What’s Dulling Your Appetite for God?
Take a moment and ask yourself this question: Do you remember a time when your desire for God was stronger than it is today? Maybe it was right after you first came to Christ. Or a difficult season in your life forced you to depend upon him in new ways. Your desire for fellowship with Christ was strong. The Word of God refreshed and strengthened you. Gratitude and praise were a normal part of your prayer life.
What happened? What changed?
Our appetite for God will be dulled from overtly sinful things, but oftentimes our appetite for God is dulled by many other, seemingly harmless things to which we give our time and attention. These could be people, activities, or circumstances that, on the surface, appear benign, but they crowd out our desire for God and subtly replace it with other things. In fact, many of these are actually gifts given to us by our kind and loving God. For example, it may be family, a favorite sport, a hobby, a certain form of entertainment, an educational pursuit, your job, or a relationship you are in. Though not overtly sinful, they still have the capacity to dull our appetite for God—and frequently do! Ironically, when we worship the gifts rather than the Giver, those very gifts draw us away from God.
I have seen this is in my own life again and again, and I have frequently seen it in the lives of the men and women to whom we minister here at Harvest USA. These men and women normally come to us because they have a particular sin that they want to “put off.” In many ways, they know exactly what they want: “I need to get rid of ______ sin in my life. It’s really hurting me. My problem is this one area of my life. If I could just get it under control, I would be alright.” As we explore together how the gospel changes us, our hope is that these men and women begin to see that the problem is actually worse than they think—and that the solution is actually better than they imagined.
The problem is worse because it reaches beyond behavior to the heart. Sin has corrupted our desires and twisted our thinking. It is not simply that we desire sin but also that we do not desire God. The solution is better, though, because, through our union with Christ, we are not simply given grace to resist corrupt desires and twisted thinking. Rather, we are given new desires and renewed minds. In Christ, we are given a new capacity to delight in that which is truly delightful—namely, God himself.
If you are in Christ, you have been given new desires. These desires are to know, please, and worship God, to praise him, to meditate on his Word, to talk with him in prayer, to fellowship with his people, to grow in holiness, and more. But these new desires must be deliberately cultivated and protected if they are to grow and not wither. When they are not cultivated and protected, we will find our desire for sin growing. Our battle to kill sin will be ineffective unless our desires are being changed and our appetite for God is growing.
How do we know if our appetite for God is being dulled?
Are there warning signs that this may be happening in your life? Consider these three indicators.
- What was once both a duty and a delight to you is now simply a duty. Instead of thinking about worship, Scripture reading, prayer, and the things of God as things you get to do, you now think of them mainly in terms of things that you have to do.
- When you think of spiritual activities, you find yourself saying, “I just don’t have enough time.” It is harder and harder to make time to do those things you once did in order to know and love God.
- Your prayer life has withered, and, when you do pray, your prayers consist mainly of requests. Also, your prayers are short on adoration, praise, and thanksgiving.
What is dulling your appetite for God?
Even if we recognize that our appetites are being dulled, it can be difficult to identify exactly what is dulling it. In this case, prayer and other people can be of great help. In prayer, we have access to our heavenly Father who has promised to hear and answer our prayers when we ask according to his will. Let us ask boldly then!
Also, consider asking others who know you well, “What do you think may be dulling my appetite for God?” Our pride will resist posing this question to them, but God has promised us grace if we humble ourselves. Expect his grace and think of a few people you can ask. And then actually ask them!
As we pray and invite the observations of others, we can begin to identify what’s dulling our appetite for God. We can then ask God for his help to repent and cultivate the new desires he has given to us.
