An Unlikely Prescription for Breaking My Spiritual Rut

The longest spiritual rut of my life has been broken! God did it with the most unlikely prescription...Diet Dr. Pepper.

If you've ever been in a spiritual slump, you know that your prayer life is stagnant. Worship is dry and stale. When you try to read the Bible, every page you turn feels like lifting 10,000 lbs, and every syllable sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher. No matter how creative or willful I tried to be, I just couldn't break the many-months-long slump.

But that all changed in May when I sensed God saying, “If you want to get out of your spiritual rut, you need to team up with Me and do something that will shock your system and disrupt your routine.” He had my attention. So, I listened for the usual, “Get up early, while it is still dark, and read the Bible and pray.” But, that’s not what I sensed God wanted. Instead, I got a directive to give up caffeine from June 1 to June 30.

God knew something that I would only realize later. Caffeine, my default thirst-quencher and energy-booster, had taken complete control of my system. I’d get awake in the morning with coffee by 7:00AM. By 10:00AM, I’d begin a day-long routine of cracking open cans of Diet Dr. Pepper. All this caffeine was making me thirstier and more tired. It was a vicious cycle that needed broken.

Traditionally, when you fast, you devote time to prayer. Usual mealtimes are your prayer-time prompts. I didn't quite understand how I was going to be reminded to draw near to God with a caffeine-fast. That's when the old Dr. Pepper slogan came to mind: Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4.

Here’s what that meant for me. During the month of June, instead of grabbing a Diet Dr. Pepper, I would open the Bible and read at 10, 2, and…you guessed it…4!

It worked. Stopping for fifteen minutes at 10, 2, and 4 to read portions of the Gospels was the prescription for my spiritual ills. I’m happy to say that the rut has been broken. All summerlong, I read the Gospels...three times through. The discipline and desire stayed with me.

I'm convinced the caffeine was symbolic for my actual spiritual thirst. I simply hadn't realized how “thirsty” I had become for God. As a result of doing something odd at God's prompting, He shocked my system, broke my slump, and helped me know Christ better.

So, if you are slumping, I encourage you to quit trying to break free on your own. Instead, ask God to suggest something that will completely shock your system. Cuz, if he asks you to do it, He'll give you the power to see it through.