Richard Foster has interesting ways of examining the spiritual disciplines. Calling prayer a "learning experience" is something I had never thought of before. I normally think I have to have mastery of my words when I pray, but the simple prayer is preferred, and fluffy language was discouraged by Jesus. The importance of imagination is also interesting, and how we need to have the imagination and faith of a child, another thing Jesus said we needed.

With repetition in study, I have noticed that a certain verse in the Bible I have read several times, even though I was not purposefully memorizing it, became ingrained in my mind so that later that verse would come up. Even more so than when Richard Foster wrote the book, concentration remains a large problem especially with the youth who were brought up on xbox and movies. To examine something and to put all other subjects away is a difficult thing to do.

When it comes to meditation, the first thing that would come to many western Christian minds is that of a Buddhist monk, trying to meditate himself into nothingness. This western-centered idea, which Foster points out, pulls us away from many of the great books written by non-Evangelical Christians over the last two thousands years. I find the most difficult aspect of the inner disciplines is knowing that it is not very visible on the outside to others, for example, the discipline of studying will not be easily noticed. But the inner disciplines are very important, and changing oneself is a part of that. As Leo Tolstoy said, ``Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.``