer in the morning. Maybe it starts with turning your phone off for part of the Sabbath. Maybe it starts with family worship, journaling, silence, or Scripture before social media. The point is not to create impossible standards. The point is simply to begin. Because in a distracted world, choosing to intentionally make space for God may be one of the most important spiritual decisions we can make.
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