In today’s society with the demands that comes with ministry, counseling, prayer warrior and intercessory, deliverance minister, preacher, and teacher, we are finding many ministers and church leaders losing their zeal for ministry. When they started they were on fire for God, now they are just living in the moment and wondering how they reached this point in their life and ministry.
There are many reasons why ministers burnout, for example not spending enough personal time, not resting, not able to spend enough time with the Lord amongst others. Pastors need a day off too, a time to relax and enjoy life, it should not be about the ministry 24/7, perhaps that could be one of the reason for many leaders marriages going sour.
Steps On How to Recover from Ministry Burnout
Please check out other article to this one: Ministry Burnout- Signs That You Are Burnout
If you are experiencing ministry burnout, all is not lost as you can recover. Here
- You need to rest. If you were doing a secular job you would expect to get at least one day off each week to rest and recuperate. So why should it be different as minister? So many times we spend many hours in the ministry forgetting that you also need to minister to your physical and emotional needs. You need to take time to talk to the Lord, read his word and of course to refresh yourself. Also there is nothing wrong in taking a vocation with your family. During this time, try not to spend any of these time working, unless have to. I am sure you must be able to find someone who can take over the ministry for few weeks (or at least one week).
- Spend time with the Lord each day. Sometimes with the demands that come with ministry, many times pastors and other ministers do not spend enough time with the Lord. Many times leaders spend so many hours dealing with matters of the ministry that they forget that they need to refill each day. If you have a vehicle and do not spend time to service the vehicle, then it will not be able to function as it should. In the same manner, if you do not spend time to service your spiritual engine and put gas in your tank then you will burnout very quickly and not able to function effectively in the ministry.
- Prioritize task is very important. As a minister or pastor you need to schedule time for personal prayer where you lack away from the world and talk to God, reading the Bible, spend time with family, exercise for physical health, hobbies, socialization, listening to music and reading of books other than the Bible.
- Remember your vision, goals and what God told you about ministry. Sometimes we need to look back at what we set out to do when we started this journey and reevaluate ourselves. We also need to remember where we are going by remembering the promises of God
- Find spiritual leaders who can encourage and strengthen you. We all need spiritual mentors who we can call upon to pray with us and for us, and people we can talk to. This is no different for pastors and other ministers. Oftentimes pastors and ministers minister to the needs of others but have no one to minister to their needs or to pray with them for strength.
When Elijah felt as if he was the end of his ministry and couldn’t go any further, the Lord instructed him to anoint Elisha to take his place. While Elijah was training Elisha, Elisha was working for Elijah as an servant or apprentice and would be there to encourage and strengthen him, and even pray together.
- Get help. Not because you are the leader means you should and can do everything on your own. One reason why many pastors and ministers burnout in ministry is because they tried to do too much. This was the case with Moses. Moses was taking on the sole responsibility of counseling the people and at the same time being their leader, until Moses step-father came and advise him to find capable men that can help him so he will not suffer from ministry burnout. Moreover, God appointed builders to build the ark so Moses did not have to do everything on his own (Exodus 1813-27; 31: 2-6)
Please check out other article to this one: Ministry Burnout- Signs That You Are Burnout
I would love to hear your take on this issue, do you have any steps or advice to share on how to recover from burnout? Please share your thoughts or comments with us by leaving a comment below. Like this article? Please share it on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you will not miss another post from us.
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