Struggles with Apathy

[MatthaiosX]

Have any of you experienced a complete indifference towards spiritual life, so much so that you have questioned ever making an effort again? I will admit that I just went through this. It was my first bout with spiritual apathy since coming back to Christ two years ago; it started right before Lent and has lasted up until last night.

I don’t know what overcame me, was it an attack of the enemy? Was it because it was Lent? I’m still not sure as I have just come out of this mess and I am still getting used to “normal life” again. All I know is this: last night I felt something extremely powerful when I prayed. I felt absolutely strengthened in every way by God. I felt completely renewed and I have so much spiritual joy I could fly. It was as if I woke up from a deep, dark slumber last night and arose to find myself in a new place, a much, much better place than before this trial started.

I guess all I can really say is thank God. Maybe these struggles are necessary for growth, but I don’t want to go through this again. I realize that these types of experiences can be beneficial if we will be patient, allow God to His work and continue moving in the right direction.

Have any of you experience spiritual apathy? If so, how did you overcome?

 

[goout]

Have any of you experienced a complete indifference towards spiritual life, so much so that you have questioned ever making an effort again? I will admit that I just went through this. It was my first bout with spiritual apathy since coming back to Christ two years ago; it started right before Lent and has lasted up until last night.

I don’t know what overcame me, was it an attack of the enemy? Was it because it was Lent? I’m still not sure as I have just come out of this mess and I am still getting used to “normal life” again. All I know is this: last night I felt something extremely powerful when I prayed. I felt absolutely strengthened in every way by God. I felt completely renewed and I have so much spiritual joy I could fly. It was as if I woke up from a deep, dark slumber last night and arose to find myself in a new place, a much, much better place than before this trial started.

I guess all I can really say is thank God. Maybe these struggles are necessary for growth, but I don’t want to go through this again. I realize that these types of experiences can be beneficial if we will be patient, allow God to His work and continue moving in the right direction.

Have any of you experience spiritual apathy? If so, how did you overcome?

Sure.
Try to endure it in patience.
Patience is to endure the gap between perfection and reality.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Like any relationship, there can be ebb and flow in feelings. The important thing is to stay faithful when you don’f “feel” it.

 

[pianistclare]

Honestly, no.
I’ve always felt that God evolved me, and felt ashamed when I didn’t love Him back as I should
I’ve been very blessed in my life. I’ve endured much tragedy. I’ve been treated badly at a couple of job.
I’ve been broke.
Wait…I’m STILL broke! LOL
Endured heartache.
Lot my parents.
But I never stopped loving God. I just prayed to try to understand His ways. All of what has happened to me has not been His fault.

God bless you. I’ll include in my prayers tonight.

 

[Seagull]

All the time
I’m like Nathanael under the fig tree…
Then I stand up and brush myself off…,.
and go over, with Phillip, to where Jesus is…
It doesn’t take much for me to be enraptured by the spiritual things though…
It’s just backing away from what’s lazy or worldly,
and making the time -

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Yeah, it’s just called a dry spell, it happens. I went through one last year.

Also, prayer doesn’t always bring spiritual joy. A lot of the time it feels pretty ordinary or even like a chore. Both peaks and valleys are kind of unusual, they are not how it feels all the time or even most of the time.

When you get these valleys, you can try changing your prayer life around, trying some new method or type of praying, breaking up routine, doing something different.

Or you might just need to wait for it to pass.

You can ask other people to pray for you when you feel this way, to help get you out of it. I made a prayer thread for myself.

 

[MatthaiosX]

The best thing for me to do was to be patient and let it pass. I never stopped loving God, I don’t think that’s possible for me, I will always love God even if I don’t feel a thing. I told myself at the beginning of my journey that I would never give up the fight, no matter how I felt or what I went through. This had nothing to do with my love for Him. It was more of me simply becoming disinterested in spiritual things (prayer, going to church, etc.) due to sheer laziness. I have come out of it now though. And for me personally, prayer and attending Divine services is nearly always a joyful and exuberant experience. Sometimes it feels like chore but most of the time it actually doesn’t. That’s why this demon of apathy took me so much by surprise. It was something I had never encountered before. However, now that I am on the other side of this I can see how this “test”, if you will, has made me stronger. Our faith has to be tested against all the wiles of the adversary to see if it is true or not and if it can stand the test of time or if it will crumble at the first sign of resistance. I know for me personally, I’m here for the Long haul. Eternity that is!

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Yes I have.
It seems to correlate with my emotional state across the board–if my physical life is blah, my spritual life is blah.
I’ve never found a real solution for it, it just turns around on its own.

 

[metanoia1]

The only time I’ve been apathetic towards my spiritual practice was before I realized I had one. Since then no, though I tend toward being irreverent or nonchalant at times with the practice. Try not to take myself too seriously.