“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” – Ephesians 5:14
There is a spiritual strategy of the enemy that’s often overlooked: slumber and heaviness.
This isn’t just about physical tiredness; it’s a spiritual fog that settles in, dulling discernment, numbing purpose, and silencing divine urgency.
It makes you sluggish toward the things of God while being overly active in everything else. It’s a strategic oppression, a weight in the atmosphere that cripples believers, causes them to miss divine timing, and keeps them from responding to God’s move.
What Is Slumber?
Slumber is not just sleep; it’s a state of spiritual drowsiness, a life where sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is low, response time is delayed, and heaven’s promptings are ignored.
Romans 11:8 speaks of God giving some “a spirit of stupor (slumber), eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear…” That’s what slumber does: it shuts spiritual eyes and ears.
The Spirit of Heaviness and Its Effect:
The spirit of heaviness works hand in hand with slumber. It throws a blanket of discouragement, lethargy, or emotional fatigue over believers. You may be moving, but not advancing.
You may be doing things, but not discerning seasons.
The Spirit of Heaviness creates:
1. Delayed response to divine instructions
2. Desensitized hearts to the urgency of intercession
3. Spiritual amnesia about prophetic words and divine assignments
4. Missed moments of opportunity and breakthrough
It is not always sin that cripples believers, it is sometimes slumber and heaviness.
The Call to Wake Up
Paul’s cry in Ephesians 5:14 is urgent:
“Wake up, sleeper!”rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Why?
Because when you’re asleep, you can’t see, fight, or discern.
But when you awaken, Christ shines on you, illumination, revelation, direction, and empowerment return.
You regain your rhythm with heaven.
How to Overcome Slumber and Heaviness:
Cultivate a lifestyle of praise
Isaiah 61:3 –“Garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
Praise is your antidote. Don’t wait to feel like it, praise through the fog.
Stay rooted in the Word
The Word awakens your inner man. It sharpens discernment and breaks lethargy.
Watch your spiritual diet
What you consume daily (social media, music, conversations) either feeds slumber or fuels sensitivity.
Pray in the Spirit regularly
Praying in tongues keeps your spirit awake and builds spiritual stamina (Jude 1:20).
Surround yourself with spiritual firebrands
Proximity matters. Walk with people who stir your fire, not put it out.
Write and revisit divine instructions
Like Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision…” What you don’t document, you may forget.
What you forget, you won’t fulfill.
Beloved, in this hour, God is calling His children to wake up! Not just physically, but spiritually.
There is too much at stake for you to be asleep.
Let the light of Christ shine on you again.
Shake off the spirit of heaviness.
Throw off the slumber. The season is urgent, and you must be awake to walk in it.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” -1 Peter 5:8
If this prophetic writing has blessed you, please share so that others can be blessed too.
Thank you.
Written by Oluwatosin Olajumoke Arodudu
Connect with me on facebook through the following pages:
PROFILE – MENTORING –PUBLISHING
