When you are experiencing a “dry” season in your spirit, a time of feeling isolated and forsaken, questions will undoubtedly arise. “Father, why do you feel so far from me? Have I sinned once too often? Are you angry with me? Do you still love me?” During these difficult times you don’t feel like reading the Word or praying or praising him. And God feels ever more distant.
All true believers experience such times in their Christian walk — even Jesus felt isolation and cried out, “Father, why have You forsaken Me?” when he was on the cross (see Matthew 27:46).
It is possible to sense God’s overwhelming love in your driest hours, but that is not enough. There must be the nearness of the Lord — and the joy of hearing that still, small voice. The heart must feel his warmth; the presence of the Lord must fill the room; his joy must rush through all the corridors of your mind. The heart must know that he has come to guide, to comfort, to help in the hour of need. There must be no doubt — no question — that God has chosen to come and commune with you.
What can you do to overcome spiritual dryness? First, maintain a life of prayer! Too often you try everything but prayer, right? Talking with friends, reading books, seeking out counseling — looking everywhere for a word of comfort or advice. And none of those things is wrong, by the way. But nothing dispels dryness and emptiness more quickly than an hour or two shut in with God! “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
Second, do not be afraid of a little suffering; after all, Christ’s resurrection was preceded by a short period of suffering. But we do not want to suffer or be hurt. We want painless deliverance through supernatural intervention. Be prepared, though, because victory does not always come without pain. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Choose to seek him and walk out of your testing time in victory through his Word!
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.