Warning Signs of a Dry Soul
By Youth Specialties on September 19 2011
Many of us have found ourselves in a time where we felt spiritually dry. Here are some warning signs that you might be slipping into one:
1. Spending more time talking about prayer than actually praying.
2. Private prayers begin to start sounding like “nice” public prayers (prayers before the meeting, prayers at the end of the message, etc.)
3. Reading the Bible only when preparing a message or Bible study.
4. Living a life so fast and so cluttered there is no time for cultivating the inner life that people don’t see.
5. “Third-person reading”: reading nor for what god can say to you, but for what you can say when you speak to students.
6. Inner exhaustion that leads to outer crankiness and cynicism.
7. A loss of wonder.
8. Increasing work with decreasing joy.
What have you found are the best ways to keep yourself from letting your sould go dry?
Comments
From Samuel Sutter on September 20, 2011
I think a lot of us might have been there - what do we do about it though?
From Jeff Seaver on October 09, 2011
It isn’t a matter of if we have been there. If we are being honest all of us would have to admit that we have been there. No one can honestly say that they have not faced their spiritual life suffering or becoming dry. What do we about it? Seek someone to be accountable to. We need other people in our lives that can help build us up and help us to make through dry times. When we realize our need for the things that are lacking in our lives then we need to be open and vulnerable to someone we are close to. Someone who we look to for guidance who can pray with us and encourage to keep running the race set before us. I have found what helps me the most is being accountable to someone and share what is going in my life. Likewise I also need to be able to hold someone else accountable to help them grow. That is not to say that any of us have arrived and can do no wrong. The Apostle Paul exhorts us help the weak and encourage the timid and those who are struggling (1st Thessalonians 5:14). We as a body of Christ need each other. When we get in a slump in our spiritual life we need that one person who we trust that will come to our aid and remind us to stay focused. We will still face hard times that is life. But how we choose to go through the difficult times is our decision to make. One last though, find what motivates you to be in God’s word and find what works best for you to pray and worship and how. If you wish to ask me for ideas on how and what ways that I found that help me to stay in God’s and pray please feel free to ask.
