It was only 20 degrees outside, so I pulled on my big coat before trudging out to my snow-covered car. My breath puffed out like cigarette smoke inside my vehicle as I reached to press the button to start the car. I had a lot to do that afternoon, but first, I was eager to feel the heat inside my frozen automotive cocoon.
When I pressed the ignition button, the dashboard lit up and the radio came on. But the car didn’t start. I tried again. Still, no start. I’ve never met someone who hasn’t felt the sinking sensation of sitting in a car that won’t fire up. My battery was dead. Instant ugh. I looked at my passenger seat, filled with my plans for the day, and knew I wasn’t going anywhere until my battery was charged.
Those acid or lithium-filled rectangle boxes in our cars are metaphors for the spiritual part of who we are. Our spirits power our humanity. Even though we’re comprised of a physical body and mental capacity, our spirits power the essence of who we are. Our spirits hold our imaginations, our convictions, and our desires. Our spirits give us the ability to connect and love. God breathed His Spirit into us, as Paul the Apostle wrote when he quoted the Cretan philosopher, Epimenides, “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28 NIV).
At the time, Paul was in Athens, Greece, teaching the Grecians that their idols could not give or sustain life. Only God could! Yet, how quickly do we forget how God is the source of life and sustains our life? Let’s appreciate this reminder:
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Instead, he gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
Acts 17: 24-25 NIV
Every breath we take is because God gives life to us. It’s mind-blowing when we think about it. While God sustains and maintains life, we often arrange our lives according to our agenda. So, it’s no wonder we attempt to run at a pace or carry excess weight beyond God’s plan. Too often, we’re too busy taking care of others or checking off our to-do list to notice our spiritual charge is running out or already completely drained.
Thankfully, there are clues that our batteries are draining, and there is a straightforward way to plug them in for a recharge.
Sitting in my cold car, I remembered an incident the week before when it took two tries to start my car. It was a brief incident, but I ignored that little flickering warning sign. Once my car started, I kept going and didn’t think about what that warning might mean.
There are flickering warning signs that our spiritual batteries are draining:
- Complaining
- Negative thoughts
- No desire to pray
- Scripture doesn’t sink in or convict
- Sin doesn’t evoke sorrow
- Absence from the life-giving Christian community
The good news is once we recognize those flickering warning signs, we can step toward a spiritual recharge instead of leaning into self-condemnation.
Prayer is our first step toward spiritual recharge. If God’s Spirit gives life to our mortal being, then prayer connects our spirit to God’s Spirit.
After I sat in my car for a while, I finally called AAA. It took two hours for the truck to arrive. The serviceperson had a mega-powered battery with jumper cables that he hooked to my car battery. Within seconds, my car turned on.
That day, I thought about prayer like spiritual jumper cables. When you pray, you demonstrate a posture and desire to connect with the supernatural, all-powerful God. Prayer is a connector, but God’s Spirit holds your supply of life-transforming power. You can’t receive that power until you decide to connect.
What could spiritual recharge look like for you today? If you recognize that your spiritual batteries are drained, perhaps these words from Psalm 25 can be a recharging prayer for you today:
“O Lord, I give my life to you.
Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:1, 4-5 NLT
I’d love to pray for you:
God, I pray for my friends who are feeling drained by life or circumstances. Thank You for being our source of life, strength, and hope. Renew my friend today as she connects to You. Renew her heart. Please renew her strength and hope in You. Amen.
Barb prays you experience the peace and hope of connecting with God in prayer today. She’s written a new six-week Bible study, Matthew: Pray Like This, a deep-dive study on experiencing transformative prayer and knowing the joy of praying like Jesus.
Barb, that was so relevant to me especially these past 3 weeks. I know I have been off but this gave me clarity. No desire to pray, negative thoughts, complaining! I never made the connection of not wanting or being able to put words together in a prayer to my deadening spiritual battery. I appreciate these words.
Madeline, I’m praising God for today’s a-ha moment for you. I also pray you’ve had a chance to reconnect with God and begin receiving His strength and love for you. We’re so glad you joined us on (in)courage today!
My husband & I teach/learn with the 5-6th graders at our church. They are boisterous & energetic until we ask for a volunteer to close us in prayer. Then the room goes quiet & still. We coach them that prayer is simply talking to God who WANTS to hear from them. They are becoming bolder in volunteering to pray out loud. It’s a smile inducing joy to hear what’s on their hearts. I imagine God smiling at every prayer brought to Him no matter our age or lack of boldness. The depth of the gift that The Creator of the universe waves us in for a conversation is more than astounding to me! Blessings (((0)))
Ruth, that’s a great story and I love how you’re teaching those precious kids that God wants to hear from them. What powerful truth you’re planting in their hearts and minds at an early age.
Excellent!
Thank you Barb.
I so appreciate your suggestion for prayer to assist in “jump-starting” my prayers!
God bless you!
Yes! Prayer is a perfect jump-starter!
Barb,
Loved your analogy so much I had to share on Pinterest!
Sending you joy,
Lisa Wilt
Wonderful! I’m glad the car battery analogy resonated with you.
Barb an excellent word. To recharge our Spiritual Batteries. We need to spend time in Prayer and Reading God’s word everyday as follower of Jesus. It like rechargeable batteries we buy them to save us money on buying other batteries that are not rechargeable that they are deerer in the long run. But we have to after using them the rechargeable one after so long like the other batteries they that go dead and not work anymore remember to charge them up. Plus have spare batteries charged when the ones we are using go dead no life in them and don’t work any more then we can charge the ones that are dead no life in them to bring them back to life again so we can use them again. It is the same with our lives as Christians. We can go dead with no spiritual life in us if we don’t spend time reading God’s word then applying it to our lives plus praying and by praying we are talking to God. Doing this we keep our spiritual life well charged so we are lights that shine the love of Jesus from our hearts for all to see. Like a child’s toy that lights up with batteries in it that are well charged. It gives the child joy to see the lights in the toy light up. It put a big smile on there face once the batteries go in that are fully charged. But once they go dead you get the child cry as the toy doesn’t work and the lights on the toy no longer shine until new batteries are put in. Once they are put the new batteries that are charged the toy and the lights in toy light up again then you get a very happy child again because the toys works again . We are as Christians followers of Jesus. To make sure our spiritual lives shine and not go dead. Like the batteries that are rechargeable if we don’t keep them charged they go dead too. Then we find we can easily get into sin and do things that are not right as followers of Jesus. So to keep our spiritual lives alive and living as God would want to do and not die spiritualy. So we have to every day make time for Jesus in reading his word and applying it to our lives and not just reading it for the sake of it plus praying. Then are spiritual lives will grow and our lives shine for Jesus every day. We will not go dead spiritualy. I have found that in my life if I don’t take the time to read God’s word and pray everyday. I go dead spiritualy and my life does not shine as bright as it should it for Jesus. So true. Dawn Ferguson-Little Enniskillen Co.Fermanagh N.Ireland. Xx
Thank you Barb. Your words/ prayers are just what I needed today to recharge my life.
I will be sharing your devotional.
Blessings to you.
Thanks for the reminder that when we feel just a “little, tiny bit” drained, our Spiritual batteries may need a recharge RIGHT NOW. I also want to thank you for praying for all of us. I enjoyed today’s devotional very much.