Hindrances To The Spiritual Life

There are many positive benefits of investing time and energy into the spiritual disciplines. However, after a period of time we can find that we are discouraged with the progress that we are making. Devotional times can become empty routines, and lack the inspiration and vibrancy of face-to-face fellowship with God. At times like this, we need to face the situation and try to find out why we are feeling that way. The spiritual disciplines are a key area of our spiritual lives, so we need to ensure that nothing prevents us from entering into these times wholeheartedly.

There can be a number of reasons why our devotional times are not functioning the way we would like. One reason is that tiredness can prevent us from concentrating. If we are continually staying up late at night and then seek to meet with God first thing in the morning, then we should not be surprised that we find it difficult to concentrate. Either we need to change our lifestyle by going to bed earlier, or we need to meet with God at another time in the day when we can give Him our full attention. Also, consider your posture. When we are tired, sitting in a comfortable chair can encourage us to sleep, rather than focussing on God. Perhaps walking around would help us to focus better. Perhaps kneeling or sitting in an upright chair would help. The aim is not to punish ourselves, but to find a posture that will help us to concentrate.

Another reason for struggling with the spiritual disciplines is thinking that we do not have enough time. If we feel that we are under time pressure, we may just rush in and rush out of God's presence without allowing time to reflect and listen to what He has to say to us. This often comes from wrong priorities, where we give more importance to other areas than our time with God. We need to make sure that we schedule our time with God, so that the pressures that we are facing do not reduce the quality of the devotional time.

Another struggle can come from having too much noise or too many distractions when we seek to meet with God. In this case, experiment with different environments and even different times until you find something that works for you. Sometimes we just need to have a change, just to do something differently, in order to bring freshness into our times with God.

Another hindrance can be that of discouragement or a sense of having failed God. Here it is vital that we can distinguish between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and feeling condemned. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of an area, He is specific: "This area needs to change". Compare this with condemnation that is a general sense of failure that comes from Satan, not from God. If we see that the Holy Spirit is convicting us about a specific area, then we need to turn to God and to repent. He is always willing to forgive us and to purify us (1 John 1:9). If we feel that the enemy is weighing us down with condemnation, we need to resist the enemy's lies and to speak out God's truth. Praise is a powerful weapon that can be used to overcome discouragement (Isaiah 61:3).

Disobedience to God's commands can also be a hindrance to our times with God. If we fail to obey God, then the whole of our personal development and relationship with Him will be affected. Often God will not reveal more of Himself to us until we take the step of obedience. If we are to grow and develop, we need a deep desire to obey the will of God.

Our devotional times are a vital source of energy to our spiritual lives. If we neglect these times or allow hindrances to go unchecked, we will find that our effectiveness as leaders will be diminished.