Ellen Chat Conversation

Ellen White understood this spiritual struggle deeply and offered clear, practical counsel. She taught that when you find yourself without desire for God, the solution is to "make an entire surrender to God; yield up everything unreservedly, and thus seek for that peace which passes understanding" (1TT 241.2). The key is not to wait for feelings to come first, but to act in faith despite the absence of desire. She explained that this lack of spiritual hunger often stems from self-centeredness: "When trials press you, when despondency and dark unbelief control your thoughts, when selfishness molds your actions, you do not see your need of God and of a deep and thorough knowledge of His will" (1TT 427.1). The remedy is to "die to self, cease clinging to self, and surrender to God" (1TT 427.1). This isn't about generating feelings, but about making a deliberate choice to turn away from self-focus. Ellen White emphasized the importance of using the means God has provided, even when you don't feel like it. She wrote: "You should feel an earnest desire for the Holy Spirit and should pray earnestly to obtain it. You cannot expect the blessing of God without seeking for it. If you used the means within your reach you would experience a growth in grace and would rise to a higher life" (2T 263.3). This means continuing in prayer, Bible study, and seeking God even when your heart feels cold. She also gave this powerful encouragement about God's faithfulness: "Commit, in trusting faith, the keeping of your souls to God, as unto a faithful Creator. Be not continually in fear and apprehension that God will leave you. He never will unless you depart from him. Christ will come in and dwell with you if you will open the door of your hearts to him" (T25 126.2). The promise is that if you take the step of surrender and seeking, God will respond—not because of your feelings, but because of His faithfulness. The practical steps are clear: surrender everything to God, pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit, use the spiritual means available to you (prayer, Scripture, fellowship), and trust that God will meet you as you seek Him in faith, regardless of how you feel in the moment. --- 💡 **You might also want to explore:** • What did Ellen White say about how to pray when you don't feel like praying? • How does Ellen White describe the connection between self-surrender and spiritual desire? • What practical daily habits did she recommend for maintaining connection with God? --- 📚 **thousands of passages found** containing these search terms — [Explore in Full-Text Search](/advanced-search?q=what+to+do+when+i+find+i+have+no+desire+for+God)

You're absolutely right to highlight that statement. Ellen White did say "You should feel an earnest desire for the Holy Spirit and should pray earnestly to obtain it" (1TT 241.2). This appears to create a tension: how can someone who lacks desire for God suddenly feel an earnest desirefor the Holy Spirit? The key is understanding that Ellen White is describing the *goal* and the *process* together in this passage. The full context shows she's addressing someone who "do[es] not feel [their] want of purity and true holiness" (1TT 241.2). Her counsel is that they *should* feel this desire—meaning they need to cultivate it, not that they must manufacture it before coming to God. The very next sentence shows the pathway: "You cannot expect the blessing of God without seeking for it. If you used the means within your reach you would experience a growth in grace and would rise to a higher life" (1TT 241.2). This is crucial: she's saying to use the means *first*, and the desire will grow as a result. The means within your reachinclude prayer itself, even when it feels mechanical or empty. She emphasized this principle elsewhere, teaching that we should "plead the pledged word of God, saying, 'Thou hast said it. I take Thee at Thy word'" (1SAT 273.1). This is faith-based action, not feeling-based action. Ellen White also gave tremendous encouragement about God's eagerness to respond to even weak, struggling prayer. She wrote: If you do not possess the Holy Spirit, there is a fault, and the fault is in you; for Jesus says, 'If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him'" (YI February 1, 1856, par. 2). The promise is that God gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask him—not to those who first achieve perfect desire, but to those who simply ask. The practical application is this: even when you feel no desire, you can still pray, Lord, I lack desire for You. Give me Your Holy Spirit to create that desire in me.This is honest prayer that God honors. Ellen White's own experience demonstrated this—her "yearning for this divine presence was answered beyond all that she had conceived" (LS 468.3), showing that God responds to sincere seeking even when it begins from a place of spiritual poverty. --- 💡 **You might also want to explore:** • What did Ellen White say about praying when you don't feel like praying? • How does the Holy Spirit work to change our desires and affections? • What are the means within your reachthat Ellen White recommended for spiritual growth?