Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back: How to Release Unhealthy Spiritual Habits
Have you ever felt more burdened than blessed by your spiritual practices?
Sometimes we just need to press the reset button and reground ourselves in God. This post will help you identify and release unhealthy spiritual habits, replacing them with life-giving practices that foster authentic connection with God.
Why You Might Need a Reset
There was a season in my life where I equated spiritual growth with checking off a list: read a chapter of the Bible, pray for 30 minutes, and memorize verses every day. Yet, this routine became monotonous. This didn’t help me to grow closer to God. I found myself going through the motions without truly connecting, leaving me spiritually dry and disconnected.
Maybe this resonates with you as well. Here’s the truth: there is a lot of freedom in letting go. Once we name what isn’t serving us well, we can better decide what is life-giving to us.
Jess Connolly reminds us, “It’s God’s job, God’s strength, God’s power, and God’s grace that actually get the work done. To step into this truth, to take our rightful place in this narrative, we’ve got to take ourselves out of the running for His job and take ourselves out of any race that pits us against other people or ourselves. To start, we’ve got to quit.”
If this sounds familiar to you, the first thing we can do is become aware of our unhealthy spiritual habits. If you are feeling in a rigid spiritual rhythm, here are some signs that your spiritual habits might be holding you back:
Feeling guilt or shame when you don’t meet self-imposed standards.
Using spiritual practices to seek external validation rather than personal growth.
Approaching time with God as a checkbox task rather than a relational experience.
It’s okay if some of these things are true for you. There’s no need to feel shame. But it may be time for a reset. Let’s continue to talk about what this could look like.
How to Reset
Our spiritual life with God should be about connecting. This means utilizing input and output. It cannot just be about the external practices. It is not just about what we can do for God. We also need to be nurturing our inner selves, our inner souls. If we do not include both, we will enter into what we call spiritual burnout. According to Kayla Anderson, “spiritual burnout is a state of exhaustion and overwhelm that comes with spiritual overcommitment.” People who experience spiritual burn out can feel disconnected from God, others, and even themselves. This can happen if you are overcommitted in spiritual or church activities. But it could also happen through participating in unhealthy spiritual habits as well.
Unhealthy spiritual habits often stem from a good place. Yet, without balance, they can drain your energy and disconnect you from the true source of your life. Here’s how some of these common habits lead to exhaustion and disengagement:
Perfectionism in Prayer: Perfectionism can turn prayer—a space meant for intimacy with God—into a performance. When you feel like your prayers must be perfectly worded or last a certain amount of time, it can become burdensome rather than life-giving. Over time, this pressure can make you neglect prayer altogether, leading to feelings of guilt and disconnection from God.
Guilt-Driven Bible Study: Reading the Bible out of obligation rather than desire decreases its transformative purpose. When Bible study becomes just another task to check off your spiritual to-do list, it encourages burnout. Instead of feeding your soul, it can feel like a chore, making it harder to engage with God’s Word authentically and intentionally.
Seeking External Validation: When spiritual activities are driven by a desire for approval from others, your focus shifts from God to people. This habit creates a cycle of striving and comparison, leaving you spiritually exhausted. Over time, your faith feels hollow because it’s rooted in external affirmation rather than an internal connection with God.
Do you feel a sense of apathy, numbness, or disconnection when engaging in spiritual habits? Have you felt a decrease in the joy or excitement you used to experience in your faith? Do you find it difficult to connect with God emotionally or feel close to Him? It’s okay if you have answered yes to one or all of these questions. There’s a name for what you are experiencing. You are not bad or wrong for feeling these things. You might just be “burn-out.”
These unhealthy habits can lead to spiritual burnout, characterized by exhaustion, apathy, and a sense of disconnection. You may find yourself going through the motions without feeling the joy or peace that once fueled your faith. Instead of drawing closer to God, you may feel distant, unsure of how to reignite the passion you once had.
Acknowledging these habits is the first step toward healing. Recognize that God desires connection over performance. Allow yourself the grace to let go of rigid expectations and instead, cultivate spiritual rhythms that align with your unique season of life. By doing so, you can rediscover the joy and intimacy that come from a healthy, balanced relationship with God.
God’s Grace in Your Journey
Where do we come from here? We take steps for releasing these unhealthy spiritual habits and resetting our spiritiual rhythm.
Here are the steps you can take for your spiritual journey:
Acknowledge the Habit
Reflection question: What spiritual practices feel heavy or draining?
Name the habit, explaining why this habit feels draining to you.
Ask God to Help You
Redefine Your Purpose
Shift from obligation to relationship.
Reflection question: What motivates your spiritual practices?
Replace with Life-Giving Practices
Authentic Prayer: Speak from the heart, not perfection. Speak to God just like he was in the room with you.
Joyful Bible Study: Study Scripture in creative ways. Try journaling, listening to scripture, or even a group study.
Private Acts of Worship: Focus on personal connection, not external validation.
Embrace Flexibility
Allow spiritual rhythms to adapt with life seasons. What worked for you at the beginning of one season may no longer work for you in your current season.
Here are some life-giving practices that you can begin to implement in your life today.
Try shorter devotional times
Get outside and take a prayer walk
Spend some time sitting while listening to worship
Spiritual growth is a process; perfection isn’t the goal. There is so much freedom in letting go of what is no longer serving us.
Reflection Question:
What’s one spiritual habit you’re ready to release, and what life-giving practice will you embrace?
Which new habit will you try this week to cultivate a deeper connection with God?