“Spiritual disciplines” are things we do to stay in love with God and grow in faith. They can be things we do alone or together; they can be ways to spend time with God or to serve others. As the people of Sylva First UMC share one of their spiritual disciplines with you each week, we hope it will inspire you to new ways of loving God and growing in faith.
Hello everyone, I am Julia Hartbarger Duvall. I currently live in Franklin with my husband Corey and son JB, but I am originally from Sylva and my family and I have been members of Sylva FUMC since 1998.
My spiritual discipline that I follow every day is saying a prayer followed by the Lord’s Prayer before I go to sleep each night. I have been doing this for as long as I can remember, but at least since 7th grade. It alleviates the stress of the day and it is my quiet time with God.
I start off by thanking him for the day and for the many blessings in my life. I ask for protection of my loved ones and those that are suffering. I also include those that I know need prayers or those that have specifically asked for prayers and ask him to cover the ones I do not know in his love and mercy. I then finish with the Lord’s Prayer.
No matter how exhausted I am or how much I have running through my mind, this is a very peaceful time for me and helps me drift off to sleep with a calm heart. I have also started saying nightly prayers out loud with JB to get him into the habit!
I believe having this spiritual discipline has kept my relationship with God and Christ very strong and even when upsetting things happen, this keeps me grounded in my faith.
