The Spiritual Disciplines are things you can do to order your life so that you can center you life on God. On the other hand, you need to focus on God before and during your practice of a Spiritual Discipline.
I think often about attention–where you place your attention. When you are having a conversation with another person, where is your attention? Is it on what you’ll say? Or is it on what the person is saying? Are you trying to understand them?
It’s the same with God. My current study is the letter to the Romans. Paul says there, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
Victor Frankl was a psychologist who survived the Nazi prison camps. As he survived himself and watched others either survive or succumb, he developed a practice around this idea, “You have one freedom–the freedom to choose your attitude toward your circumstances.” You can choose what to think about. I don’t mean the random thoughts that flash through your mind. I mean the thoughts you choose to dwell on.
Are you feeling down? You can choose to think about something that is helpful. You can choose to think upon the many blessings that you have. You may not change your circumstances, but you can choose the way you respond to them. This may sound superficial, but it is not. Trust me. This is serious business. I’ve done it. It can change your day, week, month, life.
Just so, when you decide to follow a Spiritual Discipline, you can choose your attitude. If your thoughts are on Jesus, then you’ll have one attitude. If your thoughts are more along the lines of “Oh, man, I gotta sit and pray again. Oh well, let’s get it over with,” then you will not receive the fruit.
Faith Venture 
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