Spiritual Dryness

Bible Verses about spiritual dryness

Have you lost the presence of God? Spiritual dryness is one of the worst things that can happen to a believer. Leonard Ravenhill said, “You can have all of your doctrines right, yet still not have the presence of God.” There are times when you just know that God is not there. Once you get a small touch of God you can’t live without Him.

You can’t live without your heart. In the same way, you can’t live without God. He is our source of strength. When you drift from your source of strength you become weak and powerless. Has something substituted for God in your life? Money, sin, pride, lust, etc. Sometimes we can run away from God to seek our desires and that results in us being dry. All believers go through spiritual droughts, but grace leads us back to the Lord.

Never doubt the love that God has for you just because you are in a spiritual drought. Even when our heart is cold for Him His heart is never cold for us. We may forget the Lord, but He always remembers us. God’s greatest men have been dry for the Lord. The beauty of being spiritually drained is that you know you are spiritually drained. The first step to fixing any problem is admitting to yourself that you have a problem. Go to Christ for help. Ask for prayers from other believers.

Remove things that are hindering your spiritual life. Get more sleep because sometimes our physical health can affect our spiritual health. Also, know that you are not alone. Be still and trust in the Lord. Examine your heart daily. Ask yourself, am I truly seeking the Lord with my heart? If you find yourself lacking in your devotional life bring your problem to the Almighty God.

Christian quotes about spiritual dryness

“Droughts and difficulties are a reality for all of us. When the dry of your drought is fierce, God is inviting you to serve and trust Him in the arid, arduous trenches of it. You. Are. Not. Alone.” Gwen Smith

“No amount of Christian activity compensates for an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.”

“There is nothing in this universe you need more desperately than Christ.” R. C. Sproul

God allows Himself to be found

I’ve noticed that in my own prayer life God allows Himself to be found by me. We are the ones who don’t seek Him with all our heart. Often there is something that is holding us back from seeking the Lord. Is God alone enough for you to seek Him? How do you search for God? Do you search for Him like you lost $1 million dollars or do you search for Him like you lost $1 dollar? When you search for God like you lost $1 million dollars you are going to be searching for Him all night because He means so much to you. You know His worth!

When you are spiritually dry, you don’t want to pray you just want to leave and go to bed. I love what Leonard Ravenhill said, “you are just as spiritual as you want to be.” Have you drifted from God? Return to Him. God says, “Ask, and it will be given to you.”

God wants you to cry out to Him. He wants to fill you in ways that you have never been filled before. A prayer for more of Him is a prayer that will never be denied. However, God is going to test you. God is going to search your heart to see if you are willing to go the distance for more of Him.

1. Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

2. Jeremiah 24:7 I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

3. Zechariah 1:3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.

4. James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

5. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Do you desire Jesus?

When is the last time that you cried out in the cold for hours begging God for more of His presence and grace? Does God mean so much to you that you would rather die just to be in His presence? Why do you give up in prayer? You pray for 20 minutes and you don’t feel His presence and you call it quits. No! Don’t give up!

Are you seeking Him with everything? When you are seeking Him with everything you stay there until He comes. Sometimes you are going to have to stay in prayer for 2 hours. That is how you wrestle with the Almighty God. “God I will not leave until I have you in my grasp and I’ll never let you go!” The presence of God might cost you sleep. Sometimes God is going to lead you to stay awake when others are sleeping comfortably in their beds.

6. Isaiah 26:9 At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

7. Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

8. Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

9. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Are you training yourself to seek God?

If you’re not feeding your soul with the things of God, you are feeding your soul with the things of the world. Our flesh is killing us. It’s hard to be on fire for God when you have been watching TV for hours. It’s hard to be on fire for God when you have been listening to ungodly music. It’s hard to be on fire for God when you have been dwelling on worldly things. Our flesh wants everything but God. It wants to keep scrolling through Instagram. It wants to keep playing video games.

We say things like, “OK God 5 more minutes.” Then 5 minutes turns into 50 minutes. As time goes on a prayerless life doesn’t even bother you anymore. Answer this next question. Are you training yourself to live without God? You must discipline yourself. I will admit it’s not always easy. Things that are hindering you must go. Examine yourself.

There might be so many idols in your life that God is not even in fourth place. You say, “I love God.” Do you really love Him? What does your life say? You never forget to breathe do you? You have time for everything else, but you never have time for the one who gave you life. He’s the same God who gives you the life that you use to neglect Him.

10. Galatians 5:16-17 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

11. 1 Timothy 4:8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Does God’s presence matter to you?

I believe most Christians have become more content with rituals than having a genuine relationship with God. We think as long as we appear religious God is OK with that. No! God knows when your heart is dull. Have you become content with rituals? You can pray to God and not say a thing to God. Words mean nothing when the heart is not right.

You can go to church every day, preach every day, pray every day, give every day, and still be spiritually dry. We love to do things for God, but do we remember the one who we do it for? You can become so comfortable in being religious that you don’t notice God’s presence missing from your life. Don’t settle for religion. There is no reason to live if the presence of Christ is not in your life. Every day God has to keep stirring my heart. I have to keep on wrestling with God so that I don’t start going through the motions. I have to fight.

It’s horrible when you become satisfied with just saying prayers but not having an intimate relationship with Christ. I would rather die than live like that! We are so bent on going our own way. Examine yourself are you seeking God?

Do you look for God when you start praying? Do you look for God in the sermon? Do you think about God once when you walk into church? Go to the white page that divides the Old and the New Testament. 400 years and God never moved. 400 years of silence. 400 years of ritualism. Cry out to God now. There is something missing in your life and you know it.

12. Jeremiah 2:6 They stopped asking, “Where is the LORD who brought us from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, through a land of drought and darkness, a land no one traveled through and where no one lived?”

13. Matthew 15:8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

When you are spiritually dry, you become powerless.

When your heart has become dull for the Lord everyone notices. You don’t do the things that you used to do.  You don’t have the same joy that you used to have. The strength that kept you from compromising is gone. You start to become like everyone else.

Your words don’t inspire others anymore. Your advice is not helpful anymore. Your faith is not contagious anymore. Sin slowly takes your heart away from God. Most of the time you never notice until it’s too late. Spiritual dryness doesn’t only affect you it affects those around you and those who look to you for assistance.

You must examine yourself.  You must repent daily. Listen to the Lord and turn your feet from the direction of sin. God will not walk with someone who neglects Him. If you desire to walk with the Lord you have to leave sin behind.

14. Judges 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

15. Numbers 14:42 “Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you.”

Don’t allow your circumstances to make you dull.

Be careful that you don’t allow your problems to suck the joy out of you. You become spiritually dry when you stop trusting in the Lord. A trial can kill you spiritually. The Israelites were spiritually dry because they were discouraged from their trials. They were too empty to believe the promises of the Lord.

Your perspective changes when you realize God is in control. Instead of being empty and weak you are filled with God. You are bold. You are spiritually alive and you become like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They said, “the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.” Even while being threatened to be thrown into the fire they trusted in the Lord.

The next thing they said is amazing. “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” We must trust in the Lord even if He doesn’t deliver us from a certain situation.

16. Exodus 6:6-9 “Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.” Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

Be careful when everything is going well in your life.

Be very careful when God blesses you in various ways. That is when God’s people forget Him and become spiritually lazy. When everything is going well we have no need for God. This is one of the reasons God allows His people to go through trials.

God wants His people to depend on Him and glorify Him in their situation. Sometimes God puts us in situations where only He can deliver us. He puts us in situations where only He can get the glory. When you have no problems in your life or when you just overcame a great trial seek God like you have never sought Him before!

17. 2 Chronicles 15:2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”

18. Deuteronomy 6:12 Be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Ask God to set you on fire for Him

He will give you what you desire! He will set your soul on fire. He will refill you. There is no trick to it just ask Him and be still. One of my greatest prayers is just saying, “God help me I can’t do it without you.” You must fall upon Christ. You must recognize your need for Christ. “Jesus I need you.” We need the spirit of God to touch our lives.

19. Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.

20. Acts 4:31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

Do you spend time in the Word of God?

I noticed that every time that I have been spiritually dry I have always been lacking in my personal Bible study. We all read the Word in our Bible study groups, but do we have a personal relationship with finding God in His Word? God often uses intimate Bible study time to talk to us.

When we neglect the Word, we neglect Him. God wants us to listen to Him as He speaks to us through His Word. We must never forget what Amos 8:11 tell us, “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land, not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.” Cherish the Word of God.

21. Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

22. Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.

Be thankful and set your mind on Christ

Don’t allow your happiness to come from your circumstances. Make war against those negative and discouraging thoughts. Allow your happiness to come from Christ. There is no substitute for the joy found in Christ. Jesus wants us to live in abundance. When we hear the word abundance we think about worldly treasures of all kinds.

This type of abundance leaves us dry. Jesus desires us to have spiritual abundance. He wants us to rest assured that we are loved and we are sons and daughters of the living God. True fulfillment and satisfaction is only found in Christ.

When we set our mind on Christ we learn to be content. We learn to be joyful in our trials. We learn to be thankful for the smallest things and we don’t allow Satan to come and steal our joy. One of the methods I use to set my heart on Christ is to preach the gospel to myself. Don’t go back to those chains that kept you in bondage. You can begin to know Christ. You can begin to set your mind on Him.

23. John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

24. Philippians 4:12-13 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

25. Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Spiritual Poverty: Your Area’s Greatest Need

More from: Camilla Olim

I’ve been living in London, UK for almost two years. When I moved here I didn’t think much beyond convenience – I’d gotten a job in the city so I needed to relocate. My new area was just a base; somewhere to rest my head at night as I repeated the daily grind day after day. Wake up, coffee, commute. Work, eat, work, commute. Dinner. Bed.

Since my job was based at a Christian organization, it was easy to focus on work as my ministry. I quickly found a local church, but it didn’t occur to me straight away that God may have a greater purpose for moving into my area.

I’ve found God often unravels His plans for us slowly; revealing only enough for us to take a step forward.

A couple of months into living in my new home, I started getting to know the other girl who was lodging in the same house. Also a Christian, we were amazed at how much we had in common, and she decided to try my new church, being much closer than the one she’d been attending. Like me, she quickly got plugged in.

One Saturday, we attended a street outreach together with some of our church members. Afterwards, we grabbed coffee and discussed the possibility of moving out of the house we lodged in, and sharing an apartment. We talked of ways that we could potentially reach out to the local community together. For the first time, it really dawned on me that moving to London was bigger than me and bigger than my job. God had a purpose for me here and I was excited.

But that afternoon, we got home to find that our house had been burglarized while we were out. All our valuables were gone.

I was shaken, but I only had greater resolve to stay in London after that. Three months later we moved into a new home in the next neighborhood. It wasn’t plain sailing at all. Firstly, we had a mice infestation which needed dealing with. And a whole lot of other distractions and unforeseen circumstances meant that for some time, we had to put our dreams of reaching out to our new neighborhood on the back burner.

For over a year, all I could do for my city was pray. But recently I’ve been forced to slow down. I’d quit my job and suddenly, no longer commuting into the city centre every day, I’ve had time to notice the needs around me.

These needs are pretty obvious – low income households, crime (I can’t recall walking down the high street without hearing the wail of police sirens). Even loneliness – the lack of community commonly found in the largest cities.

But overruling all of these, I think, is a void that material wealth and even connected cannot fill. A void common to your city or town, and mine. Bridging the gap between the stock-market high-fliers and the grocery street sellers is a condition known to every man without Christ: Spiritual poverty.

When you are spiritually poor, you are separated from the One who designed you. You are separated from the Life-giver himself; without him, you’ll never truly know who you are or why you exist. The spiritually poor will live out their lives trying to fill the void.

The fewer Christians there are in any given area, the greater the spiritual poverty. So, is it any great wonder that I should be sent to a city full of need?

Need that seems baffling when viewed through our own feeble lens.

But I take comfort in Jesus’s words to his disciples: “You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14). That means my very presence brings light to the dark places. Everywhere I go I carry light because Christ dwells within me.

As He does in you. You are not where you are by some fluke or accident. There is purpose in your location; whether the urban jungle or the quiet suburb. You are there because you carry something your area needs. Love. Joy. Hope. Peace.

Right before Christmas my housemate and I wrote Christmas cards to each apartment in our building. In each card, we wrote down things we felt the Lord wanted to speak into their lives, to let them know that they are seen and loved. Two people wrote cards back expressing their gratitude and one of them said they wanted to drop by and get to know us.

It was one small thing we could do to address the need in our immediate surroundings.

Ask God to give you his heart for your area, and take time to pray into the things that He highlights to you. Ask Him to show you small ways you can make a difference – and believe me, He will.

When you make yourself available God will use you wherever we are.