Start the New Year With a Spiritual Checkup
My wife and I are participating in a nationwide fasting and prayer campaign that runs from Jan. 1 to 21. Sponsored by the International Center for Spiritual Renewal in Cleveland, Tenn., the program urges churches and individuals to fast all or part of the three weeks and to pray for spiritual revival in our nation. Deborah and I decided to do a “Daniel fast,” limiting our diet to fruits and vegetables.
I was feeling pretty good after the first week, although I experienced some initial weakness when my body began craving the donuts, cookies and bagels that appear daily on top of the filing cabinets in my office. I spent the first days of the fast praying for various churches and ministry leaders—asking God to break the power of greed and corruption in our movement. I am sure He was amused as I told Him how sinful our churches are and how the shameful moral failures of our leaders have damaged His reputation.
Then, on Tuesday night when I had more time to pray, God gently interrupted my pontification and showed me my own wicked heart. It was not a pretty picture. I saw pride, impatience, lust, jealousy, offense and a lot of bad attitudes that have grieved God’s heart. I spent the next hour repenting.
I finally realized (sorry, Lord, that it took a whole week) that the goal of this fast is not for me to point my finger at everyone else and pray for their correction. No, it is a time to turn the finger in my direction and then get on the operating table.
Surprise! I’d been scheduled for surgery and didn’t know it.
Now I’m asking the Lord to conduct an MRI on my spiritual life. Exposure is necessary if I want freedom from my sinful habits and unhealthy heart conditions. I am asking some probing questions and submitting to a thorough examination.
1. What is my spiritual temperature? Jesus calls us to be fervent in spirit (see Rom. 12:11). The Greek word for “fervent” means “white hot.” Too often I tend to adjust to my cool environment instead of heating things up. Yet people who are filled with the Holy Spirit should carry fiery zeal wherever they go. Has my spiritual passion been quenched by the busyness of life, selfish ambition or the lure of wealth? If I’m not careful, lukewarmness can become normal and prayerlessness can become routine.
2. What is my heart rate? I am called first and foremost to be a worshiper, but intimacy with God is not always my priority. Am I wholehearted in my devotion to Jesus, or do the distractions of entertainment, work and relationships fill up all my time? Does my heart beat fastest for Him, or have other interests replaced my first love? Do I truly live to please the Father alone, or have I become addicted to the praises of men?
3. Do I need an attitude adjustment? If I don’t walk with the limp of humility, pride will cause me to strut. Do I radiate the love, joy and peace of the Holy Spirit—or am I better known for anxiety, rudeness, cutting remarks and irritability? What happens when I am under pressure—do I manifest the sweet demeanor of a trusting heart, or throw a childish temper tantrum?
4. Is there anything toxic in my system? Am I harboring resentment toward anyone who has wronged me? If so, a bitter poison is taking its toll—and I could infect others and start an epidemic. I must forgive every offense, release every judgment and drop every grudge. Am I jealous of another brother because he makes more money or seems more successful? I must rejoice with him instead of secretly resenting his blessings.
5. Does my tongue need an examination? Does grateful thanksgiving pour out of my mouth regularly, or do I spend most of my time griping and complaining? Am I blessing people regularly with encouragement, or tearing them down with criticism and negativity? Have I grown so callous that I don’t feel convicted when I malign a person’s character by talking about him behind his back?
6. What’s happening in my most private places? We can’t view sexual purity as optional. I cannot be spiritually healthy if I don’t hate sin. Does lust control any area of my life? Have I bowed my knee to the spirit of Baal, who controls our culture with pornography and perversion? Do I flee from sexual temptation the very second I am confronted with an image, or do I toy with it as long as I know no one is looking?
These questions don’t represent a complete examination, but they are the start of a process for me during this significant season of repentance. I encourage you to humble yourself and allow the Great Physician to X-ray every square inch of your spiritual life. The pain is worth it. Let’s repeat what David prayed when He was on the Lord’s operating table: “Search me O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Ps. 139:23-24, NASB).
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J. Lee Grady is the editor of Charisma
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