Perspectives

Colin Creel

[Relating to Boredom with the Spiritual Life]

Failure to see God’s blessings on a daily basis results in boredom with life, or belief that God is not as ‘real’ in society today. For many years I followed a practice, which I still occasionally repeat. Bill Hybels, in Too Busy Not to Pray, advocates a prayer method, which I’ve found is excellent in seeing God’s blessing in your life. Hybels writes out his prayers daily on one sheet of paper under the ACTS method - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication; one page forces brevity and focus of thoughts. Systematically every few weeks, I would flip through the pages and place a star next to all the answered prayers. Oftentimes, we pray for one thing and then the next, without giving thanks for the prayers that have been answered.

Scripture memory is an excellent way to keep your mind focused on godly things: ‘I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.’ Our thought life can be extremely damaging to our relationship with God, thus, ‘We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’

Switch up your quiet times. Try something new and different. For those of you who know me or have lived with me, I love to sing. Singing praises to the Lord brings me extreme joy. Another friend of mine walks around in order to keep himself from falling asleep. Be creative. God wired each person differently for a reason.

Finally, I think boredom with life in general can creep in if you are not careful. A friend of mine talks about how too many young people are concerned with having ‘exciting’ jobs, when in reality they need to bring excitement to their jobs. Unfortunately, dashed dreams and unrealised expectations are a part of life, but over time dwelling on ‘what could have been’ leaves you lonely and depressed.

What do you do when you just don’t feel like spending time with God? Much like an athlete in training, you push through the pain: ‘No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.’

From chapter 12 of Perspectives – a spiritual life guide for twentysomethings, published by Relevant 2005