Recently, I read bestselling book Atomic Habits by James Clear. As I read the book, I couldn’t help but really look at some of his concepts as great ways to practice spiritual formation as a Christian. Now, James Clear is not a Christian and his book is found in the self-help section of the book store, which turns off some groups of Christians. However, I found 5 big takeaways from the book that will help those who are struggling with forming daily habits of spiritual formation in their apprenticeship to Jesus. I hope that you can take these tips and apply them to your routine to change your habits.

1. Being vs Doing.

It’s not about changing your actions, rather it’s about forming yourself into a new identity. Instead of stating that you are a Christian because you go to church, read your Bible, pray, or do spiritual things, our formation must have a foundation upon who we are in Christ. Now, we start living into our new identity. We are apprentices of Jesus. We are chosen as sons and daughters by the King of the Universe. We are His beloved. So if we want to change our habits to grow closer to God, it’s not about what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become. Your identity in Christ emerges out of your practices. In this way, the spiritual disciplines or practices are not an end in itself, but a means to an end – to be formed into the image of Jesus; to take on His life and His character.

“Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.”

2. Habit Stacking.

“Habit-stacking is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a current habit.”

The Habit-Stacking Formula is: After [current habit], I will [new habit]. This idea can be so useful in the life of a follower of Jesus. Imagine using the formula in this way: “After I pour my coffee in the morning, I will sit down in my rocking chair and pray.” Combine a spiritual practice with something you already do.

3. Environment > Motivation.

We are more likely to notice cues (which habits are initiated by) that stand out in our environment. Over the time of consistently practicing good habits of spiritual formation, the habits become associated with the entire context surrounding the behavior. Practically, this looks like praying every day after you pour your coffee (the first cue), but you also sit in the same rocking chair, turn on instrumental prayer music, dim the lights in the room, and doing it early in the morning when the house is quiet. All of these things individually working together (the context) becomes the new cue to build the new habit of praying, mainly because you aren’t fighting old cues, like scrolling on your phone. These spiritual formation habits become easier to practice because there’s less friction in starting them. So when you start your day with low motivation, the environment that you have carefully curated around you will subconsciously awaken cues to continue the habit – even though you don’t feel like it.

4. Community Matters.

One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group. This is why a local church community is so important. If we surround ourselves with a strong church community who also care about our spiritual growth, then it will likely be easier to gain momentum in habits. This can be practiced in a group setting of 8-12 people in a small group or in a one-on-one setting where we have an accountability partner. When we confess sin to one another we create a social cost to a performed behavior. We were created as social beings and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us. Knowing the someone else is keeping tabs on you (in a healthy way) is a powerful motivator to sustain spiritual formation habits.

5. Patient Practice.

We can plan our prayer times all we want, strategize how we will read the Bible, and even put “serve the poor” on the calendar, but the most effective form of learning is simply practicing. Some people think they need to start fasting for a week, praying for the first three hours of each day, and read the Bible in a week when they start out as a new Christian. Maybe we should practice Clear’s two-minute rule. Basically, when you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do. Even if you only pray for two minutes, that’s fine. But after a week of consistency, increase it to four minutes. Then increase to eight minutes, and so on until you’ve reached an adequate time of praying each day. After a while, the practice becomes a ritual which makes it harder to stop that habit. All it takes is patient practice.