Spiritual Growth During COVID-19

By Bibi Babatunde-Ikotun

Hi everyone, I trust you're doing well. With the lockdown situation worldwide, there's a spirit of fear and panic going around. I just want to encourage you to be still and know God is God. The God that we serve is a very good father. Nothing catches Him by surprise, even this COVID-19 is not a surprise to Him. If you're a good bible student, you'll know that there's nothing surprising about a global pandemic. However, we are grateful that God's love and mercy continue to be over us at all times. Praise Jesus, Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV) Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

So because your church is closed, doesn't mean your spiritual life has to take a break. The church is the body of Christ and it comprises of you and me. We as a collection of people make up the church. Don't relax because the physical church can't meet right now. Your spiritual life doesn't revolve around your pastor and your church, it revolves around Christ. Turn to Christ at this time, get to know Him better and spend quality time with Him. We have so much free time even for those that are still working from home. Once your workday is over, you don't have to spend hours in commute. You can use that freed up time to feed your spirit. This is the right time for growth, time is no longer a factor.

How to grow spiritually during COVID-19:

Prayer groups

This is a great time to join a prayer group. If your church has one already, reach out to your coordinator and find out how you can partake in their daily calls. Although I know there's a disruption in the regular meetings of these prayer groups, you can suggest technology such as zoom for the meetings to continue. Things that fortify the church should not pause because of COVID-19. If you look around and can't find a prayer group, maybe it's an opportunity for you to start one if the Holy Spirit gives you the go-ahead. I know of a daily prayer group on Twitter, they meet virtually 15 minutes every day to pray, here is the link to check them out.

Bible Study

Before the global lockdown, our number 1 go-to excuse for not reading the bible daily was "no time". Now you literally have the whole time in the world. Can I ask, have you added studying the bible to your daily schedule? Where your treasure is there lies your heart (Matthew 6:21). If you say you love God your heart has to be directed towards spending time with Him. Find something that works for you as it relates to studying the bible, You may decide to do a chapter a day, take down notes and make action points. Don't just read for reading sakes. Read it out loud for your ears to hear, study it as well to have a deeper understanding. If you've never done this before, I suggest you start with the book of Romans in the Amplified Version. Your mind will be blown. You may also study the gospel of John, glory to God! Hallelujah!

Attend all virtual services

In this time, there is a temptation to skip service with the promise to catch up later. LOL, that is a setup. The truth is you may never get a chance to catch up later. When it is time for virtual service, log on and be attentive. Put away all the distractions, act as though you are in the physical church. Encourage your friends and families to actively take part in virtual services. If you don't feed your spirit man with healthy food (word of God), it will starve and feed on junk food (unwholesome content). And what you feed on, reflects in your thoughts, actions and words.

Listen to at least one sermon a day

 You have all the time, literally. You can actually listen to a sermon a day. And by listening, I mean actively listening. Takedown notes, make out action points, share what you learnt to your friends and family even on your Facebook, Twitter or whatever social media platform you vibe with. You can follow my twitter thread that I recommend daily sound sermons you can listen to here.

Read spiritually edifying books

Readers are leaders, but you already know that. To grow spiritually, you have to consume wholesome content and one of the best places to find deep things of the spirit is in books written by spirit-filled men and women. I'm currently reading one of the volumes of God's generals and it's literally changing my life. Reading is underestimated, you have to start reading more. it exposes you to a lot more than you know. Movies are great but books are even better! There are many free books online. I also believe that if you pay for it, you'll value it more. Pay for it if you have to.

Be consistent

To see results, you have to keep at it. Have you ever seen anyone that gains a lot of muscles from one week of working out? I mean you may see a little definition here and there but considerable growth is not possible within a little time. Keep at it daily. Even if you fall asleep while praying, continue when you wake up. Don't make the devil trick you into thinking your prayers didn't leave your house to the heavens because you slept off.  Be consistent even on the hard days. Keep at it. Make a routine out of it. Consistency is how routines are formed, friends. When you're are consistent, it will continue even after the lockdown. Find a time and system that works for you and stick to it. 

Yield to the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:16-19 (TPT) As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self - life.[a] 17 For your self - life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your old self - life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self - life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit.

As you study the scriptures and pray, the Holy Spirit will keep nudging you to do different things. It is wise to yield to His leading. He is your teacher and your friend. One of His jobs is to help you come into full maturity. See, He wants to help you exhibit the fruit of the spirit effortlessly. He is the one that helps you grow. Those things that easily beset you such as anger, jealously, gossip, sexual immorality, lies etc, He is the only one that can you stop those flesh led habits. 

I don't want to do a full post on yielding, may some other time, lol.

Thanks for reading to the very end, God bless you richly.

Remember, you're hid in Christ and Christ in God from every calamity. Obey the government officials, wash your hands and practise social distancing. We are saved from this pandemic in Jesus name, Amen.

With love,

Bibi❤❤

Here's a link to my April newsletter, there's a prayer request form in there. I'm more than happy to agree with you concerning anything you're waiting on the Lord for.