Have you ever felt like the spiritual practices that once comforted you suddenly feel… too small? Like David trying on Saul’s armor, heavy, awkward, not made for him. I’ve noticed that as we grow, our faith life shifts too. What once worked might not anymore, and that’s not failure, just change. Have you had to let go of routines or ways of praying that no longer fit, in order to follow God more freely?
If I understand your question, then I would say no. Prayer, reading the Bible, church, worship, are my practices and that hasn’t changed.
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We never outgrow the Armor of God.
J.
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It depends what you mean by ‘ spiritual practises’ ?
As other have clearly said we do not out grow Gods Armour of bible reading, studt, prayer, corporate worship and service.
That said there are practises that we are taught or adopt that one can out grow.
The daily bible reading notes we were introduced to as a new Christian can and should be replaced by a more demanding form od daily bible reading.
Prayers that are said because we learnt them as a new christian should be replaced by prayers that reflect our knowledge of situations and of the depth of Gods love.
Superstitions that we believe make us ‘ holy ‘ need to be discarded.
Paul talked of outgrowing the ‘ spiritual milk’ and developing the ability to digest real spiritual meat.
If you want to test this try listening to https://www.mljtrust.org/.
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I am embarrassed by what I thought five years ago and hope five years from now to be embarrassed by what I think today.
For a Christian growing and maturing in faith (with the objective of Christ-likeness) it should be expected that we out grown practices and perspectives that were more suited to one less knowledgeable or had even taken in some error.
The dynamic of growth is somewhat in contrast to denominational practice of presenting a “simple” package of doctrine to simply accept. The static perspective tries to prevent error while the dynamic approach tries to correct it.
@ellenvera et. al.
How did Paul’s metaphor of the “Whole Armor of God” come to mean “routines or ways of praying”?
Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and
having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all,
taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And
take the helmet of salvation, and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
(Ephesians 6:13-17)
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:11-14)
But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God:
in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (2 Corinthians 6:4-10)
Are we talking about the same Armor here? We have departed from the clear teaching of Scripture if we trust in our “routines or ways of praying” as being some kind of armor “with which you (we) will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”.
The Armor of God is clearly taught to be truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is The Word of God. Paul encourages Christians to “put on the armor of light” and tells the Corinthians that he is sustained in his suffering by, among other things, the “Armor of righteousness”. He would be the first to remind us that the righteousness he wears as armor is not the sum-total of his works, but the very righteousness of Jesus, imputed to him by Jesus Himself.
I hope this is understood.
KP
It might be ab act of kindness to inquire if someone has an inaccurate understanding of the armor or if it is being used as a metaphor.
To say we outgrow our Armor, is to say we outgrew our bible? I dont see how that is possible. As far as changing routines and how we pray or what we pray about that is life things change but our God does not. So my opinion would be No sir
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Amen! If anything, as we grow in knowledge and wisdom, in Faith, the armor gets stronger, more powerful. The closer we get to God, the more attacks we should expect from the enemy.
Peter
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I understand the feeling you’re describing, but Scripture frames it a little differently.
David didn’t outgrow God’s ways. He refused Saul’s armor because it was never appointed for him in the first place. “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them” ~1 Samuel 17:39. The issue wasn’t spiritual growth beyond old forms, but rejecting what God never gave him and trusting what God had already trained him with.
The Bible never presents spiritual maturity as moving beyond obedience, prayer, or God’s Word. Growth deepens dependence, it doesn’t replace it. Jesus didn’t tell His disciples they would eventually outgrow prayer. He said men “ought always to pray, and not to faint” ~Luke 18:1. Paul said, “Continue in prayer” ~Colossians 4:2.
What does change is not the foundation, but the posture. Early faith may lean heavily on structure. Mature faith leans heavily on trust. But both are still anchored in the same means God has always used. Word, prayer, obedience, repentance.
When routines feel empty, Scripture doesn’t tell us to discard them. It tells us to examine our hearts. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth… but their heart is far from me” ~Matthew 15:8. The problem is not the practice, but when the practice is separated from faith.
So I wouldn’t say we follow God more freely by letting go of what He gave. We follow Him more faithfully by letting go of self-reliance and returning to those things with humility and dependence. God doesn’t call us to new armor. He calls us to trust Him with what He has already proven true.
That’s not failure. That’s refinement.