Adding Spiritual Disciplines: Making Room For Growth

Engaging in the season of Lent is not always about letting things go or giving things up.  The idea of fasting or relinquishing things that help keep us focused on Christ as we symbolically follow him during these forty days leaves room for us to add life-giving practices. 

Adding spiritual disciplines during Lent is a faithful practice that enables us to be more open to the Spirit, and to experience God in ways we might never have imagined.  

Fasting is not only subtraction; it is addition. When we remove distraction, we create space to add life-giving rhythms that nourish our relationship with God. Lent invites us to clear away what clutters our attention so that practices of faith can take deeper root.

Scripture encourages discipline not as a burden, but as formation. Paul writes to Timothy, “Train yourself in godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). The word train suggests practice, repetition, and patience. Spiritual growth rarely happens suddenly. It unfolds through habits that slowly shape our hearts and desires. Discipline, when rooted in love, becomes a pathway rather than a pressure.

Adding a spiritual practice during Lent anchors the season in growth rather than deprivation. When we remove something that distracts us—whether busyness, technology, or noise—we create an opening where a life-giving rhythm can take its place. Daily Scripture reading, morning prayer, intentional gratitude, or evening reflection can serve as small yet powerful anchors throughout the day.

These practices are not meant to impress God. They are meant to orient us toward God. Spiritual disciplines place us where grace can meet us, just as a gardener prepares soil so seeds can grow. We cannot force transformation, but we can cultivate conditions where transformation becomes possible.

Jesus himself lived with rhythms that nourished his relationship with the Father. He prayed regularly, withdrew for solitude, and remained attentive to God’s presence. His life reminds us that spiritual practices are not signs of weakness; they are ways of remaining rooted in what matters most.

During Lent, consider what practice might help you remain attentive to God. The goal is not complexity or intensity. Simplicity often proves more sustainable. A few minutes each morning with Scripture. A brief prayer before meals. A moment of gratitude at the end of the day. These small practices accumulate over time, forming the quiet architecture of a faithful life.

Addition during Lent reminds us that emptiness is not the goal. Renewal is. We do not fast merely to create absence, but to make room for something deeper. When we replace distraction with devotion, we begin to discover that God has been waiting patiently in the spaces we often overlook.

In this way, spiritual disciplines become invitations rather than obligations. They remind us that growth in faith is not about striving harder, but about showing up consistently and trusting that God is already at work.

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Prayer
God who forms us, guide us into practices that deepen trust and love. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. What discipline might nurture your faith?

2. How could small practices shape your days?

3. Where is God inviting growth?