Recently two friends of mine have started training for a half-marathon coming up in September. As any wise runner does, they have a training plan to get them in shape for the race. But at the same time they’ve started a second training plan – a spiritual training plan.

I was super excited when I heard about the spiritual training plan and asked one of my friends to send me a copy of his. To go along with his four days of running per week, he added these spiritual disciplines, in addition to his regular God-time he was already practicing:

• Mondays: Spend 30 minutes in the morning worshipping God
• Tuesdays: Review a Bible passage and memorize a new Bible passage
• Wednesdays: Journal for 30 minutes in the morning
• Thursdays: Look for ways to serve extra in my household or in our church community
• Fridays: Fast from dinner Thursday night to dinner on Friday; Extended time with God from 9AM to 12PM

What a great way to grow as a disciple of Christ! These are based around traditional spiritual disciplines but definitely require some extra “exercise” to implement over the 12 weeks of the plan.

My Alternate Spiritual Training Plan

During my God time this morning I was thinking about my friends’ spiritual training plans. Knowing those activities might be too much for some people to add into their lives right now, I wondered if I could come up with a plan with some simpler, no-sweat exercises that still can draw you closer to God. So here’s my plan! Just six days. Based on things I’ve done in my real life. No need to do them all of course. But give some a try. They’re easy!

Monday: Invite God Into the Things You Do

When you start a new task or project or activity during the day, stop for a short moment and invite God to join you in that activity. Nothing fancy or formal. Just a pause to let yourself know you’re talking to God and then a thought of “God, please join me as I wash the dishes”. And that’s it. Don’t get overly aggressive about it, trying to invite him into everything you do every two minutes. Focus on the major activities. Then see where your heart goes with the thought that God is with you as you go about your day.

Tuesday: Hold Jesus’ Hand As You’re Walking

This might feel a little goofy while you’re doing it, but that’s OK. When you’re going for a walk of any distance, put your hand out a little bit at your side, with your palm open, and clasp your hand as though you’re holding someone else’s hand – Jesus’ hand. No need to be formal or say a prayer. I don’t usually keep the hand holding going for a great long time. But it’s nice to feel that little bit of intimacy you get when holding hands with someone, but this time with God.

Wednesday: Appreciate the Small Joys in Life

When you find yourself enjoying something, stop for a moment and acknowledge that joy and how it’s a gift from your Father who cares about you. Appreciate that joy and pleasure can come from little things and that the joy may not be there all the time but God still cares about you enough to provide those joys along the way in life as you need them.

Thursday: Look for the Image of God in the People You See Today

This one really challenges me! We are all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) – we’re all image-bearers. As you go about your day, intentionally look for that image of God in the people you come across. It can be people you interact with or just people you see. God loves them and sees a part of himself in them. Can you?

Friday: Listen for the Whispers of God in Nature

Take a walk outside, ideally in a park or other nature-filled space, and listen to nature there. Do your best to filter out the man-made noises that usually dominate in our world. Can you concentrate on the rustling of leaves in the trees? The singing of birds? The buzzing of crickets? The Lord is in the gentle breeze, not the earthquake and the storm (1 King 19:10-13). Not that I’m saying God is a tree or a cricket. This is more a spiritual discipline by analogy. If you can listen past the man-made noise in nature, perhaps you can do the same with God.

Saturday: Scripture in Your Pocket

I hesitated to include this one since it’s so much like the traditional scripture memorization, but it’s been such a blessing to me. Find a Bible verse that has some personal meaning to you. Ideally something that stood out to you in your recent Bible reading. Something that generates some emotions in you. Just a short bit, maybe not even a whole verse. Then carry that verse with you in some way throughout the day. I write mine on a half index card and carry it in my pocket. Then whenever I put my hand in or on my pocket, I say the verse to myself – taking it out of my pocket and reading it if needed. I have a friend who writes the first letters of each word on her hand as her memory aid. I’m sure you can come up with something that works for you.

The idea here is not memorization, though that may occur. The idea is to slowly build the truth of that verse into. “Tell yourself truth.” That’s why I love verses from Psalms for this. There are so many little verses that say truth about how God loves us and takes care of us and is with us. What’s a truth there that you react to, that you know needs to be more inside you?