categories: spiritual development
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Fanning the Spiritual Flame
Question: What do you do when you realize you are lukewarm?
Answer: You do something drastic!
If some small change would have made the difference in your spiritual life, you would have made the change a long time ago.
You might:
- Start a seven day fast and devote extra time to seeking God.
- Take a sabbatical and pray like you haven’t in years.
- Confess to your spouse, your elders, or to trusted friends and ask for help.
- Seek spiritual counseling from another pastor or counselor.
- Take the week off and go to a hotel alone with no cell phone, no computer, and no books but the Bible.
- Read a children’s bible and pretend like you’re hearing the gospel story for the very first time.
- Repent to your family for your lack of spiritual passion and leadership.
- Tell your church honestly that you are struggling and invite them to pray for you.
- You might turn off your computer now and go somewhere and cry and repent deeply.
Whatever you do, it should be drastic and you should do it before another voice talks you out of it.
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Great post Craig. After reading this list - I’m wondering if some of these should just be a part of our rhythm as ministry leaders.
Moments where we feel lukewarm as leaders in our relationship with God may be further apart if always scheduled a little (drastic) time with Him and others.
After while - what was once considered drastic - may later be considered fundamental to growth.
Again - great post!
There’s nothing like a little prayer and fasting to kick spiritual apathy in the pants!
i thought the question or problem from yesterday was great. Today, the answer and solutions are even better. Thanks!
WOW! Powerful thoughts. I have found the one that works best for me is to get away for a few days by myself to fast and pray and read like crazy. Too many distractions around here (food, job, & otherwise)
[...] Spiritual Apathy Posted on December 3, 2008 by Kalum Here is a great post from Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv Fanning the Spiritual Flame [...]
[...] Spiritual Apathy Posted on December 3, 2008 by Kalum Here is a great post from Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv Fanning the Spiritual Flame [...]
Hi Craig, Sometime, would you share the step-by-step process you go through in writing a sermon?
I think that we - as spiritual leaders - can get trapped by the million spiritual things we must “produce” and get done each week. How much more life is there in leading out of an overflow of what is happening in our own lives? I think this is why getting away for solitude and silence is so important to us in ministry. It’s not easy to do, but one thing that has changed my life and probably allowed me to stay in ministry through the hardest 2 1/2 years of my life (and certainly my time in ministry) is that I joined a retreat community and submitted to someone else to lead me spiritually, I submitted to a group of people I did not know but who were there for a common purpose. I did this through The Transforming Center - totally great, nothing new age about them no matter what you google! The writings of Ruth Haley Barton in her newest book “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership” are something I would HIGHLY recommend. As spiritual leaders, we MUST pay attention to our own souls…..to the state of our own spiritual health. We must grow closer to God for God’s sake alone, not in order to teach, etc.
BTW, Brokenness and desperation teaches this lesson loud and clear…..
If I can’t go away somewhere, I get up at an hour that is early enough to be really uncomfortable for me and pray. I learned that I have to stand up and pray at that time or I will fall back asleep. That always seems to spark a fire in me. Thanks for the great post Craig. When I first started in ministry I was on fire and thought it would grow and be easy when I did it full time. Now I realize that I have to work harder at it and be more disciplined.
Tom, Great thoughts on getting up early!
Kevin, I did a whole week on sermon prep. Can’t remember the title. You can search the site to find it.
Janowen, Thanks for the recommendation.
Aaron and Milan, So glad this is helpful. Blessings.
Thank you For This Post…It grabbed my heart and I openly confess my own ridiculous apathy in my own life ! I pray to be continually rattled and I pray that I stay awake from my own worldly “Coma”…God is changing me and the teaching at Life Church during ” Practical Atheist ” was an amazing but difficult series to encounter…but the teaching has set a new spark in my life. Thank you for challenging us in our walk….
Besides doing some of the things listed above I listen to messages and sermons from respected leaders that have gotten my attention back on Christ in the past.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Our church staff are encouraged to take a monthly one-day retreat to avoid yesterday’s list. Mine is in my schedule for the last Friday of every month.
For those who need something more drastic like the ideas above, I recommend the Pastors Retreat Network. They provide a free weeklong self-guided retreat in a few locations. My wife and I just got back from the Wisconsin location and can’t recommend it more highly - we are encouraging all of the pastors from our church to go with their spouses within the next two years. The website is http://www.pastorsretreatnetwork.org
If you are doing well financially, you might consider giving to the PRN to help underwrite the cost of the retreat so they can continue helping pastors not be burned out and lukewarm.
that was a spiritual slap in hind-side. good word.
Love the “read a children’s Bible” idea. God’s Truth is really simplistic…and in our hectic lives we tend to complicate things and become overwhelmed. Great idea!
We talked about yesterday in our fight club time (men’s breakfast) about how much people like to see pastors lives in a fishbowl. The unfortunate part for many pastors is that when they do burnout, and become lukewarm, they can’t go to their elders, or be honest with their church. It would make them lose credibility, and influence. It’s a shame that our churches have become a place that expects & demands perfection from the pastor, but tolerates and accepts sin from everywhere else.
That’s why I appreciate ministries like Craig’s. He’s a pastors pastor. We need more churches like that.
Thanks Craig for pastoring pastors. I know that this blog is read by thousands, but you connect in a way that is personal. I’ve sat here reading this post over and over, listening to God and searching my heart. Thanks for your investment in my life. My walk with God and our church is better for it.
“God, draw me close to you - show me how to be still before you - God, fan the flame in my life.”
Brandon, You are welcome. I love pastors so much. Thank you for being a part of the blog family.
Jeremy, It can be tough for pastors to be spiritually vulnerable with leaders. But without transparency, the pastor is going to be at greater risk over time. It can be a catch-22, but I believe the pastor must do whatever it takes to keep the spiritual fires burning.
Your posts are an adreneline rush to my heart - thanks.
I wonder if you’ve ever done the one you recommend about hitting the hotel alone for a week of restoration?
I believe when you have found something incredible, you should share it with everyone you meet. And please believe I am not trying to “advertise” for this place. But I have had the most amazing experiences at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs. It’s a retreat center owned by the Navigators. It is absolutely gorgeous, and there are no phones or televisions or other mindless distractions. They hold a “personal spiritual retreat” once a month, and I highly recommend it! http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/gleneyrie/retreats/innovospiritualretreat/innovo
I’m an idiot. There are phones there. Sorry about that.
Great action steps demonstrating faith that does something!
[...] the rest at lifechurch.tv and get smacked (in a good [...]
Hi, I am a pastor from México and I appreciate very much your ministry, it really challenge me. How useful is the practices of silence and contemplative life in maintaining the fire in our hearts?
Thanks a lot
[...] December 3, 2008 · No Comments This is taken from the Swerve blog [...]
TXMOM4 - Thanks for mentioning Glen Eyrie and our ministry here. I also wanted to add that we have many retreats through out the year on differing topics. You can find them here http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/gleneyrie/retreats/cornerstone. Thanks
Good stuff Craig. I will print off this list to keep in my file. I agree with the comment on waking up early as well. That always stretches me as well.
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