If you've been a Christian for any amount of time, you've probably walked through days or seasons where your faith honestly just feels dry. You're not on fire for the Lord, you're not excited to pray or read your Bible, and you just feel stagnant. This is normal, friends. We are human, our emotions are always fluctuating, and the devil loves to feed us lies about ourselves and God - creating a storm of reasons that we may feel less than passionate about our faith.
But this is not the way God wants us to live or stay. He calls us to be a light in the world, and to be a light, something has to be burning. He desires intimacy and closeness with us, but it's hard to be intimate with someone you aren't even really excited to see.
Praise God, though, because He gives us grace upon grace, and so many ways to rekindle that fire for Him. In today's post, I want to give you hope for your relationship with the Lord and remind you that you don't have to feel this way forever. I want to equip you with strategies to find your fire again.
1. Talk to others about how God is working in their life.
One day as I was doing my bike workout, I was praying and asking God to reveal Himself to me. I asked that even if I don't feel like it in my own life, that He would show me how He's working in the lives of the people around me and that I would be encouraged by that. Less than an hour later, a friend sent me a video about how something I did encouraged her and answered a prayer. God used us to show us both His goodness and that He does in fact hear us! This moment was not a big one, but it felt big to me because I had been in such a drought of recognizing where the Lord was. It amped me up to remember that God is working, right under my nose, and He is blessing me and the people around me in so many ways.
Sometimes when it's hard to see what God is doing in your life, it's helpful to look outside your little bubble and to what He's doing around you. Reach out to the people around you and just ask them how God has blessed them lately, or what you can praise God for alongside them. Ask what God has been teaching them or how He's provided in their life. This will be such an uplifting conversation to you and will get you excited about how He's moving, and I believe your faith will be restored that He will do the same in your life too.
2. Spend time in silence with God.
When I was at one of my lowest points and the farthest away from on fire, I stopped having time simply being with God. I still was doing my Bible study and going through the motions, but there was no stillness or quietness with Him. I was either lost in my own thoughts or trying to multitask on my phone, and so there wasn't any prayer or being present with Him. I began losing the relational aspects of my faith, which is the most important part of my faith, and my fire faded even more because I wasn't being filled by the presence of God in the secret place.
Everything started to change when I began being intentional about being still and quiet with God. When I was done reading my Bible, instead of turning to my phone immediately, I sat there for a few minutes. I talked to God about what was on my heart, and then just listened. Even if I didn't "hear" anything, I quieted my mind and reminded myself that I am sitting in the presence of the Almighty God. There was no rush to this time, only surrender and openness, and oh, how it filled me! I was just enjoying time with my Father, my creator, and it was so sweet. I was excited to do my Bible study again because I was excited to spend time with my Dad, and that was a feeling I had missed.
If you feel like you've lost your fire, try just being with God. Be still with Him, whether in your room, on a walk, or watching the sunset. You don't have to fill the space with prayers or even thoughts, but just create space to be quiet and still. I promise you, God isn't in the booming voice, but in the quiet whisper, and it's only when we slow down our minds that we'll get to recognize it.
3. Make sure your "inputs" are honoring and drawing you closer to God.
I'm going to be so honest, one of the biggest things that helped me when I was rekindling my fire for Jesus was a podcast that I started listening to, Christ with Coffee On Ice. The host, Ally, is genuinely so passionate about Jesus, but in a way that was authentic, and that made me feel more passionate about Jesus. Her enthusiasm encouraged me, and the truth she spoke resonated in my heart.
This convicted me in many ways, and one of those ways being that it MATTERS what you are listening to, watching, and looking at. I felt uplifted every time I listened to that podcast, and I wanted to be closer to the Lord. Do you feel that way after scrolling on Instagram? After talking to that person? After listening to that music? After being in that crowd? If not, then maybe you should reevaluate. You won't always feel comfortable, don't get me wrong, but if it's not bringing you closer to Jesus, then it shouldn't be taking up most of your time. And if almost all of your "inputs" are not making you think about Jesus more, then that could really play a role in why you feel like your fire is growing dim. It doesn't matter if it's not a bad thing, if there are worse things you could be doing - if it's not holy, and if it's not making you want to be with Jesus, then you need to be prayerful about its role in your life.
4. Worship.
Worship is one of the most intimate things you can do for and with the Father, and if you're not doing it with your whole, most genuine heart, then you will be missing out on a big opportunity to be lit on fire and excited for Jesus. When I was feeling like my fire had blown out, I still attended church and all for the worship service, but all I was doing was singing the words. There was nothing behind the words I was singing - not even pain, because I did my best to shove that down. But when I brought my heart to the feet of Jesus during worship, when I gave myself permission to cry and be honest with God, that's when the walls started crumbling and my fire began returning.
I would wholeheartedly encourage you to spend some time just praising God. Thank Him for what He's doing, even behind the scenes or if you don't understand. Force yourself to raise your hands again and remind yourself that your circumstances and pain do not change the character of God. Choose to worship despite your feelings, and do it with everything you've got, and I'm believing that the Lord will meet you right there to heal and restore your heart. I'm believing that God will use your worship and draw close to you as you draw near to Him, and that the vulnerability of giving your all to the Lord will not be wasted.
I know how discouraging it can be to be walking through a season where you feel like your fire has run out, but I want you to know that you do not have to stay there. God can make a roaring fire out of the tiniest spark, and He's done it for me, so I know He can do it for you. I think it comes down to giving the Lord what you have, even if it's not a lot, and creating space for Him to do with that what He wants to. He doesn't ask us for anything except our heart, and when we trust Him with that, pain and defeat and all, His extraordinary grace brings such healing and restoration and hope. From my experience, that hope started out as a little glimmer, but I noticed that He was doing something, and that was what I needed to keep going. Steadily and surely, the Lord rekindled my fire and wrapped my spirit up in freedom, and I'm so grateful.
I also want you to know and be reminded that the character of God does not change depending on your circumstances, your mood, or your good behavior (or lack thereof). God could not love you any more than He loves you right now, and He is NOT mad at you. Please, sweet friend, hear this and let it settle in your soul. I allowed so much of my fire to be dimmed because I was believing ginormous lies about how God felt about me, and I only felt renewed when I spoke the truth over myself. God loves you, He has not left you, and He has good things in store for you. I promise, and I'm believing for you.
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