I want to simply include an extended quote for reflection…Jason Caywood
The Lord Jesus the Model for our Spiritual Practice
“A further help in understanding what spiritual disciplines are for the disciples of Jesus is to recognize them as simply a matter of following him into his own practices, appropriately modified to suit our own condition. We find our way into a life where the power of inward hindrances to obedience/abundance are broken by observing what Jesus and others who have followed him do and learning to structure our lives around those same activities. Thus, although we are indeed not told in formulaic terms what to do in order to build our life upon the rock, everyone who knows anything about Jesus’ life really does know what to do to that end, or can easily find out. . . . So, basically, to put off the old person and put on the new we only follow
Jesus into the activities that he engaged in to nurture his own life in relation to the Father. Of course, his calling and mission was out of all proportion to ours, and he never had our weaknesses, which result from our long training in sin. But his use of solitude, silence, study of scripture, prayer, and service to others all had a disciplinary aspect in his life. And we can be very sure that what he found useful for conduct of his life in the Father will also be useful for us.
It was an important day in my life when at last I understood that if he needed forty days in the wilderness at one point, I very likely could use three or four.” 1
(The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God, Dallas Willard, pp.354-355; italics in original.)