Spiritual Lukewarmness

The lecture speaks about spiritual lukewarmness that may affect a person during his walk with God, and how the spiritual life does not always continue with the same level of warmth, but may pass through periods of weakness and coldness that need continuous spiritual struggle. His Holiness Pope Shenouda III confirms that God wants man to be “fervent in spirit,” because the Spirit of God working in man is a spirit of fire, love, and holy zeal. 
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that the first reason for lukewarmness is moving away from the life of repentance and contrition. The repentant person always feels unworthy, so his heart becomes filled with warmth, tears, and spiritual struggle. But when a person forgets his weakness and thinks that he has reached perfection, the warmth of the spirit begins to fade gradually. 
He also explains that repentance is not a temporary stage, but a continuous life that the believer lives throughout his whole life, just as David the Prophet said: “My sin is before me at all times.” The continuous feeling of need for God keeps the heart humble and burning with the love of God. 
The lecture also discusses the danger of depending only on external motivations, such as being influenced by a meeting, a person, or certain circumstances. These things may give temporary warmth, but a person needs deep inner roots connecting him with God through prayer, contemplation, and personal love for God. 
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III uses the example of the tree that does not grow strongly until its roots reach the inner waters, explaining that the true believer should have a spiritual life coming from inside, not depending only on external encouragement. 
He also connects spiritual lukewarmness with stopping spiritual growth, because life with God is a continuous movement forward. The person who becomes satisfied with what he has reached and stops growing gradually enters into spiritual coldness. While the saints were always extending toward what is ahead without stopping, like Saint Paul the Apostle. 
He also speaks about the danger of formal and routine worship, when prayer and praise turn into mere words or duties without understanding, contemplation, or warmth of heart. True prayer is the one that comes out of a heart inflamed with the love of God, not just a quick repetition of words. 
At the end of the displayed part, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III warns against allowing human glory and the love of praise to enter the spiritual life, because when a person starts thinking more about people’s opinion of him than God’s view of him, he loses the simplicity and warmth of the spiritual relationship. 

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