Question and Prayer request.

My question is Have you ever felt like you were just spinning your tires in your walk with God?

I guess that is how I would explain it for myself, it seems I try and then get no where or don't have meet with God. As if I have reservation about meeting with the Father. I know this feeling is not really His fault as many seem prone to simply blame God for everything that isn't right. This is hardly fair but common, I acknowledge the fact I am the problem. I have read and studied about Radical Obedience but I lack the Faith to see it in my own life. I lack the understanding to know it and I lack the will to continue in it. After considering all of this I look at myself and see a very deep sadness in myself because I know that Only He satisfies but lacking the contentment to simply rest in Him. I constantly cling to the things of this world and I know many will say just get rid of those things, that seems all to easy to say but the act of doing such a thing is tough.

Is a Walk with Christ suppose to hurt this bad? I am guessing so which is why its foolishness. Everytime I feel I am going to give up and just fall away the Lord woos me back for what seems to be a few days of me just loving the Lord and getting to know Him deeper. I know its a test of character that what we do when God isn't giving us these moments how we react. I suppose I don't have strong character.

My last and only option from this terrible feeling is throwing myself at the feet of Christ and asking for Mercy and Grace. I feel very lost and in need of a Lord and Saviour.

If the Lord should lead you to pray for me please do so it would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless,
Matthew

My question is Have you ever felt like you were just spinning your tires in your walk with God?

Absolutely, if you are a servant of Jesus you will face persecution from this world. And sometimes even from ourselves and other spiritual principalities. Accusations of our failings are perceived in our conscious minds but allot of times can have a spiritual source.

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood"
Many of our battles especially in the mind are not carnal battles but spiritual ones that we can win if we equip ourselves with the complete Armour of God. The devil will aim fiery darts at you thats a given. You might experience this as persecution in this world or he could try and like the thief he is attempt to steal your joy and make you quit. Im sure you have read Ephesians 5&6 (so i wont post) but remember that our weapons of warfare are not carnal but mightly and able to pull down every spiritual or mental stronghold that might exhort itself over the knowledge of God.

"Build yourself up in your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost"
We are the light of the world right? Well imagine yourself as a touchlight Christ uses to shine his light in this dark world. Well like in the natural battery powered lights grow weak with use. So it is with us spiritually also. We get beat up in ministry and some turn to humanist means to alleviate the hurt. But thats like rubbing batteries in our hands and putting them back in(doesnt really have any effect). But the only true way we can get back up and continue and endure is if we cultivate long suffering. We must charge out spiritual batteries by praying in the spirit always. If we dont need to always pray in the spirit its a sign we are not in effective ministry and may only be in positions with a form of religion and no actual power. I have realised that i am no good ages ago lol the bible says so and i just figured the sooner i depended in the finished work of Christ the better i would be. But enough talk from me here are some things in the word that have encouraged me when im down in the pits.

2 Peter 1

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Philippians 4:7 (New King James Version)

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There are many other scriptures i encourage myself with. All i can say to you is immerse yourself in his word and promises and build yourself in your most holy faith. The emotions wont go away they rarely do but there is a greay joy in the spirit that doesn't make any sense as the southern baptist asthmatic preacher would say "i shoulda lost my mind, aaahhh, but i decided aaaahhh, i said i decided aaaaah, i was gonna follow JESUS *high pitched screech*,JESUS "

Thank you for your post the Asthmatic preacher thing made me laugh quite a bit actually :)

I believe the perserverance thing is what is snagging me up. If only Knowledge automatically equaled Godliness, but its through perserverance that we put that Knowledge to work to produce Godliness. I definitely feel blind and quite forgetful of my cleansing from my past sins except its not my past sins that concern me but the ones that snare me now. Ephesians 6 is one of my favorite chapters ever since I was a young boy I think having armor and weapons was always a cool concept to me :P

I don't really know if this is a feeling of simply being lovesick for Christ wanting to be closer or being sick and tired of being in the same place and a feeling of being stuck where I am.

Your advise on staying the Word seems to be harder and harder kind of like trying to push a car out of a snow covered ditch and not getting anywhere but tired. I think that will just require me reading the Word slower, quality over quantity.

Thank you for the Encouragement it was much appreciated.

I definitely feel blind and quite forgetful of my cleansing from my past sins except its not my past sins that concern me but the ones that snare me now.

I find your honestly refreshing. There are times when i feel in the pits and totally empty. Feel like i have given everything and can see no results. But after all the battles God has led me through id be insane not to trust him. I dont have faith in faith but faith in the object of our faith a God that cannot lie. This shift helps me see hope when every rational thinking human will tell me its impossible. He has indeed done great things and if he never did another 'great' thing is enough. Jesus resurrected me from death and gave me life. Thats great but they never tell you that the process of God sanctifying you is not always pleasant. We are his vessels and sometimes he needs to break us , mould us or refine us in fire. How the apostles counted this all as joy is remarkable.

Your advise on staying the Word seems to be harder and harder kind of like trying to push a car out of a snow covered ditch and not getting anywhere but tired. I think that will just require me reading the Word slower, quality over quantity.

Absolutely, there are times when i just read the psalms not from a theological point of view but as worship to him. Its not information that liberates us but its truth. Many have allot of information(logos) but very little truth. When the devil couldnt get to me guess who he picked on (my wife). When i tried talking it didnt work so one day i got MAD
MAD = Motivated Against the Devil
I got really and i mean really angry against the devil and simply decided that any chain of thought contrary to Gods word for me was unwelcome in my home. I thought to myself if joshua could declare "as for me and my house" so could i. I resisted the evil one and rebuked him anytime he said something to me directly or through my wife. Well he soon got tired of me and the wife and still probably tries other stuff but you cant really take the guy seriously. Dont get down get M.A.D. Everything you need for dzoay and godliness has been given to you already as peter said.

Tapes for rainman's series on M.A.D
are available on http://www.amazon.ca for a special love gift of $300 Zimbabwean dollars

Dear brother

Hello, I do feel i know what you are feeling.
i too have felt what some call brass cielings,and you are correct in knowing that the problem remains in us.
I too fought over and over with sin that i could never overcome, trying every thing posable to rid of it.

Then i came to a place, very tired in my flesh and thats when the Lord could finaly set me free. It is all about his faith And Grace, I did a study on grace and found that The Lord gives us the will to do his will.

I cried out to him like a child, telling him i wanted to do his will but didnt know how.
I had to take him at his word,(that ment i had to read it and keep it)and take his promises to the bank and cash them in.
God has a holy obligation to his children,(I say that with reverance and fear.)He wont ask of us to do his will,and then not give the faith and grace that we need.

Both Faith and Grace are gifts from him,we dont obtain them of our selfs,they belong to him and his.
I had to ask for them,and what ever we ask of him we recieve acording to his will.
The great news is we know it is his will that we become like him,(Overcomers) Amen ...

I will be praying and thinking of you, God bless you brother.Thank you for sharing your heart
your sister seekhymm

Mguldner,

The Holy Spirit will lead us to put to death the deeds of the flesh and show us what we trust in that is not of Him. Part of the sanctification process is to strip us as it were of everything that is not of Him. As I said, He leads us to put to death the deeds of the flesh (beginning in our thought life). This is the death He speaks of when He says to "die daily". Denying ourselves, picking up our cross and following Him.

The flesh can be slyly religious and connivingly "holy", and when the Lord shows us that we are partaking from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we can be quite discouraged, because we think with all of our heart we were eating from the Tree of Life.

Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

The Lord wants to bring us all into maturity, and perfect us in love. You are finding out that the Holy Spirit is not a compromiser. It is only His way. So whatever the Lord is leading you to do, do it! Also, you may not want to read too many books, until you can open His Word and hear Him. Often, we live vicariously through others writings and experiences and we need to have our own experience with the Lord. The reading of too many things often bring confusion. Something else you may be experiencing.

Thank you all for the great words of encouragement and truly appreciate them :) I am still seeking and still "down" but feel much lifted from reading the experiences of all of you who have posted. I am guessing this is why it is so very important to have brothers and sisters who are on the same journey.

I do have little ones and watching them grow each day is a wonderful thing, I just imagine the Father smiling down on me when He sees me growing into what He wants from me.

I wrote a song in college that was and still is my heart desires the chorus goes: I want to be the man You want me to be, and I want to see the things you want me to see, cause even if this world hates me, I know you'll never forsake me.