" Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

1.  Prayer

2.  Praying in the Spirit
3.  Fasting
4.  Bible Study
5.  Tithing
6.  Church attendance
7.  Faithfulness

1.  Many think of it as a negative word or something that is unpleasant.

2.  Yet, discipline is good for us and can be enjoyable if approached with the right attitude.

3.  It has been said that, "discipline is doing what you don't want to do to become what you want to be."

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 -- "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?  So run, that ye may obtain.   And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.  Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air;  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:  lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

4.  The Apostle Paul gives an analogy of comparison.  An athlete will go through tough physical training all year for one race and a crown that would perish.

In the natural world, there can only be one #1 winner in a race.  In the spiritual world, all can be winners.

In the natural world, in the times of Paul, the crown was made of a perishable plant material and the winner would wear the crown to show everyone he was the winner.  In the spiritual world, all the winners of the race will wear an incorruptible crown.

5.  We must discipline our lives spiritually to be able to run the race of life and complete it without being disqualified.

1.  He will train for hours a day.

2.  He will only eat certain foods.

3.  Even the company he keeps is prioritized.

4.  So, the Christian, if he is going to run in such a way as to win the prize, must prioritize his life around God and His will.

1 Corinthians 9:26 -- "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air;"

Someone who is in training has a purpose for that training.  There is a goal to obtain.

Romans 8:29 -- "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

The goal, the objective, the focus of every Christian is to be like Jesus; to let Jesus be Jesus in us.

1 Corinthians 9:27 --  "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:  lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Paul wasn't talking about subjecting his physical body to pain, but rather those fleshly appetites that war against the Spirit of God and the ways of God's Word.

In closing thoughts about disciplining your life with the goal of becoming like Christ, it must be understood that spiritual disciplines are not a fad or phase a Christian goes through but it is a life long commitment to get and remain in spiritual shape.

1.  Communication is when you talk to God.

2.  Communion is when you listen to God.  --  This is when your relationship with God grows.

1 John 5:14-15 --  "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us;  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

1.  In this passage, it tells the believer that they are to pray with confidence.

2.  When we pray, we are to pray according to the will of God.