Q. What should a Christian do if he is feeling bored (and/or unmotivated) of reading the Bible, praying, reading Christian books, going to church, and other Christian activities that he used to enjoy doing and was very motivated to do? Should he force himself to continue doing them, hoping that he will regain his enjoyment and motivation, or should he only do them when he feels motivated and will actually enjoy doing them?
The activities you describe are often referred to as “spiritual disciplines.” That does not mean that they are things we have to do. Rather, they are things that we choose to do in order to invest in our relationship with God with structure and regularity. I think that tithing, giving 10% of our income to God, provides a good example. A Christian wants to be part of what God is doing in the world through giving. But if we simply have that desire without introducing any regular practices into our lives, we may end up giving little or nothing, despite our genuine wishes and intentions. So the discipline of calculating 10% of our income, setting it aside for God’s work, and giving it regularly and intentionally to ministries we believe in can help us ensure that we actually do what we want to do.
It’s the same with the specific disciplines that you describe and with all spiritual disciplines in general. To give another example, we have a sincere desire to understand the story of God’s redemptive work in the world and how we can find our own place within that story, and engaging the Bible helps us do that. But if we have no structured plan to engage the Bible regularly, this may not happen. And so forth.
I think the issue you are encountering may be a relational one. As I said, spiritual disciplines are a means of investing in our relationship with God. But every relationship grows and changes, and the things that feed it at one point may not feed it at other points. Put simply, relationships need variety, since they are growing, living things. So not only do we need to commit to following spiritual disciplines to ensure that our sincere desire to walk closely with God is realized, we need to re-examine our disciplines on a regular basis to make sure that they are still fulfilling their purpose. We can change the way we are pursuing certain ones, and we can stop doing others and start doing new ones. Those who study spiritual disciplines have identified over two dozen of them. (In this post I describe a few beyond the ones you list, such as spending time with God in creation or in silence and solitude.) So one thing I would suggest is “mixing it up.” Engage the Bible at a different time, or in a different way. Explore other kinds of prayers besides the ones you have been praying. Pursue simplicity or service as spiritual disciplines for a while instead of reading Christian books. And so forth.
I believe that you asked this question because you really do have a heartfelt desire to be close to God. I believe that desire reflects the relationship with God that you already have, and the relationship that God already has with you. You are just experiencing some “growing pains” in that relationship, and that is actually a good thing. It shows that the relationship is growing.
One thing that happens to all Christians at various times is that their experience outgrows their understanding. That is, we have a workable framework for our Christian life; we understand and expect that things are going to work in a certain way. But as our faith becomes more mature, we also become more discerning, and we can recognize that things are not necessarily working in that way, not all the time. If we don’t reflect on this, we can actually become secretly disappointed with God. We feel inside, without necessarily articulating it this way to ourselves, that God has somehow let us down. If God hadn’t, things would have happened differently, we feel. This leads to spiritual dryness, a sense that we are not moving forward in the faith, and a lack of motivation to draw close to God.
But all of this, I would say again, is actually a positive sign. It shows that your experience of faith has been growing. Your understanding just needs to catch up with it. So I would invite you to ask yourself some questions. Was there something I was expecting God would do that God apparently didn’t do? Was there something I was expecting God wouldn’t do that God apparently did do? Who can I speak with about this who could help me understand what happened, perhaps in light of another look at the Scriptures and the heritage of Christian experience and a reconsideration of the ways of God? What books or podcasts or blog posts or other resources might also help? Do my expectations of God need to change, and if so, in what ways?
I think the process I have just described needs to begin with a commitment to being realistic. We only understand God and ourselves better in light of the truth. We don’t need to apologize or make excuses for the God we have been believing in. We can say, in a clear-eyed way, “Okay, I’ll admit it, this happened.” From there, we can sort out the implications for what we have been believing, and we can re-examine our beliefs in a fresh light.
Just writing this, I’m excited for the journey that you can take forward into a renewed experience of your faith. May God bless you as you translate your sincere desire into practical steps on that journey.
Good Question 