5 Ways To Combat Spiritual Dryness

 

20|11|2014
I feel like it’s been so long since I heard from the Lord. And yes, it has been so long since I heard His voice – ever since after Law School. I read some things I wrote at the beginning of the year and I wonder if I am that same person…
Hearing the Holy Spirit speak was a daily affair but right now, it seems like such a luxury… I think I’m going through a dry spell…
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The above note is from my journal a few weeks back…
And I was wondering if anyone feels the same way.
So I tried to study my Bible, to find out if anyone else have ever been in this kind of situation and what helped them. And also share with anyone out there who is going through this to see if it can help us all.

 

So first of all, I found out that it is important that we all recognize this fact…

 
(1) GOD IS NOT A FEELING… GOD IS!
Now, I know that we all love to be on a spiritual high. Feel it when the Holy Spirit is talking, feel all warm and fuzzy when the Spirit of God is totally alive within us and that’s all well and good. But what happens when we don’t feel these things?
The truth is, whether we feel God or not, GOD IS.
He is the I AM THAT I AM.
He was and is and is to come and no amount of feeling that we have/don’t have will change that.

 

(2) Recognize that dry spells can also be a true test of your faith in God.

Will you still spend crazy time with God or throw up your hands and abandon your faith?
Answer that question sincerely for yourself.

 

 

Now that we’ve gotten those two important things out of the way, let’s get down to the real Bible Study on this.

 

What do we do when we don’t “feel” God anymore?
I studied a particular psalm of oga pata pata of “God why are you far away” scenario… David…

 

Psalm 22
The Psalm starts with David saying asking God why He has abandoned Him?
He “feels” like God doesn’t answer his prayers anymore and he seems like he is very sad about this. As sad as I was in my journal above (or even sadder than I was)

 

He says all that, then still goes ahead to say that he know that God is still enthroned on high and is the holy One.
So whether he “feels” like God hears his prayers or not, he still knows that all who trust God will not be put to shame.

 

Now, I don’t want us to rush this study, especially if you are going through a dry spell in your spiritual life.
Let’s look at some things David did when he felt like God was far from him and see if we can learn something from him.
(1) Praise.
Psalm 22:3… Right from that verse, after David has said that he felt like God abandoned him, he still praises God.

 

And in verse 22, he takes it a step further.

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.I will praise you among your assembled people. Praise the lord, all you who fear him!Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob!Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!”~Psalm 22:22-23

He praises God all the way down to the end of the chapter. He even tells the future generation to praise God too!
This is coming from a man who feels like God doesn’t answer him.

 

So what can we do when we “feel” like God isn’t there?
Praise your way through!
This isn’t the time to forsake your quiet time or go all out with worldly songs… Get out the gospel songs on your phone/ipod and sing your heart out to God.
Whether you “feel” it or not, shout out God’s praises on the rooftop.

 

(2) Pray.
We can see from Psalm 22:12-18 that David talks about all who mock him and mock his God.
He is scared, he has prayed to God but still finds no rest but does he relent?
No.
He prays again and again to God.

 

“O lord, do not stay far away!You are my strength; come quickly to my aid! Save me from the sword;spare my precious life from these dogs. Snatch me from the lion’s jawsand from the horns of these wild oxen.”~Psalm 22:19-21

He recognizes the fact that there is no one else but God who can help him and he doesn’t slack in his prayers, instead, he intensifies them.

 

There are times when we may feel like our prayers are bouncing off the roof…
Like God doesn’t hear us (I will do another post on this soon).
And so we just put a stop to all our conversations with God.
But should it be like this?
David said “No one else can help me”
No one else can help us so if we don’t pray even when we feel like nothing’s working, we are cutting ourselves off from the only one who can help us.
So except of course it is your sins that are acting as a barrier between you and God (and thank God for grace, repentance takes care of this), then press in with prayers whether the “feeling” is there or not.

 

 

(3) Trust God still.
David was almost down and out (according to the human eyes), yet he didn’t dwell on that.
He remembered his ancestors who trusted in God, people that God never failed and he decided to keep trusting God.
God is still God and all who trust Him won’t be put to shame.

 

A lot of us in this spiritual dry season relapse into being faithless.
But should our faith be that small?
God has said that He is with us always, even to the end of age.
His word has nothing to do with how we feel. So no matter what’s up with our “feelings”, we should hold on to this word in faith.

 
Do I feel like God is there?
No.
But I trust His word.
He is still with me.
The Holy Spirit still lives in me and Jesus will always be with me even until the end of age.
Let your dry season stretch your faith in God rather than make it shrink.

 

 

(4) Continue to seek God.
David didn’t stop at lamenting that God was far away from hearing his cries, he continued to seek God.
He continued to spend time with God.
Why?
Because He knew that no one can take the place of God in his life.
Without God, David knew he was empty, with nothing in him to give out to anyone.

 
And we should know this too.
We should know that whether we feel God or not, His word still remains a light to our paths.

 

So we should continue to seek Him diligently through His word.
If our faith is still intact, then we should even know that as we delight ourselves in God’s word, we are also delighting ourselves in Him.
God is His word in print.
The word made in flesh. So whether you feel it or not, your seeking God in His word is you being with Him.
You seek Him and press in well enough and you just might hit a new dimension of Him that you never knew before the dry spell.

 

Do not regress in your spiritual life when you don’t feel God. If for nothing, you should increase the fire.
Read and study our passage Psalm 22 very well.
David was still fulfilling his vow to God, still praising God, still trusting God and all the more intensely, because he really needed God to come through for him.
We should do the same.

 

 

(5) Finally, it is important for us to note again that through all this, the re-occurring word here is “feelings”.
Feelings and emotions are good and all but as christians, we are not run by our feelings.
There are times when we MUST put our feelings aside and do what needs to be done.

 
You don’t feel God anymore?
That doesn’t mean that He isn’t with you anymore.
Put your feelings aside.

 
Did you lose those feelings because you stepped away from God for a bit? Then step right back in line with Him, intensify your time spent with Him and seek Him still.

 
Did you lose those feelings through no fault of yours?
Same answer, continue to keep your spiritual life alive like David did.
And know that whether you feel God or not, whether you see God or not, HE IS!
Whether feelings are there or not, know this one thing with all your heart… GOD IS ALWAYS WITH YOU.

 

Prayer and confession- Father, help me to trust you through this present dry season.
Help me not to fall away from abiding in you.
I trust and know that you are still with me.
Thank you Jesus.

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Dears, I am really sorry that I didn’t post anything for Monday’s Inspirational Drive.
This blog is special and a ministry to me so trust me, anytime I miss a day, I feel terribly bad.

 

Also, I know I promised to blog on the remaining 3days of the conference “thirsty” and though I am tempted to just gloss over it, a promise is a promise. I will do it next week.
I must warn you though, a post per day on the conference CANNOT sufficiently convey the rhema to you.
But I will try to see what I can cram into each post for the sake of everyone who is “thirsty” for God like me.
I can tell you that this blog is about to get HOT!
And you don’t want to miss subsequent posts.
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Till my next post,
With love,
Frances.