Diffusing Spiritual Awakening 
We involve ourselves in ministries, participate in sacraments, and dutifully perform spiritual disciplines, but fall short of experiencing increased spiritual perception. We are busy doing, giving, and attending, but fail miserably at knowing and being known. We’re superior in the externals, but inferior in the internals, largely because we diffuse our initial spiritual arousing. We stifle our spirit’s cry for more in several ways.

·        Misidentifying the Need

·        Accepting Counterfeits

·        Settling for Less

·        Ignoring the Hunger

·        Lacking Intention 

·        Losing Intensity  

·        Losing Focus

·        Misdirecting Focus

Deep spiritual consciousness is developed over time, through intellectual and emotional intercourse with the Divine. In worship we meet God; our spirits respond to His Spirit. We gain knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of Him and His ways. This increased alertness spurs personal change, fuels personal evangelism, and enhances the quality of our worship experiences.

To allow the hunger to languish means to invite a patina of mediocrity that threatens to smother the small ember of adoration smoldering in the heart. A. W. Tozer attributes spiritual poverty and “the stiff wooden quality of our religious lives” [1] to the lack of holy desire.

The giant sleeps within. In some, he snores with a loud thunder, in others he sleeps lightly, in others still, he’s tosses and turns restlessly. In you he may just be beginning to awake. Ultimately, the question becomes: Are you willing to do what’s required to wake the giant?

We can continue to muffle our yearning for supernatural encounters like those experienced by the church fathers and the biblical ancients, or we can resolve to pursue Him who has apprehended our souls with great resolve, strength, and determination. The quality of worship is, after all, a personal choice.

Like A. W. Tozer, “I want to deliberately encourage this mighty longing after God.” I have a vision of my life strengthened through worship—a life emblazoned and inspired by God. How would your life be different if you had daily visitations of the Divine Presence?

[1] A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1993), pg 17.

Veronica Jones-Brown writes on a variety of topics with an emphasis on Spiritual Growth, Christian Living, and Personal Development. She enjoys teaching Sunday school, mentoring, and speaking and training in churches and at conferences. Veronica loves meeting people who desire more of God, saying that interacting with them rejuvenates, inspires, and encourages her. She lives in the East Texas area with her husband James, a wonderful man and Veronica’s greatest supporter. They have two children, Olivia and Aaron. Visit her at www.veronicajonesbrown.com, or email her at vero@consolidated.net.