5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing and Replenishment
Not long ago, I realized I was facing spiritual burnout. As I pursued restoration, I began regularly praying several prayers for spiritual healing and replenishment.
I invite you to join me on the morning when I recognized the source of my exhaustion, and I’ll share my prayers for healing.
5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing and Replenishment
The rose-colored glow rising from behind the spruce trees reminds me of alpenglow against the Rockies at dawn. Somehow, God’s light shining into our dark places is magical no matter where in the world we find ourselves. As I sit in the morning light, I long to draw near to God.
As usual, the reading takes less than ten minutes. I cross it off the list, and I’m onto the next thing.
Today’s “next thing” is reading a few articles by other writers, gleaning from their wisdom, and offering encouraging words to the women who wrote the thoughtful words.
Somewhere in my mind, encountering God in the stillness of the morning has slipped to an afterthought, and this ministry of encouraging others has leaked into the time meant to be spent alone with my Father.
A half-hour later, the kids finally tumble from their warm beds, and I find myself snapping at every request and barking orders instead of greeting them with kindness.
Pausing to watch the sun rise white over maples, a quiet thought passes through my mind: What if building my ministry is hindering the growth that matters most in my life?
What if this ministry of writing and encouraging others is stunting the growth of something more important?
Going Deeper With the Lord
It takes time to build any ministry, whether it’s a church plant, writing career, or business.
I wonder how many of us are stunting our spiritual growth by allowing time with God to be replaced with time spent growing our ministries.
It’s the Bible school teacher who never seeks God for God—she’s always writing her lessons.
We see it in the church leader who spends hours preparing messages and spends only minutes seeking the face of God.
It’s the elementary school teacher who somehow slips from reading her morning devotional online to searching Pinterest for bulletin board ideas.
It’s the student who spends three minutes in God’s Word and three hours writing a research paper.
It feels productive to breeze through Bible reading and get on to the next task. Sadly, I hinder my spiritual growth when I’m more concerned with my ministry than my relationship with God.
We cannot give to others what we do not have first for ourselves.
We cannot give to others what we do not have first for ourselves. #encounteringGod #seekingGod Share on XFor this reason, let’s now look at the five prayers I prayed for spiritual healing as I aimed to pursue my relationship with God.
5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing
1. Pray for a longing to draw near to God.
Here is a prayer:
“Lord God, thank you for calling me to partner with you in sharing your love with others. Forgive me for the times when I put this calling before seeking you in an intimate personal relationship. I love you, Lord. Help me remember to draw near to you first, so that all I say and do will flow from our relationship.”
2. Pray for a heart set on seeking God’s face first.
Here is a prayer to seek God’s face:
“Father God, thank you for the promise to comfort me and care for me. I turn to you today with a deep need for spiritual healing and refreshment. Please help me remember to seek your face and not only your hand. I want to see your hand working in my life, but I realize that the highest calling in my life is to love you.”
3. Pray for God’s restoration.
Here is a prayer for restoration:
“Dear Lord, thank you for being the great Restorer. I come to you in need of spiritual healing today. Guide me and show me what it will look like to follow you. If I need to make changes to my schedule or prioritize time with you, I ask you to lead the way. I commit to following wherever you lead me.”
4. Pray for ministry to be the overflow of an intimate relationship with God.
Here is a prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I long for my ministry to others to come from the overflow of my relationship with you. As I turn to you, please fill me to overflowing. Give me a greater hunger for your Word. Stir my heart with a desire to worship you. Help me experience your presence as I seek you in prayer, all so that I might carry your love to others.”
5. Pray for spiritual balance.
Here is a prayer for balance:
“Lord God, you know I can easily put ministry for you ahead of my relationship with you. Please forgive me. Help me passionately pursue you first, so that all other parts of my life will come into balance. When this happens, I know you will heal my burnout and help me to walk in your peace.”
Tips to Help You Apply These Prayers for Spiritual Healing
If you’re in need of healing and spiritual restoration today, here are some tips to help you connect with God for healing.
1. Deepen your relationship with God by studying the Bible for yourself.
We need to learn to open the Bible and study it for ourselves. Devotional books and online messages are helpful and necessary, but it’s important to learn to study for ourselves as well.
When I don’t learn to dig into God’s Word and apply it to my life—alone with God—I miss the deepest kind of spiritual growth.
I have discovered that a short commentary is helpful. As long as I’m predominantly reading God’s Word and using the commentary simply as a supplemental resource, I learn to apply Scripture to my life and dig deeper. Some of my favorite resources for digging deeper into passages of Scripture include the following: Precept Austin, Biblehub.com, and Biblestudytools.com.
2. Begin your day with the Lord.
If I don’t start my day with time in God’s Word, I struggle to make it happen.
God wants us to begin our days with him and then stay in step with him throughout the entire day.
How can we begin with God?
Prioritize time with God by reading your Bible. Read a few chapters or read a Psalm. Follow a reading plan or read and journal about a few verses.
Also, learn to rest with Jesus for just a few moments each morning. Close your eyes and imagine Jesus holding you. Mentally walk through your day and imagine he is walking with you. Ask him what he wants to show you.
Listen to worship music while you get ready for the day or drive to work.
Beginning well is important. The first steps of your day set the tone for the entire day.
3. Schedule time to invest in your relationship with God and don’t blur the lines.
I get into trouble in the mornings because Bible reading and devotional reading easily slip into writing and encouraging others. If I don’t commit to twenty minutes spent seeking God for God, I’m bound to end up working on an article or wandering away from the refreshment that comes from simply basking in his presence.
Stick with a given amount of time with God—even if it’s only five minutes—and don’t blur the lines. The Lord longs to connect with you.
I hope and pray these words encourage you to find a quiet place and seek God for yourself. I have a gift for you as well . . .
A Free Devotional to Help You Learn How to Build a Closer Relationship With God
Is it time to get the fire back in your walk with God? My free gift to you is my 10-day devotional, Fan the Flame. This devotional offers dozens of practical ways to connect with God. Click here, and I will send this devotional directly to your email inbox.
These books are free on Kindle Unlimited or available to purchase in print:
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
Calling all moms and daughters!
Additionally, my teen daughter, Bekah, and I are passionate about helping moms and daughters grow closer while connecting with God. We have written two mother-daughter devotionals together. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section after each devotion.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, purity, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. We will help you!
Multitudes of mothers, daughters, mentors, and younger women are being transformed by these books! You can buy them as paperbacks or get your free Kindle Unlimited eBooks on Amazon right here.
