Sometime ago I had a conversation with my pastor where I casually just said I hadn’t prayed throughout the week and it was because I was super “busy” — I had not been “feeling it” and He looked at me, smiled and said “you cannot be too “busy” that you don’t pray, it is a matter of priorities”. You are a priest and a king (Revelation 5 vs 10), you are obligated to perform the duties of a priest to God everyday, not when you feel like it, it is a responsibility that He has given to you. In season and out of season, it is the responsibility of the priest to keep the fire on the altar continually burning. God sets the fire ablaze but it becomes the duty of the priest, to keep that fire continually burning. You see, that changed my whole perspective.
God made man in His image and in His likeness.
Genesis 1 vs 26-27
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
But God did not want robots and so in His sovereignty, He decided to make man a free moral agent. So man is a Spirit, has a soul (a mind of his own, emotions) and lives in a body — but you see, all of that would not count unless man is:
Conscious of it, and
has a will of his own (keep this point in mind, this is the entirety of this whole article)
These 2 concepts are what make man a free moral agent as we say. These are what prevent man from being a robot. That right there, was the genius of God!
Now, speaking on the subject of having constant fellowship with the Lord, praying, studying the word. Speaking on struggle of sustaining a consistent devotional life, I have had a share of this seemingly unsolvable problem and I’ll give an example — which is the story of many believers:
Many upon many times, you attend a program where you feel God drawing you close, you receive something, after which you begin to feel that nudge to pray for long hours, you feel energized, you feel like the kingdom of darkness is in trouble, you feel like studying the word of God every day, and so on. Emphasis here on “feel”.
Now, days go by, weeks and sometimes even months and then there starts to be a decline. You start to become too familiar, that “nudge” slowly goes silent, you start skipping your prayer times, and so on. You then start to wonder, “I need fresh fire”, rightfully so, you need fresh fire BUT! That is the main reason I wrote this piece.
Feelings are good but many people have trained themselves and their spirit to depend solely on how they feel (speaking in terms of that “nudge”, that “spiritual awakening”, that “fire” to pray, study, seek the face of God) and this feeling tends to set the pace and determine the extent and the intensity with which they fellowship with God. News flash, it’s just a matter of time — that nudge will most likely go silent sooner or later. Some people have lost their “fire” this way and have afterwards gone days, months, weeks without studying, praying and have had to build from the ground up, fallen into the same sin they once had a strong conviction they will never visit again.
I bring a better perspective to this today, one that changed my entire devotional life and it’s that God desires the scent of your sacrifice. The sacrifice of your will, that sacrifice of your emotions, your mind, your entirety laid on the altar of devotion.
You must first of all understand and come to terms with the fact that God who made man a free moral agent, didn’t want robots to worship Him. He wanted man to choose to worship Him, to choose Him because we chose to, not because He forced us to. Now, this changes everything - You are no longer waiting for God to draw you close, you are making a choice to run towards Him. It definitely feels good when you “feel” that nudge but I’d want you to reflect; most of those seasons came when you took a step to draw closer to him, either by attending a program, going on a fast, watching a sermon, and so on.
James 4 vs 8 (KJV)
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
This should be the picture of your devotional life, friends; choosing Him every day, choosing to spend time with Him every day, choosing to study the word every day, choosing to worship every day EVEN and MOST ESPECIALLY when you do not feel like it — That is the sacrifice He desires and scripture says THAT is your reasonable service.
Romans 12 vs 1 (KJV)
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Yes, that ecstasy is amazing! Those seasons where you feel so close to touching heaven but He desires the scent of your SACRIFICE. What do you do when you don’t feel like praying? What do you do when you don’t feel like worshiping or studying the word? That should be when you choose to pray the more intentionally, that should be the time you choose to study more intentionally, that singular act would be you choosing Him intentionally even when you don’t feel like it — That is the sacrifice He desires and I tell you, as you do that suddenly! something will break forth in the Spirit, a fresh desire, fresh zeal and fresh “fire” comes upon you, you start feeling that pull once again.
I think this is very powerful as it can be see in romantic relationships as well. There is what they call the “honeymoon” phase — where you have butterflies in your belly 24 hours of the day but it is only a matter of time, that honeymoon phase often fades away and at that point, you get to know if you really love that person and want to spend the rest of your life with them. Now, what do you do when you no longer feel butterflies in your belly? Do you run away from them? Well you can, I mean lol but the point is, that is when you make an intentional decision to love them regardless of how you feel at the moment and more often than not, it is only a matter of time, those butterflies start whirling up again, the bond you two share become stronger.
Treat your relationship with God as such — Choice over feelings; because He desires the scent of that sacrifice. I hope this helps and I pray this strengthens your heart!
In the next part, we will discuss about certain things you should do in those seasons of “ecstasy” in your devotional life. Until then remember, you will remain warm only when you stay close to the fire. Make sure to choose Him every day because He desires the scent of that sacrifice of choosing Him even when you don’t “feel” it.