Have you ever felt like the fire you once carried for God has dimmed? You still love God, but your prayers feel forced, your passion feels drained, and you're just... tired. Spiritual burnout doesn't happen overnight. It creeps in silently—one unchecked distraction, one "I'll pray later," one overcommitted schedule at a time. Before you know it, you're running on empty, pouring out while your own well is dry. But it doesn't have to be this way.
My Personal Struggle with Spiritual Burnout
I remember being so on fire for the Lord at the beginning of 2022. But by November, after constantly facing opposition and spiritual warfare following my move from New York to Florida, I began to feel like God wasn't hearing me anymore. My finances were under major attack, and I encountered things I had never faced in my adult life—including eviction notices on my door. I felt like I had to get myself out of this season of life on my own, and alone.
I resorted to what I know best: grinding and working hard because "we got to do what we got to do," right? Even though the Holy Spirit told me my season behind the chair was over, I went into my comfort zone. That season of grinding—working in the salon, serving in a global organization, and serving in a local church—caused me to constantly work for the Lord and not necessarily seek Him as I should.
Yes, I was praying my general prayers, but I wasn't really spending time with God because I was distracted by all the busyness in my life. The cares of the world started to snatch away my personal relationship with God.
Recognizing the Signs of Spiritual Burnout
Though I would talk to God throughout the day, I wasn't refueling myself spiritually the way I should have been. I was busy working and trying to escape what felt like unfair treatment that God had allowed. My prayers for myself felt like they were hitting the ceiling and being forced, while when I prayed for others, they seemed to get their breakthrough. This slowly transformed my passion for God into more of a duty than a pleasure—less of a delight and more of an obligation.
The distractions kept coming: late bills, issues with my children, misunderstandings with my husband, car problems, and the central air in my home going out for weeks at a time. You name it; it was a distraction, and the more I worked or did, the more I believed this season of testing would go away. But there was only one problem.
The enemy was using these distractions—the cares of this world—to keep me overwhelmed and anxious so that my faith was attacked. My faith was being tested, and I failed tremendously because I wasn't operating in faith at all; I was operating out of fear.
If you want to get spiritually burned out, the quickest way is to depend on yourself and not fully rely on God's will and direction to carry you through difficult seasons.
The Dangers of Spiritual Distractions
Busyness and distraction are major culprits because we don't realize what we're doing. We believe we're just doing what we've got to do—it's practical, right? The Bible says if a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. But spiritual burnout creeps in with one "I'll pray later," "I'll pray on my lunch break," or "I'll pray tonight," and then one day leads to another. Or "I'll read my Bible" or "Maybe I'll listen to it," but then something keeps happening, and the next thing you know, it's been weeks or even months without replenishing your spirit.
Practical Tips to Overcome Spiritual Burnout
If you are currently feeling spiritually burnt out, here are three tips that can help you:
Tip #1: Know Yourself
When you are self-aware, you'll recognize the signs of approaching spiritual burnout. Remember, this is a gradual process that doesn't happen overnight. Start to know your spirit. Like in the natural world, we get symptoms before a cold—a tickle in the throat or a queasy stomach—identify your spiritual "cold" symptoms before burnout. For example, it might be procrastinating in prayer.
Tip #2: Identify Your Distractions
We all have different things that get us off track, but it's important for you to know what yours are. Is it the cares of the world like financial pressure? Is it your spouse, your children, or your family? Or is it something as simple as watching too much TV or scrolling on social media too much? Only you know what your distractions are.
Tip #3: Make Spending Time with God a Priority
From this day forward, I want you to look at your prayer life and time with the Holy Spirit as your spiritual food. It's like in the natural world—you would never not eat, right? We get thirsty, we get hungry, so we eat and drink. It's the same thing—your spirit and soul need that food. Your spiritual body needs to spend time with the Lord in prayer, meditating on His word, and being led by the Holy Spirit. Without nourishment or the proper spiritual food, you'll crave things you don't need, desire things that are bad for you, and long after things that will get you off track.
A Common Blindspot for Intercessors
What's interesting about spiritual burnout is that most true intercessors will still pray for other people while neglecting themselves. They'll go the last mile for others—they may not pray for themselves in their own devotional time, but if someone calls and asks to pray for them, they'll drop everything to pray for that person. This is the fastest way for the intercessors to experience burnout: neglecting to carve out their own time to pray for themselves but always continuing to pray for others.
This is one of the reasons I held The School of Secret Place Prayer. It addresses something common I saw while mentoring people—we're quick to pray for others but neglect time to pray for ourselves. Have you been there? Can you relate?
Special Announcement
Speaking of prayer, I mentioned last week that I'll be launching the Virtual Prophetic Intercessors Academy this month. This is going to be amazing! I am dedicating three months to training and equipping people who really want to learn the depths of prayer. I'll cover basic, intermediate, and advanced techniques for people of all levels who wish to learn more about prayer. Please [sign up for the waitlist here] for more information soon!
Before I go, I want you to reflect on those three tips I shared and really assess yourself. Ask yourself if you know these three things about you:
Do I Know Myself? Am I self-aware enough to recognize the signs of approaching spiritual burnout?
Identify Your Distractions: What gets me off track?
Do I Make Spending Time with God a priority?
Take a pen and paper and write down your answers to these questions. Sit with them, meditate on them, reflect on them, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to overcome them in these areas. Trust me, the Holy Spirit will—if you're led by Him, He'll teach you all things. Not just some things, but ALL things.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. -John 14:26 NKJV
👋🏽 Bye Now!
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