I woke up in the night with a dull uneasiness. As I came awake, my thoughts centered on my soul care or lack thereof lately. Guilt swept over me. I hadn’t been reading and meditating on Scripture throughout the day. Just one chapter in the morning, a one and done thing. Why hadn’t I been reading spiritual articles online in between work projects like usual? Why was my spiritual appetite waning? Where was the hungering and thirsting after God? What’s wrong with me? What do I do to get the fervor back?
In God’s kindness, I stumbled across the exact help I needed the next day. I found an article in my inbox called, “How to Pray for the Soul”1.. Hmmm. My soul needs help. Better read this carefully.
It was like a Spring breeze whispered thru my heart. The Scriptures said that the weight of responsibility doesn’t rest on my shoulders. What a relief to realize that I don’t have to drum up a certain feeling. God is willing to move my heart toward him. I don’t have to ignite the spark of spirituality. He lights the fire. (Altho we are commanded to fan that fire. “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you.” 2 Timothy 1:6) As soon as I seek him, he responds by changing my heart. I don’t have to whip up enthusiasm for meditation. He puts a desire for his Word in my heart. King David asked God for this kind of soul help.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies…” David in Psalm 119:36 (The want-to comes from God.)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:12 (God gives us clean, loyal, joyful, and willing hearts.)
God’s spirit does the heavy lifting. He connects me to God. Cultivating the soul isn’t just a human endeavor. God provides the help I need.
“Cause us to return to yourself, O Lord, and we will return! Renew our days as of old.” Lamentations 5:21
“That God would grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man.” Ephesians 3:16
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13
So when my spiritual life is lacking, I don’t need to pick myself up by the bootstraps and muster up an appetite for Bible reading and prayer. I just have to humbly call out to God. He will soften and move my heart toward him. He will make Scriptures jump to life in living color. He will remind me to ask him for everything I need hour by hour. He will bring ideas from his word to mind that refresh my soul. He will come alongside. He will befriend me.
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Revelation 3:20 (Jesus is a gentleman. He doesn’t shout and beat our heart’s door open. He patiently waits for us to willingly open up to him.)
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” Jesus explaining that the Spirit would come to help after Jesus had to go back to Heaven in John 14:26 because he knew we couldn’t do it on our own.
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from your Law.” Psalm 119:18 (After all, if I see wonderful things in the Bible, I’ll be motivated to keep reading.)
“The soul is always in motion. If you think yours is motionless, you are probably floating downstream. Daily the soul is lured to other treasures, other satisfactions, other rewards besides Jesus and his way. Jesus taught us to pray daily, “forgive us for these wanderings and lead us not into, but out of, them.” John Piper
“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given…I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.” Paul praying for believers at Ephesus in Ephesians 1:18-1
Although God moves in us to respond to him, we must cooperate. He will incline our hearts to him, restore our joy, make us willing to obey, be our companion, remind us of truth, and help us see and understand it. But we can’t just do our own thing and expect God to magically make us spiritual. I’ve found that taking spiritual responsibility to serve others helps keep me on track. For me, one commitment is writing this blog each week. I’m ‘forced’ to spend time in the Bible so I have something to pass along to my readers. Serving others in this and other ways pushes me to rely on God, begging him to give me something to bless others with each week. Another spiritual commitment is studying the Bible with others both on Sundays lead by our church leaders and in a small group lead by a layperson. This doesn’t take the place of personal study and meditation, but it’s important to keep me moving forward and learning. It’s encouraging to hear what others have discovered on their faith journey. Because I have no musical ability, I often forget the powerful help music can be to our souls. If you can play or sing, why not make music to God? For those of us who can’t, we can listen to music and lift our hearts Godward. What will you do this week to let God draw you closer?
Footnotes
- “How to Pray for the Soul,” by John Piper in Desiring God website.
Resources
“Praying for Your Straying Soul,”
“A Prayer for a Lukewarm Heart,”
“A (very) Short Prayer for My Dullest Days”