Deeper With God: A Spiritual Practices List to Help You

Do you go to church regularly, read your Bible, and pray… but still feel like you’re lacking maturity with God? You want to go deeper with him but honestly you don’t know how to at this point. This spiritual practices list can give you ways to have the deeper relationship with God you are looking for. 

As you implement the practices the Lord leads you to, you will feel closer with him and your relationship will become deeper. You will also grow to be more like him, experiencing personal transformation. You will not be who you used to be. 

He knows your heart and is so excited that this is your desire. He is proud of you.

What Is a Spiritual Practice?

Spiritual practices, also known as holy habits or spiritual disciplines, are things that you can do with God and for God to help you go deeper in your relationship with him or grow in a certain area. For example, if you wanted to hear more from God, you could practice the holy habit of solitude and silence. 

They are all biblical and have been done for many years. Yielding to the Spirit propels you to live according to how God calls you to, maturing you.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…” (Titus 2:11-12, ESV) 

This is maturity in Christ: living how he calls you to. However, it takes effort to get closer to God; applying spiritual practices is a way to do it intentionally. 

Some examples of spiritual practices that you might already be doing are prayer, worship, and fellowship. You can pray and see which ones to follow as you look at the spiritual disciplines list below.

Spiritual Practices List

Choosing to do daily spiritual practices will help you go deeper with God, maturing you. To help you find the best holy habits for you, you need to understand that they are divided in two groups. 

One group is practices that help you get filled inwardly with God—they change you inwardly, such as reading the Bible to mature. The other group is practices that you do outwardly with God, such as prayer to mature.

Below, you will find a Christian spiritual practices list to help you go deeper with God. You should try to do some spiritual practices examples from each group. Commit to them by making a practical plan: schedule a time on your calendar daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on what it is. It takes discipline but it’s so worth it. 

1. Reflection

The first practice on the holy habits list is reflection. Daily reflection helps you see what God is doing in your life and how you can grow, too. It helps you see his presence, his goodness, and what he is trying to teach you. It can help you make sense of what you are going through. It is important to practice daily reflection with the Lord. 

You can ask yourself questions such as: How is God moving in my life right now? What does he want me to do? What is he teaching me through this experience? 

You should also reflect on all the different aspects of your life. Your relationships, your heart, your family life, your work life, etc. 

Do you need to forgive someone? Or yourself? How are you doing emotionally? If you are sad or angry, reflect why and give that to the Lord. This gives the Lord more of your heart and lets you be free. 

Daily reflection of your day and in all areas of your life with Jesus is important and needed. Make time and room to listen to him in order to mature. It helps you be a healthy disciple of Christ. You can do this before bed every night. This will change your life and you will go deeper with Jesus. 

2. Study

Maybe studying isn’t your thing. It might make you feel like you are back in school, but studying really helps you feel closer to God. God wants you to praise him for who he is and what he can do. 

“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” (Psalm 111:2, ESV) 

Knowing him by studying his word is praising him. As you gain knowledge and learn more about Jesus, it changes you. You should study the Bible. You should look at commentaries on the Bible to help you understand it better and know God’s original meaning, which is for you too. 

Studying God’s word is loving him with all your mind, which is part of the greatest commandment.

You should also study by reading secondary books on areas you want to grow in. Practice this spiritual discipline by taking the time to study daily or a few times a week. It doesn’t have to be long. Just make it a point to be disciplined. This will mature you as you gain knowledge.

3. Retreat

A retreat is a time where you are alone with God. It’s like a date with God or it can be a few days away with him. You can pray during this time, read the Bible, reflect, spend time outside in nature, and journal. 

Whatever the Lord leads you to, do it together with him. It’s an intentional time where you spend time with Jesus. 

Jesus went off by himself to be with the Father. You see this because he needed to hear from him to know what to do and to be strengthened. It was of most importance to him and came before everything. 

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35, ESV) 

Maybe you can’t take a few days, but you can take a morning or afternoon and just be with Jesus. Be in his creation together; share your deep, raw feelings with him. Take time to listen to him. Make this a practice in your life to know what to do and for the ability to keep going. 

Applying this one from the spiritual practices list is really powerful. God will honor you, as you take the time away from your life and busy schedule to be with him alone. He will show up for you. 

4. Celebration 

Celebration is a holy habit you should incorporate in your life, and it’s biblical.

“‘And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:23-24, ESV) 

You should celebrate what the Lord is doing in your life. You should rejoice with others about what God is doing in their lives. Rejoice always in the Lord and include this in your life. 

Celebrate special events such as birthdays or anniversaries by giving praise to the Lord and enjoying life. He wants you to love your life; incorporating this spiritual practice can help you do that. 

5. Confession and Repentance

None of us are perfect—we all fall short of the glory of God. Daily practicing confession and repentance is so important to do. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, ESV) 

This helps you to stay humble, as you rely on him. You can do this in your quiet time with Jesus. Tell him what you did wrong and ask him for forgiveness. Anything that goes against God you can confess and repent from. 

6. Fasting

Many times we hear about fasting and we immediately cringe at the thought of having to give up something. But God moves in powerful ways when you practice this spiritual discipline. You should do it with the right heart for Jesus—wanting to place him above it all—and for the right reasons—just for him, not for people. 

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18, ESV) 

You can give up something that you feel is keeping you from relying on Jesus or something that is replacing him. Maybe instead of finding comfort in him you go to chocolate; maybe you don’t want to deal with a problem so you scroll through social media. 

If you give these things up for a month, you can then choose to seek him. You will get closer to God. 

It is important to ask the Lord and be alert to what things are keeping you from drawing closer to him, seeking him and relying on him. Be alert; fast as you see you need to in your life.

7. Service

Another item on the spiritual disciplines list is service. Service is helping others. Jesus calls us to serve others as this is what he came as: a servant. He died for everyone. 

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, ESV) 

You can practice this discipline on the holy habit list by helping at a local organization, your church, etc. You can serve a person you know or a people group that you are passionate about helping, such as the homeless or foster children. This is loving your neighbor.

Make it a monthly or weekly commitment. See if your church is helping an organization and volunteer with them. This will grow you closer to God as you give your time to be selfless. You will be more like him. 

8. Sabbath 

Many of us don’t like to rest, or don’t think it’s ok, or even know how… but God calls us to. He showed you a schedule when he created the world: to work six days then rest on the seventh. You should copy it because you want to be like him. It’s a gift for you to find refreshment. 

“And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27, ESV) 

This is a day you set aside to honor the Lord by not doing your usual daily work, etc. It’s a different day where you intentionally focus on him. You honor him by enjoying the things and people he has placed in your life. 

Do special things together, like play a board game or watch a movie. Things you would not normally do. You can go out in creation with your family, read his word together, or spend more time in the Bible yourself, pray, etc. 

This is a spiritual practice that you should observe weekly. You should try to get a complete rest. He will take care of all things as you honor his command.

9. Fellowship 

Being in fellowship with other believers is so important. Living like this was demonstrated in the Bible. 

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42, ESV) 

Being in fellowship with others allows you to go deeper in your relationship with Christ because you can study the Bible together to get new insights, pray together to be uplifted and encouraged at hard times, and get help also, experiencing God’s love and provision. 

Make it a point to observe this spiritual practice. You can do this by joining a Bible study or other group at your church that meets regularly. Or you can invite others over to your home for a meal. 

10. Prayer

Prayer is so powerful and you should be doing it all the time. 

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV)

Prayer is talking to God, anywhere and at any time. God calls you to always be praying. 

You may already be praying, but you can improve your prayer life by doing it more often or by adding things to it to allow you to go deeper with Jesus, such as praise or repentance. Your prayer life can be revolutionized. 

You should be praying from your heart, sharing your deep feelings with God. You can also pray the scriptures: God’s words back to him. It shows you want his will in your life, which changes you. 

You can include the whole Trinity in your prayers. For example, praising the Father and Jesus, and asking to be filled by the Spirit. 

You can tell Jesus what you are thankful for in prayer. Your prayers can include giving Jesus all your burdens and surrendering all things to him. You can pray for others. 

Make it a point to pray daily, and throughout the day, too, about big and small things. He wants to hear it all.  

If you are desiring to have a deeper relationship with Jesus, knowing spiritual practices Christian believers can do is so helpful. There are so many reasons to apply these powerful spiritual practices to your life. You will grow to be more like Jesus in character and behavior, display the fruits of the Spirit, and draw closer to him. Your life will be transformed overall. Applying this spiritual practices list to your life is a good place to start.