how do i keep God from getting old in my life?

Question

i've been in church all my life, but Jesus' death and ressurection are so worn down on me, i think of it, and it means absolutely nothing. i know what christians have to do, that they must give up their lives and let go, but when i pray about it and read the Bible, there's no effect, and i can't force myself to feel a passion for God. in my mind i want to, but i've been hearing the same thing so long. i've prayed about it, but it hasn't been doing much good. plus, i can't force myself to love Jesus ( in my heart), although in my mind i want to? it's just getting really confusing

Answer 1

First realize that the problem is not God, it is something inside of yourself. And it is not enough to want it with your mind; you must love and seek after God with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength. Unless you are seeking gung-ho after Him, you will feel dead.

Another thing is, maybe you are experiencing a desert or trial in your life. Maybe God is testing your love for Him by seeing if you will seek after Him wholeheartedly, even when you don't feel Him. You should not always be moved, motivated, or controlled by feelings; if your priorities are straight, you will do what is right even when you don't see or feel the benefit.

The last thing I will say is, maybe you need to learn to grow in your relationship with God. This makes me think of a passage in the New Testament:

Hebrews 5:11-14
"11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

Like you have said, you have been in church all of your life. But that doesn't mean jack squat unless you make something out of it. You can go to church for 80 years, and still not get anything out of it. It seems to me that you are, like this verse said, still an infant in Christ who cannot eat of the fullness or deepness, the meat, of His truths until you first learn to grow. Being in church so long, you should be a teacher by now. However, unless you truly and fully grasp and understand the fundamental principles of God's word, you cannot grow.

Here are a few things that I will suggest for you that will help you grow in Christ and help your problem:

1. Serve. Find somewhere in your church to begin serving in. It is not enough just to attend; if you honestly want to grow, plug yourself into your church by finding an area to serve in. No church doesn't need help. Serve.

2. Fast. Biblically, when one of God's leaders was between a rock and a hard place, they would fast. You might need to begin with maybe a one meal or one day fast, but eventually try to get up to at least one three day fast every 1-2 months. And schedule your fasts. If you don't, you will put it off and never do it. Fast

3. Pray. Everyday. Make it a point to give at least 10 minutes everyday to prayer. The best time is the morning, because if you try to do it later in the day, other things will come before it. The power of prayer done by an earnest, pure, and righteous heart is unfathomable. Pray

4. Spend time in the Word, also everyday. For you to grow closer to God, you must know His will and His character, and what better way to do that than by knowing His Word. It sounds childish, but also try to memorize scriptures. It is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible to meditate on God's Word to get it into your heart. If you don't memorize it, you can't get it inside of yourself.

5. Hook up with someone else. Get someone to help you through this wilderness. Get someone you trust and look up to. Get together at least once every 1-2 weeks and discuss what God is doing and what you have been learning. Get that person to keep you accountable to do what you commit to.

6. Worship and thank God for what He has done in your life, and also what he promises to do in your life. Find some good worship CD's and listen to them in your car or at home. Worship is powerful and is one of the most effective wepons we have in spiritual warfare. Right now the enemy is attacking you to try to get you to fall, but stand strong and press through.

I didn't give any scriptures with any of these to save room (something that I really haven't done in this answers, sorry), but the Word is full of things backing all of these principles up. I pray that you will not fall away from the faith or fall into weakness. I hope that you will be able to overcome what you are going through. And please remember, these principles won't work if you don't commit to follow through with them consistently.

God bless!

Answer 2

Do you have a personal relationship with God? I mean, do you talk to him when you pray? Many people today are taught to pray in a stilted, memorized manner and not to speak their minds when they talk to God when they pray. God wants to be your friend, a personal confidante of your hopes, dreams, fears and plans. He wants to help YOU through all that you are going through. He truly does love us or why would he have sent his son, Jesus, to Earth to live as a human and to die such a painful and humiliating death in order to give us a chance to repent and gain everlasting life?
Listen, I know how hard it can be to hear the same things over and over again from church leaders... the same sermons week after week and the same platitudes when you ask for help. I am here if you want to just talk about regaining your Joy for Jesus and his Father. I know how hard it is because I had to do it myself as well a few years ago.
I started out by studying the Bible all over again. I don't mean I sat and read it from cover to cover, because as wonderful as a goal as that is, there are a lot of things in it that you just plain miss when you read it like that. No, I studied the Bible with a group of friends and learned alot about the promises in it and the reasons behind those promises and the signs we have today showing that those promises are so very close to coming true. I would LOVE to share some of these insights with you, if you feel you would like to. I don't want to shove anything down your throat or push any beliefs on you or anything like that, but maybe just email if you feel like it. If you do, feel free to do so and I would be happy to respond.

Answer 3

Read how the Apostle Paul handled the same thing in Romans 7. He struggled with the flesh which only wanted to sin but in His mind he served the law of God. So he determined not to let sin reign in his body because he had been transformed by the renewing of his mind.
Also you need to think about how ungrateful you have been that Christ would love you and pay for your sin and you not be happier about that!? He even paid for your sin of unthankfulness for your great redemption. If you can truly say there is no love in your heart for Christ you have never really been born again. He is the desire of all the nations.

PS If you truly mourn for your unbelief it is a good start for "blessed are they that mourn" as Jesus says

Answer 4

By saying this, it sounds like I'm telling you to leave your religion, but I am absolutely not. Quite the oppposite.

That said, take some time off. Not from following your religion, necessarily, but from the same old way of doing things. Go to a different church that doesn't follow the same ideas yours does--for that matter, go to a bunch. Go to a service of an entirely different religion. Get a few new viewpoints to toss around. This can often give you an entirely fresh perspective on your own situation, and can make a lot of things much clearer.

Answer 5

Sounds like you might be confusing an emotional response with a spiritual experience.
I have never known a Christian who was on a constant emotional 'high'.
You don't have to 'feel' a passion for God, you just need to commit to a passion for Him and his will in your life. It is a conscious decision, not an emotional reaction that comes and goes.
The Bible says, "God is love". Don't try to add anything to that or take anything away. If you love your kitten, you are experiencing God. He created your kitten and you can see His wonders in that little kittie's eyes and cute nose and tiny little paws......isn't God good at what he does?

Answer 6

My life is soooooo HoHum. I don't have to do anything but Worship God. To me that's not a John Madden excitement
everyday. I go to church, I pray. But, I relish the idea of living. I vote, I work, I pay taxes. My fun is in little things. A sunrise. A football game with my son. Talking with him
about a new computer game. Betting (yes betting) on the winner of a computer game. Oh, yes, out bets are for getting out of chores.

Answer 7

I wonder.....Have you ever..Did God ever reach thru the ether's and actually touch you? Have you ever sought Him in prayer with weeping and wailing and much travailing? That's usually when He reaches in and touches you.

How intense has your love for Him ever been? for Jesus? ever? I'm thinking you've NEVER really experienced God. When you do....there'll be NO question about how to keep God from getting old in your life. You will hunger for Him. You will LONG for His presence if it is not constant and beseech Him for it until it is. You will talk and sing and commune with Him all the time in your heart.

Don't worry about it. Whom he called He chose, so He'll send the Holy Spirit to put a hunger in your heart. Just don't ignore it.

Answer 8

you need to pray sincerely, tell God the truth of how you feel. He wont be mad if you come to him with a sincere heart. The enemy wants you to have an obstacle to God. To block you from God's promises, but don't let him. Sounds like you have been out of fellowship, have you been to church lately? Talk to your pastor(if u have one, if not, that's another issue)

God wants to use you, so sweetie, don't give up!! sometimes i feel like giving up too, but i think how much mercy He had on me. God bless you and keep you!!

Answer 9

Sounds like you don't want to fight the good fight of faith. The problem is that as you surrender your spiritual fight, your enemy wont. Satan will laugh at you thinking he has won. Renew your mind, renew your strenght, it is up to you to be renewed. No need to go by feelings but by faith. Continue on continuing on. I´m going to pray for you, God bless you!!!

Answer 10

You must remember that this is between you and God One song by the missiissipi mas choir is called Come in the room. The old lady goes to the closet and gets her prasie on. It's all about the prasie then your faith

Answer 11

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