The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy

by A.W. Tozer

This is not our home; so while we have things, let us use them reverently, thankfully and wisely.

We are pilgrims, and He who guides through the boundless air the certain flight of the bird will also guide us until we arrive at last on those shores that are washed by the water that flows from the throne of God. It is well worth waiting for, brethren.

Higher Ground Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856–1926)

Remember, you have not done anything about truth until you have acted on it.

Jesus said, “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret” (Matt. 6:6). If you have not been doing that, it may be one reason your Christian life is so weak. We have to learn the habit of daily prayer.

You can tell the power of a church by the number of people who attend the prayer meeting, no question about it.

If you want to be holy—if you want to serve God—you have to give time to God. Grace and holiness take time, and the cultivation of the Spirit takes time.

The greatest war is still being waged today by every effective technique created to get us to stop thinking for ourselves.

We always must keep in mind that this is a fallen world, and whatever originates in the world is bound to be bad and godless.

The Word of God was given to counteract godless counsel among godly men and to form our minds, not by all the techniques of the media, but by God Himself.

The God who made us gave us a Bible—His Word—and sent the Holy Spirit to interpret it to us in order that He may control our minds; that He who is the source of all blessing and love, and who made our minds, might mold them again and remake them.

Wherever we do the will of God, we are free. Wherever we break from the will of God, we are slaves.

When the world says, “Oh, you’re narrow,” you say, “Maybe I am narrow, but the way is narrow, and the path to heaven isn’t as broad as a 16-lane highway. You know why I am too narrow? I’m walking with my God.”

Let us stand out, even if it is extreme in the eyes of the world. Let us be known as Christians separated unto God; and if

the world laughs and the other churches laugh and say, “What’s the matter with you Christians? Are you holy rollers?” Say, “No, I’m not as holy as I want to be. I’m just a believer in the Word of God; and if I go too far, you’ll forgive me, but I’d rather go too far than not far enough.”

I wish I could get the adult males in this country to give as much consideration to their own souls as they give to the standings of their particular sports teams.

Stop a bit. Think. Look up. Hear God speaking. Say to yourself, Now wait a minute here, just a minute, am I really a Christian? Do I really know God? Am I really right with God? How long has it been since I’ve said a prayer out loud with anything but mumbling? Ask yourself, How long has it been since I sought God alone,

with my Bible, and nobody knew it? How long since there has been a tear of repentance or joy in my eye? Am I just living on meetings and social fellowships and pizza? Or is there something more profound than that? Have I met God?

Consider your way and let us reason together. For the dear Lord waits to do something for you and to you that will be so real, so wonderful, so transforming and revolutionary that nobody can cheat you out of it.

The kingdom of God lies in power; its essence is in power.

Reverence is the astonished awe that comes to the human heart when it sees God.

For the kingdom of God is not in words; the kingdom of God is in power.

Battles are always lost before they are fought.

It was also true of Israel. In the Old Testament, when Israel went in to battle righteous and prayed-up, she never lost a battle. When she went in filled with iniquity, and prayerless, she never won a battle.

So it was not that morning on the plain between the two hills that David won; it was all down the years to his boyhood, when his mother taught him to pray and he learned to know God for himself.

As Proverbs 24:10 says, the man who goes down under trouble has little strength. His strength is small because his prayers are few and lean, but the man whose prayers are many and strong will not collapse when the trouble comes.

Temptation often comes unexpected and subtle. It is unexpected and too subtle for the flesh, but anticipatory prayer gets the soul ready for whatever temptation there may be.

The only way to win consistently is to keep the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of your heart; to keep the cloud and fire over you in the way Jehovah God led the Israelites night and day through the desert; to keep your fighting clothes on and never allow the day to creep up on you.

“I Met God in the Morning”:

Never let Thursday floor you because you did not pray on Wednesday. Never let Tuesday get you down because you were prayerless on Monday. Never let three o’clock in the afternoon bring you down because you did not pray at seven o’clock in the morning.

Remember: As long as sin and the devil, disease and death are abroad in the land like a fire, like a contagious disease, things are not all right.

Always anticipate any possible attack by watching and praying; for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is terribly weak.

Remember that without prayer, you cannot win; and with it, you cannot lose.

It is important for each of us to recognize these symptoms in our own life and then solemnly vow to do something about it.

is, Be easy on others but hard on yourself.

The Holy Spirit is faithful in exposing your spiritual condition. Your responsibility is to listen to the Holy Spirit, follow through on His action and take a solemn vow to break the lethargy at all cost.

We of the evangelical persuasion want God to do all the work and we get an easy ride to glory. Certainly, Christ has paid the full price for our redemption, but our walk with God on a daily basis will cost us much. Are we willing, cheerfully, to pay the cost?

The genius of our Christian walk is our utter surrender to Jesus Christ and none other.

our commitment as Christians is to live a lifestyle that models Christ.

We are not to look like or act like other people; rather, we are to look like Christ. We are to act like Christ.

The intentional Christian life is powered by the Holy Spirit and motivates us into a lifestyle contrary to everything around us in our culture.

Faith is not the key to get you what you want. Faith is not some magical formula that no matter who uses it, saved or unsaved, God has to act upon it. Such is religious lunacy and borders on witchcraft. I firmly believe that true faith rises in the soul of the man or woman who will fall on his face before an open Bible and allow God to be God in his life.

In order to obey fully, you must hear the voice of God clearly.

Surrender is a clear act of obedience to the Word of God.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). It is no longer me; it is Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Those of us who are utterly committed to living an intentional Christian life have one great advantage. This advantage is the way God thinks about us. God has our best in mind for the longest period of time.

The end result is living the intentional Christian life.