Spiritual Disciplines Are Not Optional Anymore

Comfortable faith cracks when life gets loud. We open up about why surface-level habits can’t carry you through anxiety, strained relationships, or cultural chaos—and how a life of spiritual disciplines builds roots that don’t move when the ground shakes. This is not a guilt trip. It’s an honest roadmap for training your soul to recognize God’s voice, resist lies, and remain anchored under pressure.

We walk through the core practices that form resilient believers: daily prayer before your phone, steady Bible reading, weekly fasting, worship that speaks truth over feelings, solitude that clears the noise, Scripture memorization that arms your mind, confession that kills secrecy, and accountability that keeps you honest. Along the way, we trace the biblical pattern of devotion—from Daniel’s “as usual” prayers to Jesus’ early-morning solitude to the early church’s devotion—and show how those rhythms produced courage in crisis and joy in persecution.

You’ll also hear gripping examples from Corrie ten Boom, Richard Wurmbrand, and Brother Yun that prove disciplines are lifelines, not legalism. We break down why these habits work at a neural level, how they become anchors in a storm, and how small, repeatable steps can transform your reflexes from panic to prayer. If you’re tired of trying harder and ready to grow deeper, this conversation will help you start simple, stick with it, and model a faith worth following for the next generation.

If this challenged or encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can build roots that last. Which single habit will you start today?

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Transcript

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You've heard it before. Read your Bible, pray more, go to church, be a good Christian, and you've tried. Sort of. You pray when you're desperate. You read the Bible when life falls apart. You show up to church most Sundays, and you think that's enough. But here's what you won't say out loud. It's not working. Your marriage is struggling and you don't know how to fight for it. Your kids are walking away from faith and you don't have answers. You're anxious all the time, but you don't know how to find peace. You say you trust God, but you can't sleep because you're terrified about the future. You know about God, but you don't actually know Him. That's casual Christianity. And it's collapsing under the weight of what's happening in the world right now. Here's the hard truth nobody wants to hear. Casual Christianity was built for comfortable times. And we're not in comfortable times anymore. We're in warfare. And you're showing up with no armor, no training, and no discipline. Daniel survived the lion's den because he prayed three times a day, every single day, no matter what. Jesus withdrew to pray before daybreak while everyone else was sleeping. The early church devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, and prayer. Not when they felt like it, not when it was convenient. They devoted themselves. That's why they survived persecution. That's why they turned the world upside down. That's why their faith didn't crumble when everything around them did. Because they had disciplines that held when storms hit. This is the God Chaser Podcast with Evan Evans, and this is episode two. We're talking about spiritual disciplines. And I know what you're thinking. Here we go. Another guilt trip about not praying enough. This isn't guilt, this is survival. Because the believers who make it through what's coming won't be the ones who showed up to church on Sunday and called it good. They'll be the ones who built roots that go deep, habits that anchor them, disciplines that make them immovable when everything around them is shaking. We're going to look at real people who survived, concentration camps, communist prisons, and years of torture because they had disciplines built before the crisis hit. We're going to give you practical, actionable steps you can start today. And we're going to show you why this isn't about religious performance or earning God's love. It's about experiencing God's presence when everything is trying to pull you away from Him. The next generation is watching. They're watching how you respond to chaos. They're watching what you run to when you're afraid. They're watching whether your faith is real or just religious talk. Don't let them see casual Christianity. Show them something worth following. This is episode two. Spiritual disciplines aren't optional anymore. It's time to get serious. Let's go. We identified the wrong places, distraction, control, people, technology, rage. And we showed you where Jesus says to run, the secret place, worship, the word, remembering. But here's what I didn't tell you last week. Running to God once, when you're desperate isn't enough. You need to build something that holds when the storms keep coming. And that's what we're talking about today. Spiritual disciplines. I know, I know what you're thinking. Here we go. Bible reading, prayer, fasting. I've heard this a thousand times. Yeah, you've heard it. But are you doing it? Because here's the truth I need you to hear. Casual Christianity is dying. It's not going to survive what's coming. The believers who make it through what's ahead won't be the ones who showed up to church on Sunday and called it good. They'll be the ones who built roots that go deep, habits that anchor them, disciplines that make them immovable when everything around them is shaking. So let's talk about it. Not theory, not religious performance. Real practices that real people use to survive real persecution, real famine, real exile, and real darkness. Let's go. The death of casual Christianity. Let me paint you a picture of what casual Christianity looks like in 2026. You go to church most Sundays. Maybe you're even in a small group. You post Bible verses on Instagram when you're feeling inspired. You pray before meals. Maybe before bed if you remember. You listen to worship music in the car. You have a Bible on your shelf. Maybe you even read it sometimes when life gets hard. And you think that's enough. But here's what's happening. Your marriage is struggling and you don't know how to fight for it. Your kids are walking away from faith, and you don't have answers when they ask hard questions. You're anxious all the time, but you don't know how to find peace. You're angry at everyone, and you don't know how to forgive. You say you trust God, but you can't sleep because you're worried about money. You know what the Bible says, but you don't know how to actually live it. That's casual Christianity. And it's collapsing under the weight of what's happening in the world right now. Why it's not working anymore. Here's the problem. Casual Christianity was built for comfortable times. When life is easy, surface level faith works fine. But we're not in comfortable times anymore. We're in warfare. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12 says, For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. You're in a battle, and you're showing up with no armor, no training, and no discipline. That's not bravery, that's foolishness. 1 Peter. Chapter 5, verse 8 says, Stay alert. Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Someone to devour. Not someone to annoy, not someone to tempt a little bit. Devour. And casual Christianity has made you an easy target. So what am I talking about when I say spiritual disciplines? I'm talking about intentional, repeated practices that train your soul to recognize God's voice, resist the enemy's lies, and remain anchored when storms hit. Think of it like this: if you want to run a marathon, you don't just show up on race day and hope for the best. You train every single day, you build endurance, you strengthen muscles, you develop habits that prepare your body for what's coming. Spiritual disciplines are the same thing. They're training for your soul. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 14 says, Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Through training, not through osmosis, not through hoping, through training. The core disciplines. Let me give you the main ones. One, prayer, talking to God and listening for his voice. Two, Bible reading, consuming the word daily, not occasionally. Three, fasting, starving your flesh to feed your spirit. Four worship declaring who God is regardless of circumstances. Five solitude. Scripture memorization, hiding God's word in your heart. Seven, confession, bringing sin into the light before it destroys you. Eight accountability. Having people who can speak truth to you. These aren't optional extras for super spiritual people. These are baseline requirements for surviving what's ahead. The biblical case for discipline. Let me show you what scripture says about this. Daniel chapter 6, verse 10 says, But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Read that again. Just as he had always done. And what did he do? He prayed three times a day, as usual, not because he felt like it, not because it was convenient, because it was his discipline. That's what kept him anchored when everyone around him was bowing to false gods. That's what gave him the courage to choose death over compromise. His discipline wasn't religious performance, it was his lifeline. Jesus' pattern of withdrawal. Luke chapter 5, verse 16 says, But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Often, not once in a while when he was stressed. Often. Jesus, who was literally God in flesh, made it a pattern to get alone and pray. If he needed that, what makes you think you don't? Mark. Chapter 1, verse 35 says, before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Before daybreak, while everyone else was sleeping in an isolated place. That wasn't casual. That was intentional. That was discipline. The early churches, commitment. Acts chapter 2, verse 42 says, all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper and to prayer. Devoted themselves, not showed up when it was convenient, not did it when they felt inspired. Devoted, that's the word. And look what happened. Acts chapter 2, verse 47 says, and each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. The church exploded because believers were devoted to the disciplines that kept them connected to God. Let me give you some examples of people who survived hell because they had disciplines that held Cory Ten Boom in the concentration camp. Boom and her sister Betsy were imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jews during World War II. Every day they faced starvation, disease, brutality, and death. And every single morning before the gods came, they held a secret worship service in the barracks. They read from a smuggled Bible, they prayed, they sang hymns in whispers. Not because they felt like it, not because it was easy, because it was their discipline, and that discipline kept their souls alive when everything around them was trying to kill them. Corey later wrote, There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still. She knew that because she practiced his presence even in hell. Richard Wernbrand in Communist Prison. Richard Wernbrand was a Romanian pastor who spent 14 years in communist prisons, including three years in solitary confinement, no Bible, no other believers, no light, no contact with anyone for three years. How did he survive? He recited every scripture verse he had memorized out loud every day. He preached entire sermons to himself. He sang every hymn he could remember. He prayed without ceasing. His spiritual disciplines, built before prison, saved his sanity and his faith. When he was finally released, he said, The prison years were not wasted. God used them to deepen my faith. That depth came from discipline. Brother Yun in Chinese persecution. Brother Yun, known as the Heavenly Man, endured years of torture in Chinese prisons for preaching the gospel. He was beaten, starved, electrocuted, left for dead multiple times, but he had a practice. He prayed all night, every night, not for deliverance, for more opportunities to share Jesus. When God asked how he survived the torture, he said, Jesus was with me in the cell. He knew that because he practiced the presence of God long before the cell. His disciplines made him unbreakable. Why disciplines work. You might be thinking, okay, those are extreme examples. I'm not in a concentration camp. Not yet. But the principles are the same. Here's why spiritual disciplines work. One, they create habit pathways. When you practice something consistently, your brain builds neural pathways that make it automatic. You don't have to think about it anymore. You just do it. That's why Daniel prayed three times a day, as usual. It was so ingrained in him that not even a death threat could stop him. When crisis hits, you won't rise to the occasion. You'll fall to the level of your training. If you've trained yourself to run to God first, that's where you'll run. If you haven't, you'll run to panic. 2. They build spiritual strength. Just like lifting weights builds physical strength, spiritual disciplines build spiritual strength. You're training your soul to recognize God's voice over the noise, to choose worship over worry, to default to faith instead of fear. 1 Timothy 4, verse 7 to 8 says, Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. Train yourself. Not hope, not wish. Train. 3. They create anchors in the storm. When everything around you is chaos, you need something that doesn't move. Your disciplines become your anchors. No matter what happens, you pray. No matter what you feel you worship, no matter what you see, you read the word. Those anchors keep you from drifting when the current is trying to pull you away from God. Let me give you specific actionable disciplines you can start today. 1. Morning prayer before your phone. This is the most important one. Before you check your phone, before you look at the news, before you start the day, spend 10 minutes with God. Daniel. Chapter 6, verse 10 says he prayed three times a day. Jesus prayed before daybreak. If they needed it, you need it. Here's what I do. Three minutes. Thank God for three specific things. Five minutes. Read one chapter of the Bible. Start with Psalms or John. Two minutes. Pray one honest prayer about the day ahead. That's it. Ten minutes? Can't find ten minutes? Then you're too busy. Cut something else. Two. Scripture memorization. Pick one verse per week. Memorize it. Write it on a note card. Put it on your mirror. Set it as your phone wallpaper. Say it out loud when you wake up. When you drive. When you're anxious. Psalm 100 19, verse 11 says, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Hidden it. Not just read it, hidden it. When you're in a crisis, you won't have time to Google a verse. But if it's hidden in your heart, it'll be there when you need it. Start with these. Isaiah chapter 41, verse 10, Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 to 7, Romans chapter 8, verse 28. 3. Weekly fasting. Pick one day a week. Don't eat until dinner. Use that hunger to remind you to pray. Every time your stomach growls, talk to God. Matthew chapter 6, verse 16 says, And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled, so people will admire them for their fasting. When you fast, Jesus assumed his followers would fast. Why? Because fasting breaks the power of the flesh and sharpens your spirit. It trains you to say no to what your body wants so you can say yes to what your soul needs. Start with one day, build from there. Four, daily worship declaration. Every single day, declare one truth about God out loud. Not because you feel it, because it's true. God, you are faithful even when I'm not. God, you're in control even when I feel chaos. God, you're good even when life is hard. Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17 to 19 did this. He said, Even if everything falls apart, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. That's not emotion, that's defiance. It's saying, Devil, you can take everything else, but you can't have my worship. 5. Sabbath rest. One day a week, stop. No work, no emails, no hustle. Just rest and worship. Exodus chapter 20, verse 8 says, Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Remember, because you'll forget. Because culture will tell you that constant productivity is a virtue. It's not. It's idolatry. God rested on the seventh day, not because he was tired. If you can't rest one day a week, you're trusting yourself more than you're trusting God. 6. Confession and accountability. Find one person who can ask you the hard questions. Are you walking in purity? Are you harboring bitterness? Are you actually spending time with God or just talking about it? James chapter 5, verse 16 says, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. To each other, not just to God, to each other. Because sin loves secrecy, it dies in the light. If you're hiding something, it's growing. Bring it into the light before it destroys you. Now let me say something important before you get overwhelmed. Jesus isn't standing over you with a clipboard checking off whether you did your disciplines today. That's religion. That's performance. That's bondage. These disciplines aren't about earning God's love. You already have it. They're about experiencing God's presence when everything around you is trying to pull you away from Him. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28 to 30. Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light, humble and gentle at heart. That's the Jesus calling you to discipline, not harsh, not demanding, humble and gentle. He knows you're tired. He knows you feel like you're failing. He knows you've tried before and quit. And he's still saying, Come to me. Start small. You don't have to do all of this perfectly starting tomorrow. Pick one discipline. Start there. Maybe it's 10 minutes of morning prayer. Maybe it's memorizing one verse, and maybe it's fasting one meal a week. Just start. Proverbs 16 on verse 3 says, Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed. Commit to one thing, build on it, let God grow it. You're going to miss days. You're going to fail. You're going to forget. That's not the end. That's just being human. Lamentations. Chapter 3, verse 22 to 23 says, The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each morning. Each morning. Fresh mercies, new start. So if you miss today, start tomorrow. If you failed this week, start next week. Just don't quit. Why this matters now more than ever. Let me bring this home. We're living in a time where the next generation is watching us. They're watching how we respond to chaos. They're watching what we run to when we're afraid. They're watching whether our faith is real or just religious performance. And if they see casual Christianity, if they see us claiming to follow Jesus but living like everyone else, they'll walk away. But if they see us anchored in storms, if they see us at peace when everyone else is panicking, if they see us running to God first instead of running to everything else, they'll want what we have. We will not hide these truths from our children. We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders, for he issued his laws to Jacob, he gave his instructions to Israel, he commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them, even the children not yet born, and they in turn will teach their own children. That happens through discipline, through practices passed down, through habits modeled, through lives lived that prove faith is real. You're not just building disciplines for yourself, you're building them for the generation watching you. Here is a promise for those who have discipline. Psalm 1 verse 1 says, Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers, but they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Like trees planted along the riverbank, deep roots, constant water, fruit in every season. That's what discipline does. It plants you so deep that when the storms come, you don't move. When the drought comes, you still have water. When everyone else is withering, you're still bearing fruit. That's not because you're special, it's because you're planted. And planting requires discipline. Next week, we're talking about something that's going to make some of you uncomfortable. Episode three. You can't be salt if you taste like the world. We're going to talk about separation without isolation, about being in the world but not of the world, about why holiness isn't a dirty word, and why compromise will cost you everything. Because here's the truth: if you look, sound, act, and live exactly like everyone around you, what do you have to offer them? They don't need another version of themselves. They need Jesus. And they'll only see him if you look different. So join me next week. It's time to talk about what it actually means to be set apart. Thanks for listening to the God Chaser Podcast. If this episode challenged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. And remember, casual Christianity is dying. It's time to get serious about the discipline that will keep you anchored when everything else is shaken. I'm Evan Evans, and see you next week.

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What you wear reflects what you pursue. The God Chaser Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and platforms all over the world. If this episode strengthened you, please download, subscribe, and share it. So others are encouraged to grow deeper in their walk with God. This podcast exists to support your faith, not replace it. Let it serve as a supplement and an encouragement along the way. There are more episodes available, and we look forward to serving you again. To Christ's glory.