Week 1: Introduction — The Spiritual Disciplines

1.Foster famously begins by writing, 'Superficiality is the curse of our age.' What do you think he means by that? Where do you see superficiality most clearly in your own spiritual life or in the church culture around you?

2.Foster distinguishes between 'trying' and 'training' in the spiritual life — he argues that we cannot transform ourselves by willpower alone, but we can train ourselves to be available for God's transforming work. How does that distinction land for you? Does it feel freeing, confusing, or challenging?

3.He describes the disciplines as a 'path' rather than a 'destination.' What is the difference, practically speaking, between treating a spiritual practice as a path toward God and treating it as a goal or achievement in itself?

4.Foster introduces three categories of disciplines — Inward, Outward, and Corporate. Before reading further, what assumptions or preconceptions do you bring to each category? Which one do you feel most drawn to, and which one makes you most uneasy?

5.Foster argues that the spiritual disciplines are for ordinary people, not religious superstars. Do you genuinely believe that? What voices — internal or external — tell you that deep spiritual practice is not really available to someone like you?

6.Foster situates the disciplines within the grace of God — they are not ways to earn God's favor but ways to receive it. How does grace change the way you approach a spiritual practice like fasting or prayer? What would it look like to do these things 'with grace' rather than 'for grace'?

7.What are you hoping to receive from this study — honestly? Name it specifically. What would it look like, twelve weeks from now, to say that this book genuinely changed you?