Nothing has encouraged me more in developing habits that contribute to my spiritual formation – what some might call “spiritual disciplines” – than observing the devotional habits of great men. One such man was C. S. Lewis. The disciplines he employed for developing his spiritual life are examined in Lyle W. Dorsett’s Seeking the Secret Place: The Spiritual Formation of C. S. Lewis
Dorsett identifies five areas which Lewis gave careful attention to in his own spiritual development:
- Prayer
- Scripture
- The Church
- Experience with other Christians
- Mentoring Others
The first three seem obvious on the surface, but Dorsett details the way in which Lewis’s use of prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments evolved over the course of his 30 years’ experience as a follower of Jesus Christ.
For instance, in the area of prayer Lewis said he “tried to pray without words at all – not to verbalize the mental acts.” Dorsett notes that “his practice was to pray for others and not even mention their names. Instead he ‘substituted mental images of them.'”
His prayer life included faithful intercession for an unusually large number of people. He prayed for himself. And in his correspondence with others he encouraged them to pray for him which essentially developed into an “international prayer network.” Lewis viewed prayer as “God inviting us to be partakers in the execution of His will.”
Lewis also had a high view of Scripture, utilizing the Book of Common Prayer to aid him in systematically reading the Bible morning and evening:
He normally read daily from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, steeping himself in the Psalms. In fact, following the book’s pattern, he read the daily office, and he most likely read through all 150 Psalms each month. During the academic term he also went to morning prayer, or Dean’s Prayers, at 8:00 am at Magdalen College. There he heard more Scripture read in this brief service of worship, meditation, and prayer. As frequently as possible he also liked to set aside time in the late afternoon, preferably around 5:00 pm, when he could read other parts of the Bible and pray.
Dorsett notes that one of Lewis’s evening habits included retiring to his room and “pacing up and down for about an hour, praying through portions of Scripture, often the Psalms.”
The difficult part of engaging in any spiritual practice is getting started. The danger in any spiritual practice is mistaking the activity (prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, et al) for the relationship. The spiritual disciplines are not ends in themselves, yet how many times does our praying, our Bible reading, our worship result in a true encounter with the living God?
There are apparent risks in driving on Michigan roads in January, but because I have a destination – some place I have to be – I don’t avoid driving on snow and ice covered roads. In the same way we cannot avoid the spiritual disciplines because there are apparent dangers. Whether we embark on the icy road or into a plan for spiritual development, we must keep in mind that the road and the plan are NOT the destinations. They are merely the aids to get us to where we are going. We can’t mistake the road for the destination.
When we step onto the path of spiritual formation the destination is NOT a better prayer life, or even a better understanding of Scripture, but rather a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.With St. Paul we need to say, “That I may know HIM…”
I hope to see you along that road.