Many Christians say these personal, private disciplines are things that become a habit. Then they become a joy. They eventually become something that you can't imagine living life without. Jesus says "I want that for you, because your heavenly father who sees what you do in private will reward you." And the reward is that your confidence in God, your trust in God, your faith in God, and therefore your closeness to God, will grow as he begins to edge into those things that tend to take priority over him, and He begins to conquer the things that compete most with your devotion to him.