do you ever feel like your heart has
grown cold towards God do you ever feel
like God feels like a million miles away
do you ever sometimes even feel like I
don't know if I believe in God anymore
if that's you here are six ways to
re-energize your soul so you get right
back to that relationship with God you
once knew
number one wrestle with God do you ever
feel like God feels like he's left you
like he's deserted you like he just
doesn't care about you anymore
do you ever sometimes now just be honest
with me now do you ever sometimes get
even doubts of whether God exists
you start thinking atheist eclis and you
think well why is it when I'm reading my
Bible it's dead why is it when I'm
playing it feels like I'm just talking
to the ceiling why is it that God just
feels like he does not care about me
anymore the reason is this I believe in
every single one of our lives as
Christians there comes a point and it
can happen more than once where God
distances himself from us where he
leaves you on your own to see if you're
gonna wrestle it out with him to see if
your affections really do matter to see
if you care about him and him alone that
he is all that matters and that you're
gonna fight for him that you're gonna
persist that you're not going to give up
there you're gonna run that race that
you're gonna fight the good fight he
wants to see that so he tests us in a
way paul Washer said that when his son
used to run on ahead when they used to
go hunting and and he was a young man
and he used the Sprint's on ahead paul
Washer would hide behind a tree why did
he do that he wanted to teach us on a
lesson that if you wander too far away
from me there are consequences and maybe
in your own heart you may have wandered
a little bit so God leaves you a bit but
what does God say what does the Bible
say draw close to God and He will draw
close to you Jacob in the Old Testament
in Genesis 32 Jacob wrestled with God
all night he cried out God I'm not going
to let go until you bless me and that's
what we need to do we have to wrestle
with God until he blesses us until he
draws back until he sets our heart of
and then that flames of affection
they're a much greater than anything we
knew before number two fast and pray I
remember a couple of years ago I was
struggling with sin and I got into this
state where my heart was so cold towards
God I didn't feel anything for him
anymore so I decided to do something I
decided to take action for two old days
I decided I'm not gonna drink sorry I'm
not gonna eat any food I'm just going to
drink water I'm gonna get on my knees
I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna read the
Bible now if that's you if you yourself
have got a cold heart I can't recommend
this enough because literally a couple
of hours into the fast suddenly my heart
started to warm to God again suddenly I
was crying suddenly I was filled with
with a joy of God again and that's what
we all need to do that's what we all
need to do and we get cold there's a
reason why the Bible says fast and pray
there's a reason why as this theme of
fasting all the way through the Bible
because that fast in that depriving
yourself of something denying yourself
of something to get a greater glory to
get a greater joy in the Lord to get a
greater closest to God it does work but
my question to you is when was the last
time you fasted let me just throw this
out there how many years have you been a
Christian there I say there might be
someone watching this even now who is
never fasted in their whole life as a
Christian do you think you might need to
do that today number three repent psalm
66 verse 18 says if i had cherished
iniquity if i cherished sin in my heart
the lord would not have listened there
comes a time when your sin will separate
you from God there's only so much sin
there's only so many times you can
grieve the Holy Spirit and it will not
affect your relationship with God if you
are living in
diction if you were living in sin and a
habitual sin God will distance himself
from you your heart will naturally grow
cold and the make or a point where God
may even give you over to your sin give
you over to a depraved mind I hope that
doesn't happen to anyone I hope that we
all take sin seriously but the Bible
says that sin separates us from God so
if you've got a sin in your life that is
separating you from God you need to
repent of it you need to turn from that
sin you cannot keep going on in this sin
and thinking everything's going to be
okay and the other thing is if you do
repent if you do follow after
righteousness jesus said on the sermon
of the mount blessed are those who
thirst after righteousness blessed that
word blessed it is another word for
happy happy is the man who thirst after
righteousness and the more you're
thirsting after God the more you're
pursuing God the more you're after his
holiness the happier you'll be that him
goes like this the the aching void which
which can never be filled by all of the
world all of this sin is leaving you
emptier and emptier so repent of your
sin set your whole your hearts on fire
for God set your soul on fire for him
and love him again love the Lord God by
repenting of sin number four proclaim
now this is the one I'm most passionate
about every single one of us needs to
proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ the Savior who rose from the dead
and I'll play something the more you
share the gospel the more your heart
will set on fire for God's expression
equals impression
write that down expression equals
impression the more you express the
gospel the more you talk about the love
of God for sinners the more it will
impress upon your heart the more Christ
will be formed inside your heart and it
how about a channel of love in your
heart as sinners for God for for the
gospel so go on missions give out tracts
set up an open-air joy and opener preach
the gospel tell your neighbor tell your
friend tell people about the Lord Jesus
Christ and you will struggle not to be
passionate about the Lord Jesus Christ
you will struggle let's have a cold
heart and do evangelism still number 5
prioritize now this is gonna seem a
little bit obvious but if you're sitting
on Netflix for four hours a day if
you're watching random videos about cats
or bubbles or babies all day long is it
any wonder your heart is cold towards
God's you need to prioritize your time
you need to say what amount of time am i
giving to God each day worshipping Him
learning about him thinking about the
Christian faith how long am i spending
my time in that and how long am i giving
it to other things so I recommend every
single one of those what helps me what
blesses me so much why this channel is
such a blessing to me is I listen to
about two to three sermons every single
week not including the ones that I do in
my own local church so I'm here in about
six or seven Christian messages every
week that will set your hearts on fire
read biographies read read about grey
men in the past who follow the Lord
Jesus Christ and if you're not a big
reader like myself and recommend these
these these are called Trailblazers and
you can read about different men like
George Mahler
you've got Jonathan Edwards DL Moody and
these will just set your hearts on fire
they're very easy to read they're very
simple and and you don't have to have a
lot of concentration but you get the
gist of how these men gave up their
lives for God so try and switch around
do a swap say instead of two hours
watching TV two hours I'm going to read
and listen to a sermon each day and last
but not least number
six remind yourself words have power so
every single day you need to do this
when you're saying your prayers remind
yourself God loves me Jesus died for me
don't just say in your head say out loud
God loves me God sent his son to bleed