MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

Among the major components of the Christian life are

1 prayer,

2 Repentance,

3 Discipline,

4 Study,

5 Service and Evangelism.

For you to have a proper declaration and understanding of each word of the major component of the Christian life. These will lead me to give a proper explanation on it.

Jesus' life and teachings make it clear how important prayer is. In the Gospels, he is continually described as praying, particularly when things got difficult. Among the things Jesus said about prayer:

• It should be from the heart. God isn't impressed by long-winded or impressive prayers.
• Personal prayers should be in secret.
• Prayer is the necessary preparation for just about everything else.
• Your prayer won't be heard unless you've forgiven those who have wronged you.

Christianity is about personal relationships: with God as our father, with Jesus, with our family and friends, and even with enemies. Relationships are based on communication. Since prayer is the primary means of communicating with God, it is the basis for our relationship with him.
There are several kinds of prayer. One classification is by where they are done: public, family, and personal. All are important. In the page on worship I discuss prayers as part of worship.

Jesus characterized the Jerusalem temple as a house of prayer. This shows the importance of prayer in worship. However Jesus also prayed with his disciples, and he often withdrew to a private place for personal prayer.
For Christians, the prototypical prayer is the Lord's Prayer. Jesus taught this in response to a question from his disciples about how to pray. Here it is in the King James Version:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 
The last clause ("for thine is the kingdom...") is not present in the earliest manuscripts, and thus is omitted in more recent translations.

 
This prayer is used commonly both in public worship and in private prayer. It has the key elements of prayer, which are summarized by the acronym ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. I have commented on these elements already in the page on worship. People will sometimes ask why we need to pray, since God knows everything about us already. That might be true if the only purpose of prayer was to get God to do what we want. But it isn't. Sometimes what we want isn't quite right. In that case prayer may help us come to understand what God's will is. Sometimes we need guidance.
There is a difference between God simply doing something, and doing it in the context of prayer. Doing it when we have asked for it makes it part of our relationship with him. This is true even when dealing with other people. Often we can see something about a friend. But until they're willing to talk with us about it, anything we do is going to be somewhat impersonal, and not part of our relationship with them.
I believe it is for reasons like this that God often will not act until we've asked him for something. In fact prayer is a great privilege. It allows us to be part of God's work.
Of course prayer is not always a request for God to do something. Its most important effect is generally on us. Prayer is a way for God to lead us to understanding and to change.

Repentance

The term "repent" means "to turn around". It is our response when we realize that we have done something wrong, or when we recognize an attitude or approach that is not in line with what God would have.
Repentance is important because we are imperfect. One of the major goals for Christian life is to weaken the hold of sin on us, and to bring our lives into line with God's will for us. It would be wonderful to think that we make regular progress, without setbacks. But much of our growth occurs when we realize we've done something wrong, or that there is something that we need to change. 


Discipline

Christian life doesn't happen by accident. It requires planning and a consistent approach. Repentance is particularly difficult for most of us. We find it difficult to face our faults, and also to admit them to others. This means that if we don't take specific precautions, we're likely to "forget" to do it. These precautions are referred to as "discipline". In this section I'm speaking of self-discipline, not disciplinary action which a church may take against an offending member.
There are a number of different approaches to discipline. Most of them are based on regular scheduling. Christians generally set aside specific times each day for prayer and study, both individually and as a family


Study

Study is a part of Christian life, because spiritual growth is one of the main goals. This study can take a number of forms.
For Protestants, the most visible study has always been Bible study. This includes both individual reading of the Bible, and group studies. Bible study is often done using some systematic plan, that guarantees coverage of the whole Biblical message 


Service

The discussion so far has focused inward, on actions that are primarily concerned with the spiritual life of an individual or group. However Christians are also committed to serving others. Jesus indicated that the primary way of judging someone's spiritual state was by looking at what they did.
This section is somewhat abbreviated, because Christian service is dealt with in two other pages, on the Law and showing love.
Those sections deal primarily with individual ethics and behavior. It's worth noting here that the Christian life includes everything that a Christian does. There are certain aspects of life that are specifically Christians, such as worship and prayer.  


Evangelism
Jesus commanded his disciples to spread his message to the entire world. This is referred to as "evangelism". Christians practice evangelism in many different ways, ranging from "friendship evangelism" to sending missionaries to other countries. Evangelism is commonly combined with service. For example, missionaries often run medical facilities and teach.
People sometimes believe that Christians practice evangelism because they think all non-Christians are damned. That is not always the case