"The Practices Defined"
Kingdom Corner Reading Room
The Practices Defined
Practicing the Way – John Mark Comer
Episode Date: June 4, 2026
In today's Reading Room, Matt continues through Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, exploring what spiritual practices are—and perhaps more importantly, what they are not.
Many believers have wrestled with the tension between personal effort and dependence upon God's grace. Are spiritual disciplines simply religious routines? Are they a way to earn God's favor? Or are they something deeper?
Drawing from Comer's teaching, this episode examines how the practices of Jesus are not ends in themselves, but pathways that position us to receive the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
In This Episode
- Why spiritual disciplines are a means, not the destination
- The difference between formation and mere religious activity
- Why love—not discipline—is the true measure of spiritual maturity
- How practices can become lifeless routines when disconnected from relationship
- The danger of using spiritual disciplines for appearances or self-righteousness
- Why spiritual practices are not about earning God's approval
- Understanding the difference between "trying harder" and "training wiser"
- How disciplines create space for God's grace and transformation
Key Quote
"Spiritual disciplines are the Jesus-designed way of offering yourself to God so that you can draw on what the Apostle Paul called grace—the empowering presence of God's Spirit."
Powerful Insight
A discipline is:
"Any activity I can do by direct effort that will eventually enable me to do what I currently cannot do by direct effort."
Just as athletes train to become capable of what they cannot yet do naturally, disciples practice the way of Jesus so they can increasingly live and love as He did.
Reflection Questions
- Do you see spiritual disciplines primarily as religious duties, or as ways of making yourself available to God's transforming presence?
- Where in your life are you trying harder when God may be inviting you to train differently?
- Are your spiritual habits producing greater love, joy, and Christlikeness—or simply maintaining routine?
- What is one practice that consistently helps you become more aware of God's presence?
Final Thought
The goal of spiritual disciplines is not performance but formation.
Prayer, Scripture reading, worship, Sabbath, community, and service are not spiritual scorecards. They are invitations into a life with God.
As followers of Jesus, we do not practice these things to earn His love. We practice them because we are loved, and through them we learn to live more deeply in that love.
Join us tomorrow as we continue exploring the practices of Jesus and how they shape a Rule of Life that leads not to legalism, but to freedom, joy, and transformation.
Resources
- Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do As He Did by John Mark Comer
- Searching for Significance: A Devotional Journey Through Ecclesiastes by Matthew Geib
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