Top 5 Reasons People Lose Spiritual Focus

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Top 5 Reasons People 
Lose Spiritual Focus
Keep your eyes on Jesus.

"Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you." - Proverbs 4:25 (ESV)

Everybody has them!
In the middle of a recent presentation, I literally forgot what I was saying. Embarrassing! It was even more humbling when I asked someone in the front row to remind me what I was saying! I momentary lost my train of thought during a critical moment. I had what some people call brain fart! Thankfully, the audience helped me and extended grace. You might be laughing at me or with me, but truth be said, we all experience this strange phenomenon called a brain fart when we lose our focus.

I recently read a great definition of a brain fart:

"Malfunction of the brain on a given thought process, 
usually occurring during an important situation."

Why do we have brain farts?
Researchers have discovered the five common things that unexpectedly throw our brains for a loop and cause brain farts. They are often caused by sounds or visual distractions. The top things that cause brain farts are going through doorways, random beeps, looking at photos and phones ringing. Something happens, and we lose focus.

We lose our focus spiritual too.
Spiritually, we sometimes get distracted and lose our focus. We have spiritual brain farts. You might be struggling putting those words together, but please follow me on this one. There are times in our lives when we do foolish things that we know we shouldn't do. We think to ourselves, "Are you kidding me? I know better than that! Why did I lose my focus? Why did I do that?"

A good definition of a spiritual brain fart is:

"Momentarily losing spiritual focus and doing something stupid, 
usually during a critical moment."

The Bible is loaded with men and women who lost their spiritual focus:

• The nine men who didn't return to thank Jesus for healing them of leprosy (Luke 17).
• Martha working instead of worshipping (Luke 10).
• Moses striking the rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20).

Some of these biblical examples are big and some are small. But every one of them had a momentary lapse in what they knew and believed. Their belief and behavior didn't line up, and it was uncharacteristic of their spiritual walk.

We grow comfortable in certain spiritual areas of our lives and we let down our guard. The grind of life and the routines of our day make us careless. Our hearts become unguarded, and then out of the blue we don't do what we know we should do.

Five reasons for losing our spiritual focus.
There are many reasons why common things throw our hearts for a loop and we end up doing something stupid. The list could be endless, but over the past 20 years, I have witnessed first hand great men and women of God that have stumbled as a result of spiritual brain farts. Here are the top five things that cause us to lose our spiritual focus:

1. Money – We do dumb things and make dumb decisions when it comes to finances. We often confuse wants and needs and spend more than we have (1Timothy 6:9-11).
2. Friends – Our closest relationships often cause us to do stupid things. It's negative peer influence. The company we keep can affect our behavior for better or worse (Proverbs 13:20).
3. Pride – When we care about what other people think or try to keep up appearances, pride comes in and makes us do dumb things. It is hard to sustain an image that is different from reality (James 4:6).
4. Power – When we want to be in control or have an important position, we compromise or take short cuts to keep it (Proverbs 16:1).
5. Entitlement – When we think we have earned it, we end up making bad decisions (James 2:1-12).

Living with purpose and intentionality will prevent us from stumbling. Proverbs 4:25-27 (The Message) says:

"Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.
Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you.
Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust."

As WisdomWalkers, we need to be completely honest with our Warriors (accountability partners) and make sure they know our tendencies. We also need to be honest with God. Instead of hiding our weaknesses, bring them into the light and you will begin to see God do amazing things. If we actually spend time with God in prayer, He will reveal the areas of our life that need to change. And if we surround ourselves with people who love us and desire the best for us, we won't lose our spiritual focus.

Take Action:

1. When have you lost your spiritual focus?
2. From the list, what one area do you struggle with the most?
3. Do you have a Warrior or two who are helping you stay strong?
4. Who do you need to call now and ask them to be a warrior in your life?