I immediately fought the urge to jump into my questions and prayer requests to God. Instead of turning my Solitude and Prayer time into a “me” session, I pulled back and simply sat with God—listening, rather than speaking.

In that stillness, I felt His presence, and I journaled these words:

“I am going to work through your marriage with Tammi.”

As I began reflecting on how to characterize my relationship with Tammi, certain words came to mind: submission, respect, love, phileo love, and iron sharpens iron.

Then, turning to page 119 in M. Robert Mulholland’s Invitation to a Journey, I came across a prayer about confessing negative feelings toward the idea of “discipline.”  Immediately, I knew this was something I needed to share with Formation Church as we launch Practicing the Way.  The enemy will resist each of us because he does not want us to integrate Jesus’ practices into our lives. We should expect spiritual walls to arise—excuses of no time, difficulty relating, self-condemnation, misinterpretation, discomfort with the style or delivery, and more. But despite these challenges, I firmly believe this is where God is leading Formation Church—and where He is leading you.  Paul’s words in Philippians 2: 12-13 brings powerful insight:

Philippians 2: 12-13, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

When applied to Practicing the Way and overcoming resistance to spiritual discipline, this passage reveals an important truth: It is not “either-or” but “and.” You are called to work out our spiritual formation by implementing these Practices with humility AND allow the Spirit within you to transform you from the inside out.  These Practices are not your gods, nor are they a self-help manual for spiritual growth. Rather, they serve as the foundation of spiritual formation—the means through which the Spirit enables you to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

Just when I found myself missing Dallas Willard after finishing his book last week, God used Mulholland to draw me nearer to Jesus.  One profound concept that stood out is the distinction between “informational reading” and “spiritual reading.” 

• Informational readingis when we approach a text with our own agenda, seeking to master it for our own purposes.
• Spiritual reading, on the other hand, allows the text to shape and transform us—it becomes a place of encounter with God.

I love this insight:
“We become the object addressed by God through the text, instead of the text being an object controlled by us.”

What this means to me: A vital part of spiritual formation is maintaining a posture of openness to God while reading Scripture. In the contemplative stream, we are invited not just to study His Word but to listen—allowing it to read us, shape us, and draw us deeper into His presence.