When You Feel Spiritually Dry

Walking in the desert is long, hot, rough, dry, patchy and quite lonely. Or so it seems. 

I never walked a physical desert, but the season I was once in, it sure felt that way. From seeing some movies and reading books, the desert is not a place anyone wants to go. It’s a place that is hot and soaks up all your energy. A place you search high and low for water and there is none. A place you experience hallucinating, thinking something is there when really, it’s not. 

I have walked a good share of my own dry seasons and they weren’t pretty. And if I am being honest with you, it’s been more than once that I have walked this “dry season.”

You find yourself feeling this deep thirst, a thirst so deep that nothing seems to quench it. You know your body needs water but you go for tea. Why? Because it looks appealing and refreshing. The ice, the lemon, the water sweats dripping off that cup. It looks refreshing. And as you begin to take sips, and then more sips, you become more thirsty than before. 

You find yourself becoming hungry and begin to feed your hunger. But only with the not so great stuff. And by that I mean ice cream and chick fil a. 

These seasons can be tough and hard to walk in. It can feel lonely and dry.

And the reason we become so dry is because we are not sitting by the brook getting refreshed where Jesus is. Where there he awaits for us to sit with him. 

He calls us by name, he tells us, “Daughter, come to me, for I am waiting. I am waiting for you to come and meet me where I am so I can give you the life giving water you need. The water that your soul thirst and longs for. Come daughter and let my Spirit quench your thirst. Allow me to fill you up as you draw near this mellow brook. I won’t turn you away but rather, I will embrace you, helping to give you what your soul is in desperate need of. I am here daughter, waiting for you down by the brook where I am sitting waiting to exchange your dryness for my living water. Allow me to pour my Living Water into you and refresh you. Come daughter, and sit by the brook with me, where the brook is filled with the spring of water to refresh your soul and spirit. I know you do not know what the dryness is or how you got there, but allow me to teach you and show you. Come daughter, sit with me near the brook and get yourself replenished and refreshed in me.”

For so long, season after season, I walked the dryness. I never knew what that initially was or what I was feeling, but I felt it. I knew I was feeling some kind of dry. But I never understood what or even how to get through it. I think so many Christian’s walk this dry season, only some are so numb to it they don’t even know they are in it. It’s only by the grace of God that I was able to walk through it and know I was dry. 

But I am forever thankful for a Father full of mercy who was willing to pull me out of the dry and begin to refresh my dry heart and soul. 

And I bet you are wondering the same thing too, friend. You may be even asking, “How did I get here? How did I get so dry? How can this get fixed? What can I do to not walk the dry season again? Is it even possible to be dry and yet love the Lord? Are there others who walk this place?”

Becoming dry can happen in a few ways, but the most common one is, neglecting your time with the Lord. It could be that you are in your “quiet time” with the Lord but you are not grasping what you are reading and so your heart is not in it. The heart sees it as, “well it’s a must, so it needs to get done.” This is the most dangerous thought to have and we must take action immediately by bringing this to Jesus. We must also understand when we are reading and our minds are wandering off, unable to grasp what we read, this could be a sign to find a new spot OR to stop what you are doing and start to worship and pray. It could be a sign that your heart is being pulled and tugged to whatever keeps coming at the forefront of your mind and distract you from being with the Lord. We must ask the Lord to forgive us for our heart is wanting idolistic things and instead, it should only want and crave Him only.

A FEW MORE WAYS YOU CAN TELL IF YOU ARE WALKING DRY:

1. You begin to seek and search for things to make you feel “happy”
2. You lost your burning zeal for the Lord
3. You feel burned out and worn out in your service and commitment to the Lord
4. Your bible reading has become a chore rather than a deep love to read it
5. You feel “stuck” rather than growing in maturity
6. You easily become irritated with others and angry at the smallest things 
7. You have no desire or passion for seeking God in prayer 
8. You no longer find worship to move your heart to God
9. You feel numb in reading, worship and prayer

These are just some ways we can see that something else has caught our eyes when really God should be catching our eyes.  

Walking the dry season is an invitation to come to Jesus, sit down by the brook and receive His Living Water that refreshes and renews us. 

Now you probably are asking “how can I get out of this spiritual dry rut and find myself replenished again?”

I am glad you are asking this because this shows a sign that you don’t want to be stuck being dry but want to be full of Jesus. Here is what I found helpful.

HELPFUL TIPS TO GET OUT OF THE SPIRITUAL DRYNESS:

1. Change up your routine. What I mean is, find another area to be in the Word and in prayer and also find what works for you! You may be a nursing mother and up all throughout the night so 5 o’clock being in the Word may not work for you. Placing Him first before the day is the best, but be realistic with yourself. If you are not a morning person, that is okay! Neither was I. I had to ask the Lord to change my heart and make me a morning person to be with him! 
2. Journal. Yes, this sounds too easy for some, but hard for others. Journaling your way through can help you let these feelings out into prayer to the Lord.
3. Worship in this season. Put on worship music and sit for a bit. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and Jesus to meet you. And sit for a while with just simply asking Him, “more of you Lord, more of you.”
4. Be in the Word. As much as being spiritually dry wants to keep us away from the Word, we must be in it. This is the best place to get refreshed and renewed. The enemy wants us to be away from the Word because being in it will fill us up immensely and the enemy hates it. He will do all he can to keep us away from the Word. 
5. Seek out like minded friends, prayer warriors, who can encourage you in this season. Having such friends will be a great accountability partner but moreso, a prayer partner helping you along this season. 
6. Be in prayer. Speak to Jesus. Talk to him like a friend. Open your heart out to him and allow him to meet you there. Be honest with Him and also allow Him to speak to you. He has something to share with you too. 

VERSES TO MEDITATE ON THROUGHOUT THE DRY SEASON:

1. John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” 
2. Isaiah 55:1-3 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without your price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.”
3. Psalm 42:1 “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”
4. John 4:13-14 “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him is never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
5. John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
6. Psalm 23
7. Psalm 119:33-40
8. Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
9. Psalm 119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”

Friend, some may never speak of their seasons and some may. Some may share what they learned and some, well they may keep it to themselves. But I want to share with you and be openly honest with you because I know how it feels to not have anyone to talk to or share with who understands these seasons. Some haven’t walked it yet, but they will. It’s a way of learning life to be wholeheartedly intentional with Jesus and staying divinely connected with Him. We must always place Him first before anything and anyone. You may find yourself wanting to run to your mom, your grandmother, your friend or your coffee. But can I challenge and encourage you to instead, run to Jesus first. Lay yourself down, fall to your knees on your living room floor and worship Jesus. Worship Him at his feet. May he become your Yeshua in your life today and may it reignite the fire inside. 

Come back to your first love daughter. Come back. He is waiting for you.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Nicole is a devoted follower of Christ, wife to Leroy in whom they have 6 beautiful children, four daughters and twin miracle boys. She loves the sounds of nature, her sweet Texas living, all things gardening, and making friends. She loves to help other women know the love of Christ and become the deeply rooted woman in Christ who walks in His ways through all that they faces. You can connect with her on instagram: @lifewiththismom.