(Recently someone told me that the article below was particularly significant for her when it was published in Reality many years ago. Clearly it has been remembered. So here it is again - hopefully significant for someone in 2011! The photo was taken this morning on Long Bay beach. I love walking the beach when the tide is out. It's a more expansive place to explore. I wonder if there's a parable in that!)
Do you remember when prayer was exciting, when you couldn't wait to
get to your daily quiet time because God spoke so powerfully to you from his
word every day? If this is your current experience, you don't need this article
right now. I'm writing for those who find themselves having to admit that the
tide seems to have gone out in their devotional life.
It does happen you know - even to faithful, mature Christians; maybe
even to people who are in the process of discipling others! Bible reading can
become boring, prayer seems pointless and a hundred and one things crowd in and
sabotage quality time with God.
A vital spiritual life can be a bit like physical fitness: easier
said than done! We don't dispute the theory of the value of exercise and the
necessity of pushing through the pain barrier, but actually exercising until we
reach fitness is something else again.
Similarly we can know, and even exhort others, about the necessity of
keeping our relationship with God fresh, alive and growing. But getting out of
our conversational armchairs (or pulpits) and demonstrating the reality is a
challenge we'd often rather not face.
Guilt trips don't help much, however! Perhaps having one's cover
blown and being forced to admit that the tide is out spiritually can provide
some initial motivation for change. But in the end guilt won't carry us very
far into a new reality. So, what will?
Let me suggest some possibilities.
Look at What You Really Want. Have a go right now at putting
into a sentence what you most want or long for in your relationship with God.
What did you come up with? If you didn't stop to formulate your own sentence do
it now! One author suggests that the process of any transformation depends on
the answers to three questions: What do I want? Where does it hurt? What price
am I prepared to pay?[i]
Ask yourself the second two questions as well.
Wanting or longing or desiring are at the heart of most spiritual
growth. The Psalmists knew how to express their longings.[ii]
And as Joyce Huggett points out, "The language of spirituality seems
punctuated by words like desire, thirst, hunger, pining, panting, homesickness,
languishing, sighing, seeking, restlessness and yearning."[iii]
If you don't genuinely long for anything it is hardly surprising that nothing
seems to change. But if you do
have a deep desire for a renewed, more intimate or disciplined or
dynamic walk with God, then take heart: your longing itself may be the first
indication of the turning of the tide.
Face Up to What is Getting in the Way: Reasons for spiritual
dryness, boredom or lethargy are
many. Careful discernment as well as honesty and common sense are essential
here. If ill health, emotional trauma or lack of sleep, are causing that
"tide's out" feeling, then take the appropriate action and don't
"spiritualise" your problem.
Then again, there are times when Jesus allows his disciples to go
through desert periods as a way of strengthening faith. Here the disciple's
response is to continue in consistent commitment to regular spiritual
disciplines without demanding pleasant feelings or exciting experiences. In
this case nothing is "wrong"; the challenge is to stay faithful to
God even when God seems hidden from you.
Having drawn attention to the two possibilities above, I want to
focus most attention on a third area which is likely to be more common. Strange
as it may seem we often avoid the very thing we say we want most - a deeper
relationship with God. We avoid spending time with God in prayer, reflection on Scripture and openness to the Spirit, for a variety of (often unconscious)
reasons. For a start, the enemy is hard at work to keep us from such a vital
relationship. We should never underestimate the subtlety here. Resisting him
requires determination and faith. Read CS Lewis's Screwtape Letters and Letters
to Malcolm About Prayer for some insights on this.
Perhaps we avoid spending quality time with God because we are
afraid of what we might discover if we really became quiet enough to listen. For all our talk about a God who loves us and whose purposes for us are
always good, we seem strangely reluctant to give God our undivided attention.
It is true that God's love is sometimes "tough love", but to avoid loving discipline is also to reject the process which enables us to
"share his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). Besides, if we give no priority time to God's company, we
remove ourselves from the nurturing, affirming, strengthening aspects of God's
love too!
Having raised the issue of priority time, let's grasp that nettle. A
very commonly given reason for inadequate devotional life is lack of time. But the truth is, no person on
this earth has more time, or less time, than another. We all know that the real
issue is priorities. Knowing that doesn't solve the problem though! If this is
an issue for you I suggest the following diagnosis and solution: over a period
of a week make a list headed "Things to Which I Give a Higher Priority
Than Prayer". On that list write everything that you did in the time that
was supposedly set aside for prayer, quiet time or devotions. Then spread your
list before the Lord and let him respond to it. You may be surprised! Sometimes God may agree that another priority was more pressing and give you understanding support. About other things the Spirit may provide you with a creative
solution you would never have thought of alone. And, yes, at times you may
sense God's sadness and rebuke.
For some people the blockage to what they desire in their spiritual
lives comes from being in a rut. Relationship with God is exactly that -
relationship. Like any other relationship it needs to be kept vital and
growing. Two essentials for relationships, both human and divine, are
commitment and creativity. This is especially important when an emotional low
tide tempts us to resign ourselves to mediocrity, or worse still, to give up
altogether.
Having decided what you really want, and looked at what might be
hindering that, let's turn to a third step which suggests some practical
perspectives on commitment and creativity.
Explore New Possibilities. Old habits do die hard, but often
that's a good thing! The strength of a good habit lies right there. It sticks
and carries us through many times when our feelings or willpower might let us
down. Good devotional habits have the same quality. Those of us who were
brought up on a carefully structured Quiet Time (probably before breakfast!) as
an unquestioned priority in every day, have much to be thankful for.
But even good devotional habits can lose their original purpose.
Sometimes they are no longer adequate for the new growth areas God is leading
us into. Or perhaps the very familiarity of the routine has dulled the
freshness of relating to a living, creative, surprising Person. In such cases
we need the freedom and the wisdom to let God expand our horizons. Our focus
needs to be on growth in Christlikeness rather than on adherence to a routine
which no longer serves that end.
What new horizons? What kind of new creative ideas? What replaces
old habits which are no longer useful? These are the obvious questions! At this
point I am in a bind! I can write a few hundred words giving some specific
suggestions which may be just right for some people but not at all applicable
to others. Or I can give some guidelines for discovering your own answers. As
you have probably guessed I'm choosing the latter!
1. Ask God. Let your desire for a deeper relationship, and your
honest assessment of the blockages, prepare you to listen intently. Jot down
any thoughts, ideas, questions, promptings, suggestions.
2. Consult books and people. There is a wealth of material both old
and new on the subject of devotional life. There are also people whose lives
give evidence that they have wisdom to share. Careful choice is necessary
though. You can't follow all the ideas in all the books! And your needs,
lifestyle and personality may not be the same as the person you admire. But a
prayerfully discerning choice can allow God to open new doors for you.
3. Commit yourself to a regular pattern of behaviour which
strengthens your relationship with Christ. Even if some of your old habits need
to change, don't allow new possibilities to be mere novelties or gimmicks.
Remember that commitment as well as creativity are the essentials for a
revitalised relationship.
4. Be accountable to someone. We are the body of Christ. Jesus did
not teach or model an individualistic spirituality. Growth in Christlikeness
involves walking in the light of honesty with one another. A prayer partner,
support group, spiritual director or a "father" / "mother"
in Christ, can provide support, challenge and prayerful reinforcement for our
commitment to a renewed spiritual life. We all need that.
Are There Any Guarantees That the Tide Will Turn? No and Yes!
No in the sense that God is both personal and sovereign. God is not a computer
to be programmed to our specifications. God and God alone, knows the purpose of
low tide times in our spiritual lives. Our faithfulness and not our feelings
are the measure of our maturity.
But I think there is a "yes" as well. It is God's own
guarantee that if we seek wholeheartedly we will find.[iv]
Jesus reiterates the promise when he says that if we ask and seek and knock we
will not be disappointed.[v]
If we fulfill the conditions, these promises will undoubtedly be honoured, for
nothing less than the "full tide" of life in Christ is our
inheritance.[vi]
