i am losing my fire!!!! help!!!!!

[faithandglory]

When I first got saved I was soooo on fire for God and lately well within the last 3 months I have lost that desire for the things of God. I think that part of it is that at first I had a goal that I was praying for and then I got it and now I am in this transition that I do not know what to do. I use to always want to pray now I hate to be at church when we are praying all the time. I want to get to church late so that I miss corporate prayer and everything. then when I am at church or bible study it is like my body is there but my mind is not. one of the ministers and i hang out a lot and she knows this and in a joking way she points out that i am not really there when the word is going forth but i do not know hw to focus. I love God and I want to spend a lot of time with him but it is like the devil is fighting me on it. what do I do?

 

[phoebe_20]

Prayer and bible study are essential part of our spiritual growth..if you really want to be on fire, ask God for it and sincerely mean it. Try to be involved with your church activities, where you can have fun and pray and study the bible, all the same time..where everything comes naturally. Pray alooot..and ask your christian friends to pray for you too, and help you with your christian walk. It really happens that we lose our desire to do things for God, but lets not just let it happen, let's try harder, be stronger, especially now that we are aware that the devil is fighting us with it.

 

[InTheFlame]

This is pretty common... happens to most, if not all, of us at some stage. Often multiple times!

Here's some things I can think of which can cause the slump:

• Mistaking emotion for fact. God IS with us, and he HAS saved us. Some people get a big rush of emotion when they become a christian, and confuse that with God's presence, or the knowledge of being saved. Know what I mean? Sometimes writing bible verses (ones like 'nothing can separate us from the love of God) on cardboard and putting them up on your wall can help.
• Something that God doesn't want us to be doing, that we KNOW God doesn't want us to be doing, but we're determined to do anyway. To counteract a slump caused by this, there's only one solution - realise that God not only wants the best for you, but has the power to bring that 'best' into being... and let go. Pray, ask for forgiveness, tell him that you're giving that sin to him... and ask for help in leaving it alone. Sometimes it helps to visualise walking up to a cross, putting the sin down, turning and walking away with empty hands.
• Lack of forgiveness for someone who's hurt us. This is a tough one too, because again, it needs to be given to God. One method I've found useful is to pray for help in forgiving the person(s)... then to start praying FOR that person. That they'd find peace and love in God, that their hurts would be healed, etc.
• Not understanding the full gospel message... what Jesus actually wants for our lives. Life in all its abundance! Joy! Peace! Love flowing into us from God and the christians around us... and flowing out of us to everyone we come into contact with.

Does that help?

 

[NoMoreTearsWithJesus]

set a new goal with god an pray. and what gets in your way, try to go around that or get it out.

 

[Gwendolyn]

Remember always that having faith in God does not solely consist of our emotional response to Him. Having faith means trusting in Him regardless of whether we feel contented, joyful, disinterested, or sorrowful. For a Christian, having faith means finding that harmony between emotion and reason - emotion, loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and reason, knowing that even when we don't feel it, that doesn't mean He has turned us away.

Periods like this make us very susceptible to the Evil One's malefactions - when we start feeling discouraged, he creeps in there and whispers in our ear, "Yes, feel bad, because you are not a good Christian. See? You set your goals too high. The Almighty has set impossible standards for you to meet. You can't do it. Just give up."

And yet our Christian hope would tell us that such things are not true. Christ Himself wandered out into the desert for forty days... these periods in our lives represent our own personal deserts in which we meet our foes. The mark of a Christian is not that emotional zeal which you first described - it is obedience to God regardless of how we feel at any given time.

He hears all your prayers. When you feel like you have no strength to pray longer prayers, just pray a simple one: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

Take care.

 

[tamtam92]

I had a struggle too a few months after my baptism... then i went better... and now i'm having struggles again (not exactly the same yet). When everything seems to go well, then the devil begins his work and he wants to make you stumble.
Keep to your principles. Even if you find it difficult, keep going to church & prayer meetings & bible studies. It's better being there and think about something else than being elsewhere. Pray about it. If you feel like it, talk about it to someone close to you, so that you're not alone to pray.

Read about Jesus' temptation in Luke 4 ; how did he answer the devil ? With the word of God.
So you must stick even more to the Bible, and pray, and i think you could even fast about it.

Maybe you can also read good biographies of faithful people or missionaries. Often it help to know about the life of others. Personnally, i've been encouraged by Isobel Kuhn's autobiography, "By searching".

Courage sister!

 

[faithandglory]

well Guys I have really gotten my fire back this weekend!!!!! I was able to pray and stuff and i have been praying like I have never prayed before. thank you all for your responses!!

love you all with the love of Jesus!!!

 

[tamtam92]

praise God!

 

[Alenci]

I struggle with this kind of apathy too, frequently even.

Here are some things that help me:

- Pray and read the Word, even when you do not want to. Try to tell yourself you are enjoying it, even if you are not. This is imperative. When you cease, you will fall away quickly, and your apathy can only increase. This has been the source of many sleepless nights for me, sobbing and asking God for forgiveness, having realized the extent to which I was ignoring him. You do not want to put yourself through this, and more importantly, you do not want to neglect your relationship with God. The second reason you must do this is because it reinforces the behavior. From a simple human standpoint, psychologically you will come to convince yourself that you really do want to do these things.

- Pray frequently, not just at meals, at bedtime, or at church. Pray as you do chores. Pray as you walk around. Your prayer does not need to be formal. God does not appreciate pomp or eloquent words. God appreciates heartfelt devotion. "Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:8). How do you become intimate with a friend? By spending a lot of time with him or her and having deep conversations. God is not so different in that regard.

- When you read the Word, focus on how to apply it to your life.

One reason it is imperative to make yourself keep reading Scripture and praying is that you cannot love what you do not know, and by learning about God, you will come to love him more. We can't always love God in our emotions; but we can love him intellectually, and in our actions we can show love. And through these actions, we may begin to feel that warmth of emotion again. Having the warm fuzzies isn't commanded of us, but it is always a bit of an encouragement to keep going in our spiritual walk from a human standpoint. So I see no reason not to try to foster those feelings. Remember, we're not commanded to feel that emotional love all the time. No one really can. But it is a strong aid, and I know from experience that trying to keep walking without it is oftentimes a frustrating experience.

I discussed some of this in my most recent blog entry, if you would like to read it.

God bless!

 

[Doubledb]

First, i want to know that THIS IS COMPLETLY NORMAL. Every Christian is completly excited about God and then it fades. Sometimes this is revered to as the Mountain-top experience and the Valley expereince. Over the years i now seldom have the mountian-top expereince as much which is sad but i also dont have valley experiences - i am kinda in the middle most of the time. It is because while i know i can FEEL God many times my faith is based on TRUTH and not some FEELING i get from God. Many times i have to force myself to read the Bible and pray - this is because while you are a Christian you are also still human... this means your flesh and spirit will constantly be in struggle for domination until the day Christ comes back and the church is glorified.

God bless
-Doubledb

 

[Suomipoika]

Prayer and bible study are essential part of our spiritual growth..if you really want to be on fire, ask God for it and sincerely mean it. Try to be involved with your church activities, where you can have fun and pray and study the bible, all the same time..where everything comes naturally. Pray alooot..and ask your christian friends to pray for you too, and help you with your christian walk. It really happens that we lose our desire to do things for God, but lets not just let it happen, let's try harder, be stronger, especially now that we are aware that the devil is fighting us with it.

Sorry, I can't really agree that "trying harder" or "being stronger" will make things any better.

I think that's a normal phase of a christian's life that you're going through. Realizing that not what you do, try or achieve but what Christ has done for you is the essence of your Christian life will give you a whole new sense of the amazing graze of God. You belong to God, and the devil can't have a hold of you just because you don't "pray enough". Otherwise it would have got a really big hold of me, and a long time ago. You don't need to pray in public when you don't feel like doing so. You don't need to look like being any more "on fire" than you are. You don't need to do anything just to "please" your fellow christians. When you feel down, God knows it and He will see you through on his own timetable. You don't need to rely on your own strenght as a "strong christian", you can be sure that Christ has enough strenght to carry you. Don't leave your church, but know that you have full permission to be around and be 'you' - be yourself - even when you don't seem to "feel as much as the others".

 

[Utah Knight]

I think what you need to do is talk to you pastor and see what openings are availabe like youth leader study leader ect. Choose the one you are most intrested in and that you would like to do the most. Remember loseing you fire is a pitfall set forth by the great deciever. Get involved more so in your church helped me alot perhaps you may need to find another church in your area i had to and it helped alot and also make more friends within your church that will assist you in getting the fire burning at full force

 

[Mr.Cheese]

remember that it's a committment as well. The road is long and hard. Don't let anyone tell you different. But it's a good road.
It's human to be up and down and up and down. Thankully God is the constant.

You'll have days, weeks, months where you just don't care. Just dig in and fight through as best as you can.

 

[IMatthewI]

I've been going through this the past week or so. I'm still very early in my walk. The first 2 months, I was waking up every morning excited, just because of my new relationship with God. Its kind of like being in love and getting married..When you first fall in love, everything is so intense and new..But then it kind of fades away and people get scared thinking maybe they have lost their love for it all. These are ups and downs. Up until now, I thought I was the only one with this specific problem, but God has just shown me I was totally wrong.

Thanks so much for posting this thread! It let me know that this is just part of being human. Mind vs. Spirit.

 

[Molloyboy]

Faith is such an amazing thing and it is never going to be easy. Before your faith gets strong it is going to go up and down a lot. Its perfectly normal, its just human nature to question things and to not take everything as 'fact'.
The bottom line is that you notice your fire is struggling, and this just shows that you have a real desire to follow Gods word and want to be strong in faith. If thats not dedication I dont know what is! It is better than not worrying about it

 

[angelicstar16]

this is normal. God knows your heart and knows u love Him. your fire won't go out ever. just pray and follow these guys suggestions.

 

[Silver Speak]

Everyone goes through phases like that -it's nothing to worry about. When you're a 'baby christian' things usually go smoothly but as time passes God starts testing your faith and that's your opportunity to grow. Being a christian sure is hard work sometimes; you can't always expect to feel so great but you have to keep striving for a close relationship with God nevertheless. The way you react to difficulties is the measurement of your faith and trust in the Lord.

I have to admit this is something I'm very bad at.... too much impatience!

 

[Gods4me]

When I first got saved I was soooo on fire for God and lately well within the last 3 months I have lost that desire for the things of God. I think that part of it is that at first I had a goal that I was praying for and then I got it and now I am in this transition that I do not know what to do. I use to always want to pray now I hate to be at church when we are praying all the time. I want to get to church late so that I miss corporate prayer and everything. then when I am at church or bible study it is like my body is there but my mind is not. one of the ministers and i hang out a lot and she knows this and in a joking way she points out that i am not really there when the word is going forth but i do not know hw to focus. I love God and I want to spend a lot of time with him but it is like the devil is fighting me on it. what do I do?

just keep fighting the devil.

you say "no im gonna fight against you"
devils Says " you and what army"
you say "gods Army"

if you on god side no one can win against you.