Do you remember when you first came to Jesus—how sweet and precious that time with Him was, overflowing with joy and peace? How you drew deeply from the purest source of living water and were filled with the Holy Spirit?

But then, after a few months or even years, you suddenly realize… and it hits you… that you no longer enjoy reading the Bible as much as you did at the beginning of your relationship with Jesus, and you started to drift away from God in your heart.

Fellowship with Jesus is no longer such a powerful, living, joy-filled experience; rather, it becomes routine or a mental checklist of the “right” things you need to say or do in your daily relationship with Jesus. Prayer feels lifeless, and God feels millions of miles away.

Your heart is starting to feel distant… dry… maybe even numb.

I’ve been there. And let me tell you: digging broken cisterns and drifting away from the Living Water will most definitely starve your spirit.

Drink from the Living Water

Perhaps you’ve begun digging up broken cisterns by slowly replacing Him. Instead of running to Him, you started running to everything else but Him—your thoughts, questions, distractions, or even another person.

Maybe your broken cistern is turning to more Christian books instead of first diving deeply into the riches of the Bible.

When I honestly asked God what my broken cistern was, the Holy Spirit revealed that this was mine. After I repented, my hunger for God’s Word returned.

Maybe you’ve started asking a million questions instead of trusting God and placing your faith in Him.

Because of this, the peace of Christ slowly faded, and you lost your rest in Him. Now you find yourself wondering how you ended up here, and where and when along the way you began to lose your first love for Jesus.

Jesus speaks of Himself as the foundation of life; the One who satisfies every thirst (John 4).

Broken Cisterns Meaning

Let’s talk about what Scripture calls broken cisterns.

Broken cisterns are anything we turn to instead of God to satisfy our hearts—seeking something in the world to give us peace and joy, rather than finding our fullness in Jesus and being one with Him.

On the surface, they seem promising, drawing you in—but once you take the bait and begin to see with true spiritual vision, the truth becomes clear: they cannot hold water or sustain life.

In the end, it is idolatry. I am looking to something other than God to meet my needs and satisfy my desires. These gods promise joy, but they deliver misery.

My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13 ESV

Nothing outside of God will ever fill you. The world’s streams look appealing, but they are polluted. And if we’re not careful, they slowly poison our souls.

The living water fills. The world never does. You can drink from the world daily…and still feel empty. It’s like drinking and never quenching your thirst. Every day, we choose: Who am I submitting to? What am I feeding?

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15 ESV

We will hunger for what we feed on.

if we are not hungry for God, it is because we have allowed our souls to be satisfied or satiated with other things

Feed Your Spirit, Not Your Flesh

If you’ve slowly started feeding your flesh more than your spirit, it will show through a decreased hunger for the Word and a weaker desire for prayer.

Scripture makes it clear:

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Galatians 6:8 ESV

When we feed our spirit with truth, everything becomes clear and alive again.

No matter how much you try to fill yourself with other things than Jesus, you will still feel empty.

Because only the fountain of God’s living water can satisfy, heal, and transform your heart to the fullness.

Don’t settle for the dry shadow of Christianity that knows about God without knowing God. The incredible invitation from the Creator of the universe is not just to worship Him from afar with words and rituals, but to enter a relationship so meaningful and intimate that you know His heart, and He knows yours.

Examples of Broken Cisterns

• Going your own way or following your own desires instead of God’s will for your life
• Depending on your feelings instead of your faith, and leaning on your own understanding
• Overthinking and constant questioning instead of trusting God
• Looking for “peace” in shopping, clothes, or social media
• Escaping into entertainment instead of seeking His face
• Trying to control outcomes instead of surrendering

On the outside, it may look like you aren’t openly rejecting God; you are just slowly replacing Him. But over time, these things drain you.

Sometimes we are singing about Him, not to Him. And that is a big difference.

“About” can become theology, information, and distance. “To” is a relationship, intimacy, and encounter.

Broken Cisterns That Hold No Water

The fear of the Lord is the foundation of intimacy with God.

Broken cisterns are like idolatry, because we begin to dig with our own hands, saying, “God, let me see if there is something better than You.” And this grieves the heart of God.

This is the state we find ourselves in when we’re not content. We strive because we lack peace or rest with what God has given us. We knowingly or unknowingly resist His plan or process in our own lives.

When we live in the assurance, “In your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11), we will not seek fulfillment outside of His presence or plan for us.

Without the fear of the Lord, we really don’t know God. An incorrect image is developed, shaped, and molded within our own soul or imagination.

Even though we profess a relationship with Him and honor Him with our lips, our heart is not near His, and our life is out of sync with His desires.

You need to fast from the things that distract you. You need to fast from the things that hold you back from Jesus.

Spiritual Nourishment

Why is spiritual nourishment important?Your spirit needs nourishment just like your body does.

Without it, you don’t just feel “off,” but you become spiritually weak, discouraged, and disconnected.

One of the main ways we nourish our spirit is by feeding on and building upon God’s Word, praying, spending time in His presence, worshipping Him in Spirit and truth, fasting, and repenting. In one word, we draw near to Him.

We have two cups before us: God’s cup and the world’s cup. If your cup is overflowing with the world, it’s time to be refilled with Truth.

And how do we do that? By soaking God’s Word into our hearts again.

Spiritual Nourishment Examples

• Reading Scripture even when you don’t “feel” like it
• Praying honestly, not perfectly & praying in the Spirit, not in the flesh
• Worshiping in surrender, not performance
• Being obedient instead of doubting and procrastinating

Let me ask you something that changed everything for me:

Does your confidence rest in what God has said, or in what you see and experience?

Because if you build your faith on feelings, you will drift every time they change.

If you measure everything by what has happened in your past or your current feelings, you will never grow beyond it.

Is your faith so complex that you can’t believe anymore?

Complex faith does not kill giants. It imprisons us in “wonder” land, where we try to figure out what we cannot change and hesitate to make any move.

walk with faith

Everything changed when I came back to a simple truth: The key to walking with God is to believe God!Believing God will do what He has said He will.

Believe that He is who He says He is. Not overcomplicating it, analyzing everything, or questioning everything. Just believe Him.

What delights Jesus are those who believe without question!

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

Godly Sorrow Leads To Repentance

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking: “I’ve drifted, but I don’t know how to come back.”

Just come to Jesus as you are and repent. If you feel far from God, this is your invitation back: Go into your secret place, open His Word again, be led by the Spirit in prayer, humble yourself before His throne, and most importantly: believe.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’

John 7:38 ESV

Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.

You don’t need perfect sentences, just sit with Jesus in His presence and speak to Him as you would to a dear friend. It is a relationship, not a law.

Because He is not far away. The Holy Spirit speaks through a whisper, not through a shout, because He’s close, not far.

He is still the same fountain of living water, waiting for you to drink again.