4 Keys To Spiritual Detox: 4 Weeks to Becoming.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The last time I talked about this 4 weeks to becoming series and today I want us to talk about the spiritual detox pillar. And this is one of those topics where I want you to hear the heart behind what I am saying. Having mentioned earlier on that this is a journey to becoming, I need you to recognize that there will be some unlearning that you and i will have to go through. Without further ado, let’s dive right in. And to help kick things off, let us define what spiritual detox is

• Definition: Spiritual Detox
• My story
  • Why The Spiritual practices failed to work in my life.
• The Importance of Spiritual Detox
  • • The parable of the Prodigal Son
• Steps to spiritual detox
  • Be Still
  • Ask God questions
  • Focus on quality over quantity.
  • Make room for God to speak. Invite Him in your quiet time.
• Conclusion

Definition: Spiritual Detox

A spiritual detox is the process of cleansing your inner life—your heart, mind, and spirit—of things that weigh you down, distract you from God, or block your spiritual growth. Just like a physical detox helps the body remove toxins, a spiritual detox helps you remove negative influences and renew your relationship with God.

My story

When we think about spiritual detox we can focus more on the aspect of sin. But today I want to change gears and talk about the kind of spiritual detox that stems from having experienced spiritual burnout. I had shared my story earlier on talking about how I had embarked on a journey to breakthrough doing all the spiritual exercises known to man only to end up with hope deferred and frustrations. This was actually the turning point for me. I could not understand why what was meant to work wasn’t working for me. I had heard so many testimonies of people who had done at least one of the spiritual disciplines and received a breakthrough but that was never my reality.

This led me to a point where I actually concluded that this Christianity thing was a scam. Fortunately, God in His mercy helped me understand why I wasn’t receiving the breakthrough. But before I could do that, He encouraged me to pause from all the performance and actually just focus on having a relationship with Him.

For clarity purposes, when I talk about spiritual practices and disciplines, I am talking about fasting, extended prayer, night vigils and long hours of praying in tongues. Basically anything you have ever heard your pastor talk about that has provoked God to move on someone’s behalf.

Why The Spiritual practices failed to work in my life.

Don’t get me wrong, these practices do work. But there are times that God will have them fail because He is looking for something deeper- an intimate relationship with you and I. At the core of every miracle is God revealing His heart to us. It is Him inviting us to get to know Him. And that is why His miracles contain His signature.

The reason the miracles failed to work in my life was because I was focused on performance- based relationship. I was operating with the mindset that I have to earn my breakthrough. I lived more like the Pharisees lived. But that is not how God wants us to live our lives. He is not looking for us to perform. God wants us to do everything from a place of revelation of our identity in Him.

That is why Jesus reiterated time and time again on the importance of doing what He saw His Father do. He had the ability to solve every problem that existed at the time. He however did not do that. No wonder in John 5, He only healed the invalid man. The Bible clearly states that there were other sick people there. He also did not go delivering every single poor person from poverty. He also did not fast as often as the Pharisees did or spend countless hours reading the Bible. What He did instead was spend time with God. And it was from that, that He gained the blueprint and instructions for the day.

Is what you are doing for God an assignment He gave you or are you trying to earn His approval and breakthrough by performing?

The Importance of Spiritual Detox

If you have experienced burnout from overextending yourself, then going through spiritual detox is essential. This is because there are all these negative emotions buried deep in your heart that the Lord wants to address. You will always go on with life having a skewed perception of God if you don’t deal with the disappointment that comes from doing what the Bible says and not getting any results.

Spiritual detox helps you pivot and enjoy a relationship with God.

To help us, let us look at the story of the prodigal son. One beautiful quality about the prodigal son is that he knew his position in his fathers house and estate. He knew he did not need to earn his inheritance as it had already been accorded to him by virtue of his birth. That was why he was able to boldly ask his father for his share. His brother on the other hand was focused on having a performance- based relationship with his father. He did not know his position and lacked a sense of identity. That was why he felt the need to perform and work. He thought by doing that his father would reward him. Isn’t that what most Christians do? Go through life just doing what is expected of us, overextending ourselves until we have nothing left to give?

The parable of the Prodigal Son

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Steps to spiritual detox

Be Still

One of the things the Lord told me to do was to pause on all the thing I was doing. It wasn’t easy as I continued fasting. However after a health scare my mother encouraged me to stop the fast. This led me to actually realize that it was God who was speaking. God just wanted me to meditate while in His presence.

And today I want to tell you the same thing He told me. I know you have been praying for long hours and you have seen it work for others. The fact that it has yet to work on you is a sign that God wants you to pause. Instead of praying in tongues for 3 hours and reading 5 chapters a day, why not just focus on just being still during your quiet time?

You might feel guilty initially and think you are not doing enough. However, as time progresses things will start making sense.

In your stillness, you allow the Lord to work on your heart and help you see the error in your theology. The stillness will also give room for God to heal you from spiritual burnout. Rest and just be.For the next 30 days, I want to encourage you not to fill up your quiet time with lots of things to do. Remember this, less is more.

Ask God questions

Your spiritual detox is not complete until you can get to a place where you can confidently ask God questions. This is where I want to bring in Gideon. He was not afraid to ask God for a sign. Abraham was not afraid to ask God questions when He told him about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God is looking for communion. And the same way you ask people questions as you get to know them, God is inviting you to do that. He wants to reveal Himself to you. He says so in Jeremiah 33:3.

Focus on quality over quantity.

Instead of reading 5 chapters a day, why not meditate on one verse during your quiet time and ask God to give you revelations on the same scripture. In fact you can even decide to focus on one scripture a week. I promise you, the Lord will give you fresh revelations every day. Depth requires focus. And the only way you can truly focus is by meditating on either a scripture or a topic at a time. 15 minutes of true quality time will always beat an hour of rushed and unfocused time. Where is your heart when you are communing with God? Are you doing it to tick a box? I want to encourage you to look at the motive behind what you are doing more than you would the time

• Signs You Have A Big Calling in Your Life.
• 4 Weeks to Becoming: A Journey of Unlearning & Becoming.
• PRACTICAL WAYS TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE
• Elementor Landing Page #3842
• The 2 Main Reasons God Is Making You Wait.

Make room for God to speak. Invite Him in your quiet time.

The Lord is always willing to speak to you. Have a journal with you whenever you are speaking to God. Ask Him to speak. Don’t ignore the promptings and words you hear during your quiet time with Him regardless of how ridiculous they sound. The truth is that God will move however He chooses to and that is okay. Be open to His movement. Now do you see why stillness is important? The quieting of the soul allows you to discern what God is doing and how He is moving. Journaling is a way to invite Him to continue the conversation. He has so much to say. The question remains, will you listen?

Conclusion

Spiritual detox is a practice if exercised can lead to an in depth revelation of Jesus. If you want to practically do the spiritual detox, I encourage you to download the free workbook by clicking on the link below. And don’t forget to leave your comments below and let me know how you are faring on. Do you see yourself consistently practicing this?

In the next blog, we will unpack the emotional healing pillar. P.s, Check out my YouTube video on the same Until next time I want you to remember that higher is waiting. XoXo