How to Increase Spiritually • Deshen Daily

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man (Luke 2:52 KJV)

Jesus, the Son of God, increased in wisdom after His birth as a human being. So there is such a thing as spiritual increase. And scriptures show us plainly that we can similarly increase spiritually as Jesus did. But how? Let me illustrate this idea using a common everyday experience.

We can understand spiritual increase from the growth and development of our bodies. What would you do if you wanted to build up powerful muscles in your body? Medical science has taught us there are two fundamental steps, amongst others. First, you need to provide the muscles with the nutrients to grow—proper nutrition furnishes the building blocks for the muscles to increase in size and strength.

Though exercise adds nothing physical to the muscles as food does, it incites the muscles to grow more robust using the building blocks provided by nutrition. However, nutrition alone is not enough to strengthen your body. You need to exercise those muscles to strengthen them.

Just as nutrition provides the building blocks for the body to grow, the Word of God is the food that furnishes the building blocks of our spiritual life; similarly, just as exercise strengthens the body, prayer facilitates spiritual growth. However, note this critical spiritual truth: prayer, just as an exercise, cannot produce sustainable spiritual development because it does not furnish any nutrients. The foundation for spiritual growth, similar to the growth of the body, is proper nutrition.

I pray that you willingly enroll in God’s gym this year and allow your divine Fitness Coach, the Holy Spirit, to speed up spiritual growth in your life!

How do the Word of God and prayer work together to produce spiritual growth?

Are there other “spiritual exercises” that facilitate spiritual growth as prayer does?

We know our bodies increased in weight and height in childhood with no special effort. On the contrary, the spiritual increase is not spontaneous but intentional and purposeful. The Holy Spirit is waiting for you in God’s Gym—would you respond to Him?

Ask the Father to help you increase spiritually this year.