Procrastination is a sluggish attitudinal weapon that irreversibly destroys its victim. Spiritual procrastination is a feeling of desperately wanting to do God’s instruction or assignment, but not getting started.
Pies Steel, a human resources professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, stated that 95% of the population procrastinates at times, with 20% being chronic offenders.
How often do you put procrastination under your foot? Today’s message will elaborate the effects of spiritual procrastination and how to overcome it.
How does Spiritual Procrastination find its way into you?
You will suffer procrastination whenever you blame someone or something other than yourself. Watch out for the following words as the channels of spiritual procrastination:
*I was too busy to share the gospel with my friends …
*I was too tired …
*I was stressed up throughout the day …
*I was too sleepy to study the Bible …
*I am not wealthy enough to help the poor …
*I can’t concentrate …
If you always see someone or something standing against you and your willingness to do God’s will, then you will never hold yourself responsible for the spiritual procrastination, and such act is a time-bomb.
Effects of Spiritual Procrastination to Christians
Spiritual procrastination looks harmless, but at a long-run it tumbles the life of the sufferer. The effects are not limited to the following points below:
- Procrastination steals your productive time and you can never recover it anymore.
- It takes away the physical and spiritual blessings from you.
- Your heart is always filled with fear and uncertainty.
- Spiritual procrastination makes you fruitless, because you lose the fruit of the spirit such as faithfulness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22 – 23)
- It negatively affects your level of achievement in life.
- Procrastination separates you from the presence of the LORD.
- If you permit spiritual procrastination, then spiritual laziness that slides a Christian is at your door step.
It is unwise, ungodly and unhealthy to allow spiritual procrastination to hit you with fear, unfaithfulness, weakness or spiritual laziness. The outcome of procrastination is disastrous.
Biblical verses to Hit Procrastination
The word synonymous to procrastination in the Bible is slug, delay or laziness.
Proverbs 20:4 – “The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.”
Colossians 3:23 – “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men…”
Proverbs 26:13 – “The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!”
Matthew 5: 23-24: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Proverbs 6:9-11: “How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep-So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.”
7 Ways to Overcome Spiritual Procrastination
What do you do when you feel the slothful monster of procrastination trying to creep into your life?
An online survey by the Procrastination Research Group posed the question, “To what extent is procrastination having a negative impact on your happiness?” of the 2,700 response: 46% said “quite a bit” or “very much” and 18% claimed “extreme negative effect”.
If you are eager to be free from procrastination, then the cogent solutions below are for you.
-
- Start gradually without delay
You need the daily intake of God’s Power in your life to achieve His wills. Thus, don’t be carried away by the magnitude of whatever the Lord asks you to do. Take a faithful step and He will guide you to the end.
- Be Focused and Diligent
There are some spiritual assignments that take a long time to be accomplished due to some factors. Be focused on your spiritual lane to achieve the goals. Don’t be discouraged at any point of your responsibility to the Lord.
- Meditate the Word of God
You cannot be trapped by spiritual procrastination if you fill your heart always with the word of God. Read the Bible or listening to the audio format regularly.
- Keep Records
What I do is to set reminder on the calendar app of my phone and once the phone beeps, I do the needful. Tracking events really helps me a lot from procrastination. You can also design a feasible to-do list accompanied with a deadline and you would be delivered from procrastination.
- Give God the Car Key
If you always give your power of choice to the Lord every morning, then the activities of your day would be planned in the presence of the LORD, and your obedience to God’s plan will knock down spiritual procrastination.
- Push Away Distraction
When I discovered that watching the television and scrolling through my social media platform distracted me from accomplishing other spiritual duties. I reduced my television presence to watching news, and answering questions on the social media. This discipline really helped me. List your time-takers and screen them accordingly.
- Assess yourself at night
Don’t pretend that all is fine when many things you should do are hanging on your neck undone. Before going to bed assess yourself and be determined to do better the next day.
Spiritual procrastination is a spiritual explosive to the sufferer. But, the obedience to solutions above will deliver you from the destructive act of procrastination.
If you are stuck into the procrastination of giving your totality to the Lord, please give everything about you to the Lord today – tomorrow may be too late!
I pray for every procrastinator who reads this message today that the Lord will deliver you and set you free in Jesus name.
