Top Ten Signs You’re Losing Your Faith
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Are you feeling increasingly distant from God?
Consider the warning that God gave to the church that was in Sardis:
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. -Revelation 3:2-3a
Next, take a look at this list and see if you can’t see any areas in your life where you need to repent, and “strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.”
10. Bad Company:
Your new friends and the people that you spend time with have much lower moral standards than you.
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. -1 Corinthians 15:33
9. Lack of Joy:
Your heart has grown cold, and you don’t delight in praising and worshiping God in the same way that you used to.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. . . . How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? -Psalms 137:1-2,4
8. Formalism:
You intentionally go to church and participate in spiritual activities only for the “good feelings” and “vibes” that they impart.
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: -Isaiah 29:13
7. Impulsiveness:
You are becoming increasingly impulsive, and increasingly act only on instinct, and “gut feelings,” rather than taking everything to the Lord in prayer.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. -Proverbs 3:5-7
6. Unanswered Prayers:
When you do pray, it feels as though no one is listening, and so you pray much less frequently than you used to, and with much less faith or fervency.
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. -Isaiah 59:1-2
5. Isolation:
You feel distant and increasingly isolated from people that you once cared about. Seeing your friends and family, your spouse, your children, your acquaintances, your co-workers, your church family: none of them bring you the same joy and happiness that you once felt.
He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. . . .My breath is strange to my wife, -Job 19:13-14, 17a
4. Shamefulness:
You feel dirty, awkward, ashamed, or uncomfortable around God’s people: even if you may not have done anything specifically to offend them.
And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. -Genesis 31:2
3. Cultural Influences:
You are much more eager to listen to and follow after the ways of worldly teachers or popular figures than you are to study and apply the truth of the Bible.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. -Romans 16:17-18
2. Carnal Thoughts:
You’ve lost sight of your spiritual calling, your purpose, and ministry. Instead, your thoughts gravitate only toward meaningless and passing earthly pleasures and interests.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. -1 John 2:15-17
1. Indifference:
You’re losing all your highs and lows. You can’t cry. You can’t find true, lasting happiness: (though you can laugh quite well—and perhaps a bit too well, but it’s not from deep down within). You just don’t care.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief. The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless. -Proverbs 14:12-16 (ESV)
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