A soul-searching example:

An evangelist came to Edinburgh and criticized the ministers. A friend told Alexander Whyte, "The evangelist said last night that Dr. Hood Wilson was not a converted man."
Whyte jumped from his chair. "The rascal! Dr. Wilson not a converted man!"
Then the friend reported the evangelist had said the same of Whyte. At that, Whyte stopped short,
sat down,
put his face in his hands,
and was silent for a long time.
Then he said to the visitor,
"Leave me friend, leave me! I must examine my heart!"

from Warren Wiersbe's Walking with the Giants

Robert Saucy on the true Church:
The real church is manifest only where the holy presence and work of the Spirit are know. Failure of the church as a vital factor in the world is the result of failure to recognize the reality of the person of the Spirit living in the church as its dynamic force.
from The Church in God's Program

Aspiring golfers read Golf Digest, watch videos of the perfect swing, and practice putts on their living room rugs.

Computer architects blog, conjure, and otherwise and ways argue their plans, philosophies, and applications.

In fact, from gardening to astronomy, there are countless forums, groups, and connections dedicated to better understanding and perfecting methodologies.

So I was wondering...what do serious Christians do? What do the people who want to perfect the means of sanctification, to hone the principles of devotion, to find their God in fresh, better ways, what do these people do?

Sure, we go to church and read an occasional Christian web site and maybe even talk with another Christian about searching for God on occasion. But specifically, when do we share the lessons we've learned about how to look for God? How about the process? How we study, and how we pray, and how we read?

I am confident that there is a wealth of information available, not from videos or web sites or magazines, but from Christians in all stages of growth. Real people struggling through the process, the mechanisms, of growing in grace; people who make discoveries and form methods and think...in new ways about the how to's (and the how not to's) of "devotions" and Bible study and a deeper knowledge of a Holy God.

I would love to tap this vast storehouse. I know of several ways I can mine from this resource--fellowship in my church, reading and more reading, and this blog.

I'd like to begin sharing an ongoing study of mine in 1 Thessalonians. And I want to share more than just the fruits of study. (though that will be a large part) I want to include the hows, the daily efforts, the method of my work.

And even more I would love to hear about your method of studying God and your questions on how I do and your suggestions about how I could do so better.

I am convinced that spiritual growth is not a haphazard, passive, arbitrary process. It's a different kind of growth, because it involves intent, work, personal exertion. By grace, I want to do that work, and by fellowship I want to cull the best methods toward our Great End.

"Cinderella" in response to the question, "Don't you desire rank and long for riches?":

Virtue is my rank, and love my riches.

from Rossini's La Cenerentola

A haunting expression from an anonymous tired heart:

I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the land of beginning again
Where all our mistakes
And all our heartaches
Could be left like a shabby old coat at the door
And never put on again.