⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. (1 Samuel 17:45-46)

 

God’s word never disappoints. The principles from our Bible Study so far are certainly applicable to a range of challenges that we come up against daily. For the next two days we will explore the application of these Biblical principles to the challenges we face in practising Spiritual Disciplines. Here is a summary of some of the key principles from the David & Goliath story that we can apply to challenges:

• Make glorifying God our objective, trust Him and have confidence in his ability to guide us;
• Acquire facts to find out what is really behind the challenge (avoid zeal without knowledge);
• Seek to see the challenge the way God sees it (spiritual eyes) and use the weaponry he prescribes;
• Don’t be easily discouraged or distracted as we take on challenges (be persistent).

Now the question is, how can we apply these principles to some of the challenges you highlighted last week when we considered obstacles to practising the Disciplines? Please consider the application questions below.

 

Today’s Questions:

1. Several of you identified a lack of desire and competing priorities as two major obstacles to practising the Disciplines. How have you tried to overcome these challenges in the past?
2. Would any of the principles from the David & Goliath inform your future approach to these challenges?