Hidden Disciplines

After I would finish a presentation or training at my last job, I would have people come up and want to know how to get a job in my position. Some would ask if they could shadow me for a day to see what the job was like. I would offer them a day in the week prior to the training, but they would push back. They wanted to be there for the presentation. I would tell them that what they see is the result of my work. If they really wanted to see my work, they needed to come when I set the room up, sat in each chair, clicked through each slide, checked every link and worked on my delivery. I rarely had anyone want to shadow on those days though. They wanted to be on stage rather than when I did the behind the scenes disciplines.

Jesus had large crowds who followed Him. They would yell out things like, “God bless the woman who birthed you!” They would walk around the Sea of Galilee to meet Him where He docked. They loved hearing the authority in His voice, the confrontations with the religious leaders, the parables, the miracles and being fed fish and bread. However, several times throughout the Gospels that Jesus got up early to go pray or that He went to a desolate place to be alone with God. It never says that anyone went with Him. They knew where He was going and what He was doing, but no one went. When Jesus invited them into the Garden of Gethsemane, they fell asleep rather instead of praying. They were missing the disciplines necessary for everything Jesus was doing until we get to the book of Acts. Then they turned the world upside down.

In Acts 6 the disciples said it wasn’t good for them to neglect teaching the Word of God. Then in verse 4 they said, “But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (AMP). They understood that daily time in prayer and in reading the Word is what gave them the ability to know the Father’s will and to know what He wants said. You can want the stage and the visibility. Your talents may even get you there, but it will be your hidden disciplines of spending time alone with God that keeps you there. When you look up great men and women of faith throughout history, you will find that they were people of prayer who spent time in the Word. If you want to increase your effectiveness as a Christian or minister, increase your time alone with God. Your hidden disciplines will be honored by God.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash