What to Do When You Feel Spiritually Dry: My Journey Back to Living Water

💧 What to Do When You Feel Spiritually Dry: My Journey Back to Living Water

I remember sitting in church one Sunday, staring at the worship lyrics on the screen, but feeling nothing. Everyone around me seemed moved—hands lifted, eyes closed. But inside, I felt hollow.

Have you ever been there?

I wasn’t angry at God. I wasn’t walking away from faith. I just… felt empty. My prayers sounded mechanical. My Bible stayed closed. Even worship felt like going through the motions.

That season was what many call “spiritual dryness.” And let me be honest—it was harder than some of my physical struggles. Because when your soul feels thirsty and heaven seems silent, you start wondering: What’s wrong with me? Where did God go?

If you’ve ever wrestled with that, this is for you. I want to share my story of dryness and the surprising ways God met me, even when I felt far from Him.

🌵 What Spiritual Dryness Feels Like

For me, spiritual dryness felt like:

• Praying but hearing only silence.
• Reading the Bible but nothing sinking in.
• Serving at church but feeling disconnected.
• Worshipping but my heart wasn’t engaged.

It felt like God had packed up and moved, leaving me behind.

But as I’ve walked with Jesus longer, I’ve learned something important: spiritual dryness is part of the journey of faith.

Even David wrote:

“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:2)

If David could feel dry, then so can we. And God can use those seasons.

📖 Why God Allows Dry Seasons

I used to think dryness meant I’d failed spiritually. But Scripture shows otherwise:

1. To deepen our hunger.
   Just as fasting increases our physical hunger, spiritual dryness can sharpen our desire for God.
2. To build perseverance.
   James 1:3 says trials test our faith and produce endurance. Dryness stretches faith beyond feelings.
3. To shift us from emotion to devotion.
   True faith isn’t measured by how we feel in worship but by whether we choose to keep following Jesus even when it feels empty.

🌊 My Story of Dryness

My season of dryness lasted months. I kept showing up—church, small group, Bible reading—but it all felt numb.

One night, I read John 4, where Jesus tells the Samaritan woman:

“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

I whispered, “Jesus, I need that water again. I feel parched.”

The answer didn’t come overnight. But slowly, little streams of living water began trickling back into my soul—through Scripture, conversations, and even silence.

🛑 Lies I Believed in My Dryness

During that time, I wrestled with some lies:

• “I must be a bad Christian.” Truth: Even prophets like Elijah experienced despair and exhaustion (1 Kings 19).
• “God must be far away.” Truth: God promises He never leaves us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
• “This will last forever.” Truth: Dry seasons are temporary. God always restores (Psalm 126:4).

✝️ Jesus in the Wilderness

One passage that gave me comfort was Matthew 4, where Jesus Himself experienced the wilderness for 40 days.

If Jesus, the Son of God, walked through dryness and temptation, then my desert season wasn’t wasted. It was holy ground where dependence was tested and deepened.

🌟 What Helped Me in Dryness

Here are some practices that slowly brought refreshment back:

1. Honest prayers. I stopped faking enthusiasm and prayed honestly: “God, I feel dry. Meet me here.”
2. Slow Scripture reading. Instead of rushing, I sat with a single verse for days.
3. Worship anyway. Even when I didn’t feel it, I lifted my voice as an act of faith.
4. Silence and solitude. Sometimes I didn’t need more noise; I needed stillness.
5. Community. Friends prayed over me and carried me when I felt too weak.

🌅 When the Water Returned

One morning, months into that season, I opened Psalm 63:1:

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

Tears finally came. For the first time in a long time, I felt God’s presence wash over me like cool water. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was enough to remind me: God had been there the whole time.

🙏 A Word to You

If you feel spiritually dry right now, let me speak this over you: You are not broken. You are not abandoned. Dryness is not the end of your faith story.

God is still here. He’s the same God in the desert as He is by streams of living water. And He promises to refresh you in His time.

🙏 A Prayer for the Spiritually Dry

“Father, for the one reading this who feels empty, thirsty, and far from You, remind them You are near. Let living water flow again in their heart. Replace dryness with renewal, silence with Your whisper, and emptiness with joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.”