Spiritual Laziness

As I was reading an article for one of my graduate classes, I fell into my customary practice of subconsciously editing the material.  I found several grammatical errors in the beginning paragraphs and continued to read with a dismissive air, attributing little credit to the author.  Several pages later, I read a paragraph dealing with Christian leadership in a secular society.  One of the key points was that Christian leaders need to be habitually prayerful if they are going to be successful.  This principle was based on the example set forth by Jesus.  He prayed often and fervently. 

     It was at this point that I stopped abruptly.  Here I had been reading along with a critical eye, not giving much due to the author, when I realized that I had become spiritually lazy.  Some weeks ago, I had been ordained as an elder in my church.  Upon the laying-on of hands I truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.  At the time, I resolved myself to serving the church and its members loyally, yet I was not prayerful.

     I spent little, if no time at all, praying on a daily basis.  Prayer always seemed to get relegated to the bottom of the list.  I prayed a few times a week, often before going to bed, as was customary in my life.  I would tell myself that I would make up for it and pray more the next day, though I usually did not follow through with that.  I realized I spent more time watching CNN than I did praying!

     Recently I became over anxious, as my life situation was about to change dramatically.  I was due to finish my Navy school and head out to my ship, which was on deployment.  I was discouraged to learn that I would have to fly to another country and meet the ship en route to the United States.  This meant I would miss my daughter’s first birthday.  I became depressed over this thought and was ready to seek medical attention.  After all, the entire country is on medicine for one mood disorder or another, so why should I be any different?

     This thought greatly troubled me, though.  As I was struggling with the idea of speaking to a physician about this, God spoke to me as I read the aforementioned article for my college course.  Right there in the article was the solution to my dilemma that I had been missing.  I had stopped being prayerful!  I had become spiritually lazy. 

     I researched biblical cures to anxiety and stress and discovered a fascinating article.  The key to dealing with these issues was not medicine.  Rather, it was prayer, the ingredient that had been gradually waning from my life.  In Christ we have the ultimate example of how we are to deal with stressful situations in our lives.  Many verses were quoted and paraphrased, including one in which the word anxiety appears. 

     I now realize that the key to dealing with stress and anxiety is not medicine.  It is prayer.  Only through prayer can we bring our troubles and worries before God, who alone is capable of dealing with them.  As the article so clearly stated, either we trust God or we don’t.  If we do, then the only way to rid ourselves of the stress and worries of this world is to trust in Him completely and bring our concerns to Him often.  Only through a diligent prayer life can we successfully combat spiritual laziness.

     As I read different articles for school now, I do so with a less critical eye.  I realize God can use anyone in any situation to speak to us.  Prayer has become a daily focal point, always at the top of the list, never at the bottom.  Other things, such as watching the news or reading a book, have been relegated to the bottom. 

      I now realize there is little or no reason for me to get upset when life doesn’t go my way.  When I cross these speed bumps of life, I stop and pray immediately.  I seek God’s will and pray for understanding.  It’s easy to look ahead and focus on the future, where happiness seems to loom eternal.  We get caught up in planning for tomorrow, and in so doing bring the stress of this world upon us, often leaving prayer to fall by the wayside.

     It is only through the realization of what God has done for us in the past combined with an active prayer life that we can successfully combat spiritual laziness and get on with living the Christian life, whose sole purpose is for us to serve others.