A Heart Aflame for God
In A Heart Aflame for God, Matthew C. Bingham shares a Reformed approach to spiritual formation, showing how twenty-first-century evangelicals can pursue spiritual growth through early modern Puritan piety.
Spiritual Depth and Seriousness
This book retrieves a Reformed approach to spiritual formation, focusing on the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers and their seventeenth-century post-Reformation successors. Together, they are labeled “early modern” Protestants — the men and women who recovered the distinctively word-centered approach to the spiritual life.
Bingham defines spiritual formation as the conscious process by which we seek to heighten and satisfy our Spirit-given thirst for God through divinely appointed means, with a view toward “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling” and becoming “mature in Christ.” This is the language of what it means to “keep” our heart, and it comes with a sense of depth and seriousness to our spiritual life with Christ.
As opposed to a pragmatic, “whatever works for you” approach to spiritual formation, a word-centered spirituality — marked by biblical simplicity and committed to engaging the heart through the mind — reflects spiritual formation in a Reformation key. Word, meditation, and prayer are treated as three aspects of a single activity: communion with the living God.
Scripture, Meditation, Prayer
While we might not like the term “quiet time,” we must see Scripture as the key to our relationship with God. No real spiritual growth is possible apart from engagement with God’s Word. Bingham advises reading Scripture frequently, actively, and expectantly. In a distracted age, where even our devotional lives can become rushed and shallow, his emphasis on lingering in the Word challenged me.
I was especially moved by the discussion of meditation and how it causes us to slow down in a world that seems bent on moving ever faster. It forces us to steady our minds and direct our affections.
A reformed approach to prayer is prayer that is thoughtful, sincere, heartfelt, and tethered to Scripture. Bingham’s emphasis on Scripture-shaped prayer reminded me that meaningful prayer flows from a heart saturated in God’s Word. The connection between Scripture and prayer made me see both disciplines not as separate activities, but as part of an ongoing conversation with the living God.
Kindle the Fire
I was also interested to learn about the importance of self-examination and understanding the story and meaning of one’s own life. Scripture serves as both a measuring stick and a backdrop against which we examine our lives.
Alongside the Reformers, I want to bring the natural world into my sermons, as it reflects the glory of God. In our increasingly online world, this emphasis feels especially important. I also learned the importance of “conference” — intentional conversation for the sake of spiritual formation.
Bingham addresses challenges to spiritual formation, including the limitations of our physical bodies and our own spiritual weaknesses. The book ends by reminding us of the importance of the local church. A Heart Aflame for God is a brilliant book that will kindle the fire of your life in Christ.
This is my honest review of A Heart Aflame for God (Amazon, 27% off Westminster Bookstore and save an extra 5% off your entire order with code DIVEINDIGDEEP) and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.