In another forum, I’ve written that most of us don’t change habits, in the long term, even after a crisis. 90% of heart disease patients don’t change their detrimental lifestyles. Duhigg in his “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” points out that habits are shortcuts. We’ve evaluated options, made decisions and now we just stick with those decisions and they become routines. Grocery shopping, brushing teeth, reactions to personnel conflicts at work, hiring practices, responses to competitors’ price cuts, etc.
Likewise in our spiritual life, this is true. If we haven’t had a habit of praying, it’s hard to start one unless you get positive feedback (like the minty mouth-feel after brushing your teeth or an increased level of energy and stamina from exercise routines). This is also true for many of the spiritual and piety disciplines like meditation, scripture reading, bible study and so on. The destination of discipleship is to be transformed into His image and model His character and share His Good News to those around us. This like many “healthy” habits requires good feedback.
How would you rate God in giving you feedback as you initiate new habit or continue with established habits? The twelve Disciples got some feedback when they were able to perform some miracles, just like their Rabbi. They were elated and also confident that they could call down fire and brimstone on people who rejected them. (Luke 10 e.g.) and Jesus congratulated them, but reminded them of a greater reward—their names recorded in heaven. Christ teaches a lot about prayer and how much our Father in heaven hears them: continue praying He reminds us; your Father in heaven knows what you need just like He knows what birds and flowers need; He will not deny us the bread we ask for and torture us with rocks or scorpions to eat, and so on.
And yet many find God silent. Even the psalmists have this complaint. Surely, His people groaned from unanswered prayers while in Egyptian slavery or Roman oppression. Maybe His silence allowed the people to fall away, again and again and again as recorded in Judges, the Kings and the Chronicles.
Does God not listen? Does He not want to encourage us in our habit of prayer? Or are we praying to a “different god” of comfort, prosperity, prestige…? 2-3 million people heard God’s voice as He spoke to Moses on the mountain (Exodus 19.9), and they repeatedly committed to do all the Lord has spoken and be obedient. They witnessed the glory of the Lord on the mountain. Moses and the elders saw Him with a pavement of sapphire under His feet (Ex. 24.10). They had already heard many of the commands. But…when Moses went up to the mountain for forty days, the people forgot. They hadn’t yet created their new habit. They resorted to worshiping in an old way with an image—in this case, a golden calf. (Exodus 32). They squandered precious resources the Lord had provided them through the blessing of the Egyptians who compelled them to leave.
How much do we fall back into our old routines when we fail to perceive answers to prayers or fail to see our character being transformed into one more loving, joyful, peaceable, gentle, self-controlled and so on?
How weak—how human—are we that we need short-term, repetitive reinforcement of good habits?
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