Episode 106: 3 Things That Are Destroying Your Spiritual Habits

 Listen on Audible | Listen on Spotify | Listen on iTunes

Turning your Spiritual Habits into a Checklist.

I was so excited when Sister Cordon brought this up in conference recently.   This is something that has been a passion of mine for a while. By changing my perspective I have been able to enhance the way I connect with the Savior and even helped many other women do the same. Sister Cordon explained it perfectly.

"There is power in making these holy habits less of a checklist and more of a witness. The process will be gradual but will grow with daily, active participation and purposeful experiences with Christ. As we consistently act on His teaching, we gain a testimony of Him; we build a relationship with Him and our Heavenly Father. We begin to become like Them.”

I love that! There is power in not creating a checklist with your spiritual habits and it will take time change out of that mentality. But if you do go from treating your spiritual habits like a checklist and turn to treating your spiritual habits more like relationship building tools, you will become more like Them. 

Scripture Study: Reading your scriptures as a checklist will feel like you're just going through the motions. You might find yourself setting a time limit to read and if you can’t read for that amount of time you feel like a failure. Also as you are reading you will find yourself just reading words on a page and not taking much in. The contrast of that would be reading to get to know God in your life. The intent is to receive from Them what you need for the day with no strict guidelines but just openness and willingness. 

Attending the Temple: If you are going to the temple as a checklist you will start having thoughts around meeting a quota. Like if you go a certain number of times you will be ok. But the problem is, you will never feel like you achieved enough. That’s the problem with treating things like a checklist is that you start to feel like this bar is moving and as quick as you get things off more things appear on your checklist. If you are attending the temple to build a relationship with God, you will feel deep Gratitude and reverence for Him who sacrificed for us each time you go no matter the amount you attend. 

Personal Prayer: When you are saying your prayers as a checklist you will notice that they become repetitive. You will find yourself saying the same things over and over without even thinking about what you really need. You are saying the prayer for the sake of saying the prayer. Rather than really taking the time to think about what God has done for you that day and where God can help you. This is a conversation not a reporting session. No relationship was ever built by just reporting and not listening or actively wanting to engage in a meaningful conversation. 

 Allowing the Adversary to Create Good Noise in Your Life.

The phrase "good noise" might throw you off a bit. How could something that is good be destroying spiritual habits? Isn't that exactly what the adversary is so good at though? Using "good" things in our life as a detriment to us. Especially all the things we have going on. They aren't necessarily bad things but they can become too much and too noisy. Sister Cordon actually explained this as well in her recent talk. “The adversary creates so much noise that it can be difficult to hear the Lord’s voice.”

 I think for faithful women, this noise can often be good noise which makes it so confusing. The adversary wants to keep you busy doing all the things. Good things at that! The noise the adversary is creating in your life are all GOOD THINGS, the problem is they aren’t necessarily WHERE God wants you. By creating noise of all these good things you need to be involved in, then you forget to use the most powerful source on the planet, the Savior. The adversary will keep you whirling about in what you think is “the name of Christ” being busy because you are doing good. But this is a detriment to your spiritual habits. Let me show you how.

Scripture Study: Trying to read scriptures through the good noise will feel like you don’t need to read the scriptures at all because you are involved in so many other good things in your life. You will find yourself neglecting them little by little more and more and pretty soon you are so distant from them, you wonder how it happened. If you aren’t riled up in the good noise that Satan is creating you will realize that reading the scriptures is how you gain strength for your day. The scriptures are HOW you are able to accomplish all the good God wants you to accomplish. They become a source of strength you can’t live without rather than something that seems to be in the way of other good things. 

Attending the Temple: If you are going to the temple through the good noise you will feel like you are always thinking of the next good thing on your list that needs to be done. You will feel unfocused in the temple and leaving feeling more drained than when you went in. In contrast, if you are outside of all that noise the adversary is creating, you will feel a strength come when you enter and serve in the temple. You will recognize what power you get from being there and desire to attend more often for that strength.

Personal Prayer: Saying your prayers through the good noise will be non existent. You won’t rely on prayer because you are too busy to stop and ask God for help. You will feel like these are all things God wants you to be doing so you won’t stop to ask at all. You will plow through and forget God is there to help you with your checklist. In contrast, getting out of the noise of good the adversary swirls around you will be a clear recognition that saying your prayers is for strength. You’ll begin to recognize that you need Christ’s strength when you are busy doing what God wants you to do. 

I love how Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught about this. He said,“I believe the Savior Jesus Christ would want you to see, feel, and know that He is your strength. That with His help, there are no limits to what you can accomplish.” When you can get out of the noise that the adversary is creating around you, you will see, feel and know that. 

 Looking Through a Secular Lens Instead of a Spiritual Lens.

Elder Kevin Pearson addressed this in the past conference as well. He said, “Carnal security is seeking for and trusting in worldly things instead of Christ—in other words, looking through a secular lens instead of a spiritual lens.” So let’s talk about what that looks like with those three spiritual habits so you can see which lens you’re looking through.

Scripture Study: Reading scriptures through a secular lens would sound like putting scriptures lower on the priority list. Like saying I have to do these things done first then I can read my scriptures. The secular lens has you looking at only earthly results. Looking at the scriptures through a spiritual lens will have you seeing the long term effects and moving them back up the priority list. 

Temple Attendance: Going to the temple through a secular lens vs a spiritual lens reminded me of a quote I heard about church. This isn’t exactly quoted in the scriptures but it is a concept pulled out of many scriptures. The quote was “The world says show me and I’ll trust you and God says trust me and I’ll show you”. Going to the temple trusting that God will provide is very different than saying show me what you can do then I will obey. It takes faith out of the equation. A secular lens says there must be certainty to act and faith says there must be uncertainty to act. Going to the temple is an act of faith. See how the secular lens can keep you from doing the vital things in your life?

Personal Prayer: Saying your prayers through a secular lens will sound like praying to change the will of God. Telling God what needs to happen and praying for only that outcome. Praying through a spiritual lens will be a prayer for help with God's will. Not asking God to change His will but to help you carry out His will.

There is actually one common thread in all three of these destructive things that are destroying your spiritual habits. It is the natural man. The natural man is the one that creates a secular lens, causes us to go through the motions of checklist items rather than for a greater purpose and creates the noise in your life. The natural man inside of each of us is the doorway for satan to do his work on our thoughts. 

King Benjamin talked about this in the Book of Mormon. He said,  “But this much I can tell you, … watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of … our Lord, even unto the end of your lives.” When you can watch what the natural man is doing to your thoughts, you can learn recognize and become aware of what is happening and use tools to return to Christ where your perspective is very different.

I have developed specific mental health tools that help you put off the natural man so you can return to Christ. I help you learn which thoughts the natural man is using against you and destroying your spiritual habits that give you so much power in your life. I teach these mental health skills in my Removing Roadblocks to Revelation Group Coaching Program. If you would like to be notified when that program opens up so you can learn these skills get on the waitlist today.