Spiritual Emptiness: A Sign of Backsliding

Backsliding can lead to spiritual emptiness and it’s an indication that all is not well. When heaven feels like brass and praying, and studying the bible feels like a chore. And praising and worshipping God becomes a struggle. All these point to the same thing, there is a problem.

The good thing is that all hope is not lost, and the problem can be overcome. That you are feeling spiritually empty is a good thing because you realize there is a problem. Often, half the battle is in recognizing the problem because then it will be easier to tackle it headlong.

But if nothing is done to address the feeling of spiritual emptiness, the feeling will go away, or be suppressed. Not that the issue has been resolved, but the conscience becomes as if it was seared with a hot iron. (1 Timothy 4:2)

This is dangerous, and you shouldn’t allow yourself to get to that state.

As soon as you notice a problem in your fellowship with God, take immediate steps to address the situation. This is crucial because you don't know when your Lord shall come, and nobody knows the day of death. #backsliding… Click To Tweet

You don’t know, and I don’t know either. But one thing is certain, He will come like a thief in the night when no one least expects.

“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:40 ESV)

Furthermore, scripture says it’s impossible for those who have fallen away from God’s grace to be restored again.

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” (Hebrews 6:4-6)

So we must be careful not to fall away and stray from the path of life.

6 Practical Tips to Overcome Spiritual Emptiness

Ask God for Mercy

Cry to God for mercy, that is, purposefully ask for His Mercy and be desperate about it. Knowing this, that he has given us permission to come boldly to the throne of mercy.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Ask Him to forgive you for straying away from His presence and for not paying attention to your fellowship with him.

Note: the above may require you to tarry a while in His presence, not because He’s dull of hearing but because you have become dull of hearing.

​Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; (Isaiah 59:1)

As you open up to Him and ask for mercy without attempting to justify your past actions, He will cleanse you with the blood of His precious son Jesus Christ and you will begin to sense his presence.

Set Time Apart for Bible Study

In addition to crying for mercy, there’s a need to immediately turn to your Bible and reinstate your fellowship with God.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Even if the Bible is incomprehensible or no longer attractive to you. Pick it up and read a verse at a time and meditate on what you’re reading.

If all you can pick is a verse, recall it throughout the day, feel on it, and what you feel God is saying to you.

Download my free prayer journal and use it to record your thoughts and what God is saying. It will definitely help you in the re-awakening process and you can look back and measure your progress.

Pray Without Ceasing

Form the habit of praying without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Pray when you wake up, sit down, go out, come in etc. In all you do, maintain constant communication with God. #backsliding #spiritualemptiness Click To Tweet

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1)

From the above scripture, we see that constantly praying is possible and expected.

A simple prayer under your breath as you walk down the road will go a long way.
For tips on how to pray and receive answers, read the following posts.

1. How to Pray and Receive Answers
2. Fasting and Persistence in Prayer
3. Prayer Keys: How to Pray and Receive Answers (3)

Fasting Helps

Fasting: it may also help to back your tarrying in his presence with fasting. This is because fasting humbles us and sharpens our spirit man.
The goal of fasting is separation of self unto God in prayers amongst others.

I elucidated the benefits of fasting in part 2 of my post on prayer keys, so I won’t belabor it here.

Analyse How You Got to Current State of Spiritual Emptiness

Do a root cause analysis and take stock of how you got to your current state of spiritual emptiness.

What were the things you indulged in or didn’t do? When you take an honest inward look, you will be able to avoid those things in the future.

For example, several years ago, I was caught up in watching a film series that aired daily. Before I knew it, I was so caught up in watching the series that I barely paid attention to my fellowship with God.

The film just took my time and spending time with God got pushed down on my priority list. Thankfully, I noticed before it got too deep. And by taking stock, I was able to identify the root cause.

This is also consistent with scripture that says we should examine ourselves daily.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5)

This is very important to avoid future recurrence.

Acknowledge the Importance of Your Relationship with God

Finally, acknowledge that your relationship with God is precious and not to be jeopardized.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)

Take steps to protect your relationship with God henceforth so that you won’t be back in the same state.

Conclusion

Spiritual emptiness is a sign of backsliding and backsliding is not always obvious. Sometimes it happens subtly and gradually that unless you’re alert, you may not realize it.

It is therefore important to continually examine ourselves whether we are still in the faith.

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Till next time, don’t forget you are a Royal Diadem, Beautiful in God’s Hands.