Does God maintain us or is it also our duty to intervene?

[xdisciplex]

What is a christian supposed to do when he notices that somehow he is getting farer away from God and that everything suddenly seems so distant and intangible and strange and he loses the acquisition? What would you do in such a situation? Is it then the duty of the christian to start "doing something" and to make sure that he doesn't slide back? Or is this God's duty? I mean does a christian have to make sure that he doesn't slide back? Wouldn't this mean that staying saved depends on us and not on God?
Somehow I feel pretty distant to God, most likely also due to spending very little time with him.
Somehow I just don't get it done to set aside time for him. Also when I have stuff to do then it distracts me and it keeps my mind busy and doesn't allow me to simply dissociate from it and to make room for God because when my mind is filled with problems then it's hard to simply forget about this stuff and then to spend time with God. But in order to talk to God I need concentration and everything which distracts me disturbs me. Sometimes even the noise of a clock distracts me.
And somehow I don't even know anymore what to say to God. It's so frustrating because I don't know what to say or what to do. It's so unfulfilling when you talk to God and it's always the same like talking against a wall.
Or when you simply get no sense of achievement then you also become frustrated. I have prayed about things so often and I simply see no change. What am I supposed to think about this? This makes me feel like something's wrong with me. I mean this isn't easy. On the one hand I'm supposed to believe that I'm born again and a new creation but on the other hand I don't see much evidence of this. I still get angry and hostile just like before, the only difference is that I now feel guilty for getting angry and hostile, this is the only difference. And I have prayed about it and reported all these things to God but when you report these things to God every day and say. "God, this isn't okay and this also isn't okay and I need to change this and that and this and that...."
and nothing changes then you also ask yourself why that is. Shouldn't God be totally keen on answering such prayers? Then why do I still get angry and hostile? I bet other christians do not have these problems, at least I cannot imagine that many christians out there get hostile like me.
And these things again open doors for doubts because when you don't see drastic changes then you can also start to question everything. Then you can question wether you're even born again when you still have all these old problems. Somehow this really is like walking in quicksand.
But maybe God doesn't even have the chance to change me because I'm not in the right environment? Maybe he can't even do anything. But then again I ask myself why didn't God put me somewhere else? When I imagine living somewhere else and having a nice church and a nice pastor then I could be totally flourishing but instead I'm tripping on the spot.
And something which I also don't know is what God demands from me. I don't even know if I pray correctly. When I pray and try to change myself then maybe this is also totally wrong because how am I supposed to change myself? But on the other hand I also don't know if it's correct to simply leave everything to God and until God does something I'll simply go on and get angry and simply totally rely on God to miraculously turn me into a new person. I just don't know what's my part and what's God's part.

 

[FERRON BRIMSTONE]

The struggle that you are describing is one that every believer faces. Our flesh nature is still trying to control us, but the Holy Spirit is bringing us closer to God. Unfortunately the flesh doesn't give up easily. Paul described this struggle in Romans Chapter 7:15-20.

Rom 7:15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Rom 7:16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
Rom 7:17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Rom 7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.


The Holy Spirit dwells within us to convict us of our sins and help us overcome.

Joh 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Joh 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.


The guilt you are dealing with is evidence of a true conversion, it should produce humility and dependance on God.


Luk 18:10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'
Luk 18:13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

raying:

Continue the struggle against sin and ask God to strengthen you that you may resist. Read your Bible daily, and think on Gods Word and pray continuously. This helps you resist sin in the short term and makes you more Godly in the longterm. The Holy Spirit dwelling in you needs healthy food and exercise just as your fleshly body does. Feed it on the Word of God, and exercise it daily as you pray and resist temptation.


Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Rom 8:27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. :thumbs:

All scripture came from the ESV