#Online Bible Study

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.

 

rhema
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)

 

My-God-my-God-why-have
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.

david

 

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.

 

flat
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.

 

PROMMAY
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.

 

bible-light
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.
Subscribe to blog by entering your email in the box below to get notifications of posts to your mailbox and miss nothing here.

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Till my next post,
With love,
Frances.

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10 Comments

  • Reply
    Theresa Doghor
    December 10, 2014 at 10:24 am

    When I went through my dry spell
    I got one word that satisfies me
    “He never leaves”
    I know peeps always say, the more sure word of prophecy. As if that automatically cancels out anything God is saying now. Personally I believe that God speaks all the time and depending on if your aerial (spiritual senses) is tuned, you will catch what he says or miss it.

    I believe that God speaks to me in vocal words and in dreams, it has happened over and over again. I believe that the enemy speaks too and if you know God’s word and His will, you will be able to discern and to choose right.

    Now that I think about it, it was easy for me to believe that God speaks because He spoke to Moses and all those people in the bible and He speaks to my first ever pastor and all the first leaders I had so it was difficult to believe that God only speaks through His word. That is difficult when I am looking for a specific word and I am always looking for a specific word because I don’t take any major decisions without hearing from God. Yes I said it. That is the secret of the success of my Christian life, that is why I still walk by faith because I always hear from God and He always lets me know before anything major happens in my life and in the life of my fam.

    SO give premium to hearing from God. He is a God worth knowing. The center of me.

    • Reply
      Frances Okoro
      December 10, 2014 at 12:46 pm

      Thank you for pouring out your thoughts here sincerely tessa…
      like you, I also believe that God always speaks, it may not be only through words in our hearts but He does speak, through a lot of things and whether we hear or not, depends on how finetuned we are in the spirit.
      And oh, the word of God, the word of God in all this cannot be re emphasized enough.

  • Reply
    cedar
    December 10, 2014 at 12:22 pm

    God bless you 4 dis piece, I’ve felt dry a lot of times and really its not a pleasant place to be. “God is not a feeling, God is” I don’t kia hw I feel or wot emotions are steering up i’ll praise ,pray & trust all d way. looking forward to more posts cos am thirsty…..

    • Reply
      Frances Okoro
      December 10, 2014 at 12:51 pm

      Yes Cedar, it’s def not a great place to be…
      But then we can let it help us to stretch our faith more and more and increase our dependence on God or relapse more and more into that dry state.
      God help us as we chose wisely.

      I’m glad to see youths being thirsty for God.it encourages me and strengthens my walk with God too.
      More posts coming up soon.. 🙂

  • Reply
    Ezar
    December 11, 2014 at 7:07 am

    Lovely piece, darling. Seriously,there are times I feel very dry, far away from the warm presence of God. When I’m dry and empty, I have no great yearning to read the Word and little compulsion to play. I know my faith is intact and my love for Jesus is strong, and I have no desire to taste the things of this world. It’s just that I can’t seem to touch God for days, maybe even weeks.Have you ever watched other Christians get blessed while you feel nothing? They testify of God’s answers to their prayers and shed tears of joy. They seem to live on a mountaintop of happy experiences while you just plod along, loving Jesus but not setting the world on fire.I believe all true believers experience dry spells at various times in their Christian lives. Even Jesus felt the isolation when he cried aloud, “Father, why have you forsaken me?”Without the nearness of God, there can be no peace. The dryness can be stopped only with the dew of his glory. The despair can be dispelled only by the assurance that God is answering. The fire of the Holy Spirit must heat the mind, body, and soul.There are times I feel unworthy, like the worst kind of sinner, but in spite of all that, I know he is not far off. Somehow I hear a distinct, small voice calling, “Come, my child. I am aware of all you are experiencing. I still love you and I will never leave you nor forsake you. We will face it together because I am still your Father and you are my child.” I have a flame in me that will not be smothered and I know he will bring me out of any dry spell.Hugs and Kisses.

    • Reply
      Frances Okoro
      December 12, 2014 at 9:08 am

      Thank you for being so sincere with this Ezar…its comforting to know that we are not alone and also to know that God is always, always with us, even when we feel like He isn’t, even when we feel no fire in our bones, He is always there and will walk us through it all.
      Thank you again for this, seriously.

  • Reply
    Esther
    December 11, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    There is one prayer point I can’t explain how it became part of me. -Oh Lord sharpen the sensitivity of my spiritual antenna.

    • Reply
      Frances Okoro
      December 12, 2014 at 9:02 am

      Amen and amen, I will adopt this prayer too Esther

  • Reply
    Efe Anita Kotor
    July 16, 2015 at 7:35 am

    Hallelujah, this is just the word i needed to start my day. This phase(dryness) started a couple of days back, i was suppose to spent time with The Lord(fasting and prayers) but ending up not doing so, i felt bad and guilty, but then i told God i need a re-awakening, a spark, a word that will ignite my heart for him once again. I woke up today to your email on “God being greater than his gift.” I smiled and picked up my iPad and bible and started feeding on the word, after which i saw this post, and immediately felt this unusual peace in my heart. I know it is an old post, but God brought me to it for a reason, his ways and thoughts are indeed different from ours, Praise be his holy name. Dear God pls keep blessing Frances for me. Amen.

    • Reply
      Frances Okoro
      July 16, 2015 at 8:27 am

      Oh Efe….
      I can sooo relate with the guilt…and I imagine Daddy looking at us and just saying “just come to me, all this guilt and all pulling you away from me”
      It traps me too but thank God for God.

      Pick up from where you left off, He’s our Daddy, repent like David immediately does and if He still wants you to press in via fasting and prayers, do it. Don’t let guilt keep you away no longer.

      And amen and amen, God bless you bigly too. I am just glad this spoke to you and made me re-read it again.thank you.

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