The Privileged Life: Are You Ready for Spiritual Growth?

“You therefore, beloved…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:17-18)

Frothy-white serviceberry trees are blooming here in our Tennessee mountains, along with golden jonquils and forsythia bushes. Folks are already itching to get the ground turned up for homegrown tomatoes…even though we all know better than to plant anything before Mother’s Day. The weather is just too fickle, with summery sunshine in March and snow flurries in April.

Still, we yearn to see the green sprouts of spring, especially after the grays and browns of winter. Growth means we’re moving ahead, making a difference in our work and home life.

I recently attended a great seminar for businesswomen, called “Embracing Opportunities for Growth,” held at Spark Plaza in downtown Johnson City. A panel of three successful women* talked about their own life journeys and shared nifty nuggets of wisdom about preparing for growth:

Make a mission statement, and put it on your desk to help you focus on priorities.
Keep going. Set reasonable goals, and take baby steps toward them every day.
“What can I finish?” Take half-baked projects, and choose one to complete.
Look for where you thrive and go there…seek the place of your best fit.
Get a mentor, accountability partner, or life coach…someone who will hold your feet to the fire, who will tell you the “hard things” you need to hear.
Embrace closed doors, and keep applying yourself. Look for God’s hands in rejections and successes.
Look for ways to balance your time and lifestyle with your work.
Take advantage of opportunities for further career education, especially if your employer is willing to compensate for it.
Your professional life is a journey. Everything you experience—the good, the bad, and the hard—will all be used. Be resilient.
Never compromise your integrity.

All of this is quite useful. Following their instructions will help you tackle your chosen career goals.

But what about spiritual growth? How can you make that happen?

You really can’t…just as you can’t make yourself grow inches taller. God plants seeds in your heart, transforms your mind through His word, and gives you opportunities for growth.

What can you do? Pray, asking the Lord for a stronger, deeper faith.

The “Jabez prayer” approach has been popular in some circles, whereby you ask God to “expand your territory” (see 1 Chronicles 4:10). Be careful about requesting that expansion, though. God may give you the unexpected growth and startling beauty of fireweed, which often comes only after the devastating cost of forest fires.

Here’s my own outline to pray for personal spiritual growth:

Spend daily time in worship. Take short moments to stand in awe of your Maker, the only One who will give you the growth you desire. He is your heavenly Father who wants you to approach Him, give Him your love, and ask Him for help.
Seek His will. Ask His Holy Spirit for solutions to short-term problems and guidance for long-term goals. Recognize that His will always supersedes yours. Ask Him to work out His good plan for your future. Surrender to it.
Ask Him for wisdom. His word is a daily gift to feed your soul. Every book in the Bible is full of wisdom, admonishment, and encouragement to cultivate your heart. Invite His Holy Spirit to show you His truth in Scriptures and help you accept the things that are hard to understand.
Forgive, and request forgiveness. You can’t move forward until you have resolved what needs to be forgiven, on your part or another’s.
Prepare your heart for suffering. God’s pruning is painful, but it will keep you on track for proper growth. You’ll be tempted to give up, get discouraged or angry, or resent the disciplines and hardships. But God wants you to put aside all things that get in the way of His priorities for your life. He will destroy some of your idols in the process, and it will hurt!
Focus on God and His kingdom. When you’re having a bad day, remember that your entire life is in His powerful hands to build His kingdom, for His glory. Rejoice in His goodness.

Did you notice? I organized these thoughts around the Lord’s Prayer, the way Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He wanted spiritual growth for His own friends, that they might move forward to build His kingdom.

*Last year’s hyacinths, first blooms to return to the garden*

Friends, as you seek growth in your walk in Jesus Christ, pray for it through His prayer. Lean on His Holy Spirit. Trust in His truth and divine plans. Rest in His sovereignty.

Ask your Savior to give you a richer, fuller, more mature faith this year. He might even give you an abundant crop of homegrown tomatoes, too!

Lord God, let me come to You right now in awe and wonder of Your majesty. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done in my life. Feed me with Your word, and forgive me when I have failed to forgive others. Help me to stand strong in adversity and temptation—please defeat the evils that attack me. And inspire me to grow in faith and service to You, through Your power and for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

*The three members of this stellar panel were Mary Ellen Miller (my terrific accountability partner), Marketing Mel; Shannon Castillo, Mitch Cox Companies; and Britney Deaver, East Tennessee State University, led by moderator Karlee Goodwin, ActionVFX/Spark.

Nancy C. Williams is a Christian wife/mom with a writing career spanning more than 40 years in business and journalism. Williams is the author of the novel To Love a Falcon and the devotional book A Crocus in the Desert: Devotions, Stories, and Prayers for Women Experiencing Infertility. Her weekly blogs are featured on Crossmap.com. To follow Nancy’s posts and news, go to her home page at http://lightbournecreative.com and subscribe at the bottom.