ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Richard Blackaby suggests pairing what he calls “godly habits” with daily routines.
The first-born son of Southern Baptist Convention elder statesman Henry Blackaby spoke May 18-20 at the Billy Graham Conference Center, two miles northeast of Asheville, about the sequel to “Experiencing God.” The first was written by Henry Blackaby in 1990, later translated into 80 languages and selling more than 8 million copies in the English language alone.
“We’ve developed a Bible study to help you not have to rely upon a constant infusion of professionally produced Bible studies; I’m not sure my publisher’s thrilled about this,” Richard Blackaby told his 348 listeners from 29 states.
Set to be available June 1 from Lifeway Press, “Experiencing God in Everyday Life: A Journey Toward Spiritual Maturity,” was co-written over the last year by Richard Blackaby, president of Blackaby Ministries International, and his two sons, Mike and Daniel. The three men will be in the Exhibit Hall’s Lifeway Village from 1-2 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, at the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando to sign copies of the book.
The Blackabys built upon the original book’s seven realities – God is always at work around you; God pursues a continuing love relationship with you; and five more – to develop this new study for busy Christians.
“This book is not intended to replace the original but to supplement and complement the life-changing truths it taught,” Richard Blackaby writes in the preface, adding that this sequel “answers the question: If you go through your week without having a spectacular ‘God story’ happen to you, did you miss God?”
During his three-day, four-session presentation of the Experiencing God sequel, Blackaby told many stories about his parents, wife Lisa, their three children and eight grandchildren. Each one related to a point he was making in the book.
While all were poignant, one seemed to particularly resonate, judging by mealtime conversations afterward.
One grandson, approaching 3 years old, was still attached to his cluster of six pacifiers. His mom told him several times that he was going to be a big boy soon, and then the pacifiers would have to go.
It wasn’t quite his birthday yet when he came into the kitchen one day with all six of his “dearest friends,” as Blackaby put it. His mom and grandmother watched as the toddler took them to the wastebasket.
As Blackaby told it: “He comes over and he stands in front of the garbage. And he’s very, I mean, these are like his dearest friends, right? He’s looking at each one and so many special memories. And then he steps on the little thing that makes the lid pop up, looks at them again, looks over at his mother, his grandmother, and then he looks at them one more time as he says, ‘I’m a big boy now,’ and puts them in the trash.”
Blackaby paused.
“Some of us just need to take our spiritual pacifiers and throw them in the garbage and say, it’s time to grow up in every area of our life,” Blackaby said. “Our attitudes, habits, sins besetting us and just say, ‘This is enough. I’m way too old as a Christian to still be struggling with this.’”
The Experiencing God sequel about the journey to spiritual maturity describes the steps – Blackaby calls them “godly habits” – that easily can be incorporated into a person’s life.
- Scripture can be memorized with the help of a verse taped to a washroom mirror by people brushing their teeth.
- Gratitude prayers for God’s provision can be lifted up while brewing coffee.
- Written reminders as a person leaves for work or school to take notice of God’s activity.
- And several more.
Gaining spiritual maturity can be likened to training for a marathon: one stride at a time, Blackaby said. “Consistency is the key. Investing in godliness is a long-term strategy. … You don’t just suddenly stumble into a good habit. You choose them. You decide, ‘I want this to happen. I want to practice this. I want this to be a part of my daily practice.’”
At the same time, divesting unhelpful habits, such as watching television so late there’s no time for God the next morning.
“One of the reasons we put some of this material in the new book is because people would take Experiencing God and say, ‘I’ve never felt so close to God in my life.’ And then a month later, they’re in the doldrums again,” Blackaby said. “What we realized is a lot of people never developed godly habits. They don’t have godly rhythms in their life, so they need to constantly prop up their walk with God with another Bible study. The reality is, when you develop enough godly habits, your lifestyle becomes conducive to producing Christlikeness.
“I’ve seen for myself what happens when you transfer a bad habit and let God build a good habit in its place,” Blackaby said, after describing a time his wife let him know his forgetfulness (to follow through on what he’d said he would do after he finished what he was working on) hurt her. “What would your life look like a year from now if God helped you begin practicing some godly new habits?”
The Experiencing God in Everyday Life: A Journey Toward Spiritual Maturity workbook has been trimmed to an eight-week study. Each week’s focus is on one of eight realities. Each starts with God’s activity: “God draws you into His eternal purpose,” followed by “God aligns …,” invites, shapes, works, connect, grows, calls.
Five short daily exercises are followed by a weekly group study that includes a free supplemental video, QR codes and other resources.
“Lord, I pray you’d help us to delight in practicing godliness, to build in habits that make us more like your son,” Richard Blackaby prayed at the end of the third session. “Lord, I pray we won’t get discouraged and we won’t take on too much. But Lord, over time, would you help us to insert godly practices into our lives day after day? Inch us closer every day to being more like Jesus?”
Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.
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