This paper should have three components. The first two should focus specifically on the spiritual discipline you chose to practice this semester, while the third part is to address spiritual disciplines more broadly (i.e. all of those found in Foster):
My chosen discipline will be prayer. I believe prayer is a discipline I will be able to comply with. I believe participating in prayer will help me center my thoughts and focus on what is important in my life and help prioritize it. I will take 15 minutes a day to reflect on life and God. Hopefully it will help my attitude throughout the day. I plan on participating in prayer in the mornings three times a week.
Explain the biblical basis for the practice of your spiritual discipline (prayer). Choose several passages (you may use Foster and Willard to help you locate these passages), and explain how these passages provide an exhortation to practice this spiritual discipline. Please do more than just list passages—please expand upon their relevance. Foster and Willard may help you to flesh this out, and you may use their ideas to bolster your own where applicable.
Reflect upon your own experience of the discipline that you practiced. Describe how the process was for you physiologically, mentally and spiritually. (If you fasted, how did it feel to your body? How did the physical sensation connect (or not connect) to a spiritual realization? If you practiced one of the corporate disciplines, how did the other participants affect your experience?) The only source necessary for this section is your own experience, though if an idea that you have read elsewhere (i.e. Foster or Willard) rings particularly true, feel free to incorporate outside sources.
Explain in a broader context how the spiritual disciplines in general function in the Christian life. You should use your own experience, Foster and Willard, Scripture, and any other sources you find to be relevant.
