Structure is great and fine but I don’t want to be strangled by it.  And in avoiding strangulation I have avoided any type of discipline or ritual.  As with everything else, I have swung the pendulum to the extreme.  And my nature is to swing it back with force yet I dread the structure.  I know I need to enforce some discipline into my life.  I know I need to create some rituals that don’t get interrupted by the daily distractions.  The only place I know to begin this process is to ask God for help.  Where do I need discipline and where do I need rituals?  How do I clear my mind and heart and body and make more room for Him?

So as with everything, I will define the words.  Next I will research and lets see what the Bible (aka GOD) says about these things. And let’s get a plan of action.

Discipline:  activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill (synonyms:  restraint, will, regulation)

Ritual:  an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or rite.       (synonyms:  habit, routine, custom)

Hebrews 12:11 (NLT)

11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

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Proverbs 25:28 (NLT)

2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NLT)

6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

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1 Peter 4:1-11 (NLT) : Living for God

4 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.[a] 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead[b]—so although they were destined to die like all people,[c] they now live forever with God in the Spirit.[d]

7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. 8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.