A Man's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines: 12 Habits to Strengthen Your Walk With Christ

by Patrick Morley

Spiritual disciplines are to the believer what medical school is to the doctor. "A man came up to me at a conference where I was speaking and said, 'Pat, do me a favor. Tell me how to be good. I already know how bad I am.'" That statement captures the intent of this book and the purpose of the spiritual disciplines. Spiritual strength, like surgical skill or athletic excellence, requires training and practice. To become the kind of man who walks with God and wields Christ’s influence in your world, you’ll want to begin a consistent regimen of spiritual exercises. In A Man’s Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines , Patrick Morley highlights twelve habits that will strengthen your walk with Christ, By presenting each discipline with a concise overview, several examples, and application ideas to get you going, this powerful guidebook will help you develop the maturity every man of God was designed to reflect.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Discipleship, Religion

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Austen Dalquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Convicting. Practical. A great guide for being a Christ follower and an absolute weapon for the lord

[Brian Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful overview of the spiritual disciplines. Quick read, probably most helpful as a small group curriculum to walk with new/younger believers as they start to consider ways to incorporate daily scripture reading, prayer, sabbath, worship, etc into their lives.

[Gipson Baucum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the book does what it sets out to do pretty well. I like his division of spiritual disciplines into different types (God’s Work, God’s Word, God’s Whisper, God’s Witness: I’m not thrilled about the names themselves, but hey if you’re gonna alliterate sometimes it’s going to be a stretch). A couple of his doctrinal conclusions play into popular misconceptions, but this is tangential. The book is a good introduction to the idea of practicing spiritual disciplines to those who have never considered it before.

[Sarah Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. An unusually good companion to your spirituality as an elder. Inspired by this book, I have also written a blog on Spiritual Habits. You must also read my blog, it is very interesting Visit Here

[Michael Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty straight forward look at spiritual disciplines. I would have liked more of a theological discussion about each one, but overall it was encouraging and helpful, with some good Scriptural support, quotes and discussion questions.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct, to the point with good real life application for the spiritual points it pulls from the Bible. Allows springboard for more involved study if you want, but laid out with good depth for shorter study too.

[Morgan Petermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best. A few good points and takeaways, but a lot of outdated examples and not enough depth on some pretty heavy topics.

[Mark Roeser · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Gordon Saxon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another home run from this prolific Christian writer.

[Jason Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there were some useful nuggets of wisdom in this book, I feel like I may have been the wrong audience. I would probably recommend this to young men who are new to the Christian faith or who have never been able to develop their own effective spiritual disciplines.

I also felt as if at times the book contained too much "religion" and not enough personal journey or development of a relationship with Jesus. I think the author gets it right when he says such things as, "Worship is a personal expression of being overwhelmed by God's goodness and greatness." However, when I read the chapter on prayer and the author suggested such practices as using the ACTS acronym when you pray. I remember learning that in Sunday School as a kid.

The book isn't bad. As I said, it does contain some nuggets of useful wisdom, but I think I may have enjoyed it more if I were a new, or even younger, Christian.

[brian d rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book 4 1/2 stars if I had a choice, which there isn't. This is my second book written by Patrick Morley. One of the things I liked about this book the most, is the fact that the chapters have a brief summary before the chapter begins, and a brief review once the chapter is completed. I found the topics to be relevant, well organized, easy to digest and applicable to how I live every single day. Pacing is fantastic and if one was so inclined this book could easily be read in one day. However, I would recommend this book one chapter a day over the course of 12 days to study all of the spiritual disciplines. This book will easily join the ranks is the most most influential Christian men's books that I read to date. Through enjoyed, wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morley is the author of the "Man in the Mirror" books - I've read none of those. "A Man's Guide" is fairly easy reading, giving a broad overview of the various disciplines for a man to be exercising in his life. None of the chapters go real deep.

I like the fact that each chapter ends with a review of the "big ideas" (helpful since we men are dense at "getting it" sometimes!) and also has discussion questions - making it a good book for a men's small group discussion.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great quick read, well worth the time required. The depth is looking into the related Bible references that are included. The value is also in contemplating what is written and reflecting on it. The value is in the deeper thought required with what Morley is writing in order to catch the deeper point. Ultimately, this is a book written to be reflected upon, and for that it works well. I believe it would also work well for a small group study.

[Danny]

This is a good summary of spiritual disciplines. There are chapters on: A Man and Creation, A Man and the Bible, A Man and Prayer, A Man and Worship, A Man and the Sabbath, A Man and Fellowship, A Man and Counsel, A Man and Fasting, A Man and Spiritual Warfare, A Man and Stewardship, A Man and Service and A Man and Evangelism.

[Jamie Harwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pat Morley does a great job of relating lessons to men. This is a great group ministry resource. There are DVD's that accompany this book that are a great resource as well.

[Damon Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! A very practical guide. I plan to engage in a deep dive with a small group of men to work through the book answering the end-of-chapter questions and creating action plans.

[Joseph Pitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you find Hughe's book a bit dated, or Whitney's too puritanical... Read this.

[Steven Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything this man writes has been fantastic to read.