Believers will relate with a spiritual slump or what is typically known as a ‘dry season.’ A time were spiritual activity like prayer, studying of the word or even fellowship with other believers just feels stale. Whether you find yourself in such a season or you’re currently riding on a spiritual high, our faith journey can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster. Therefore, it’s important to arm yourself with the right mindset and actions biblically when you’re in a spiritual slump. Hopefully, you can find help through this read.
Praying Like The Psalmists
Firstly, you must consider that anything that could yield more humility and dependency on God, is good disguised as bad, much like these seasons. Consider the process the psalmist goes through in Psalm 22. He starts off asking ‘My God why have you forsaken me?’. A relatable feeling when we are in a slump. As we read on, we see that he felt that way because of his circumstances. Another relatable feeling. By the 3rd verse, he is meditating on God’s holiness and how he is enthroned on the praises of his people. By the 4th, he’s meditating on God’s trustworthiness and how he delivered the fathers who trusted in Him. David comforted himself with God’s character, reflected on his weakness ‘but I am a worm and no man’ in comparison in the 6th and ventured to express trust in God for the remainder of the psalm. We ought to do the same in these seasons.
3 Practical keys to help after considering these to help you in a slump.
1) Meditate On God’s Strength
John said ‘We love him because he first loves us’ 1 John 4:19. The key is then meditating on God’s love, until it becomes more real to you than your current circumstance. Our circumstances tend to feed us lies that it’s the benchmarks of God’s love towards us. When on the contrary, romans 5:8 states ‘God demonstrated his love in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’. Jesus urged his disciples to take communion in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19). This serves as a practical of meditating on his love for you which in turn inspires your love and desire for Him in the state of a spiritual slump.
2) Focus On What God Is Doing
John the Baptist could relate to being in a spiritual slump because of his imprisonment. One minute he was testifying that Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 3:11), the next he was asking if we should be expecting another (Matthew 11:3). We go through the same thing and when we do, what we ought to do is the rebuttal Jesus gave to the messengers John sent. ‘The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the poor have the gospel preached to them’ (Matthew 11:5) Essentially, we ought to focus on what God is doing. Reflect on what he’s doing at the moment and what reveals about Him, no matter how mundane it may seem. This builds faith which is a major key to getting us out the door spiritual slumps try to trap us in.
3) Share Your Burdens
The Bible instructs us to allow people to bear our burdens so that the law of Christ will be fulfilled’ (Galatians 6:2). The reason God gave the church is so no man has to be an isolated island, the key to changing your entire dry season could be a conversation away from a friend, brother, sister or leader. Consider James 5:16 and Hebrews 10:24-25 in relation to this key.