How to Start Over With God in 2026 (Step-by-Step Guide to Spiritual Restoration)

If you know in your heart of hearts that you have grown cold toward God, I want to share with you a step-by-step guide to spiritual restoration. As you enter into this new season, it's time for a spiritual reset. Now, this can apply to any one of these scenarios I'm about to describe. Maybe you've had a full-on fall, and by that, I mean, you've completely gone in the other direction. Your life looks nothing like that of a believer. You've rejected the things of God, you're disobeying, and you know you're disobeying, and your heart has grown cold, hard toward God. That is what we would describe as a full-on falling away, so to speak. Maybe you're experiencing compromise, or you're allowing yourself to compromise, and it's beginning to weaken your faith. It's beginning to weaken your confidence in your connection with God. Or perhaps there's just a subtle weakening of your faith. Maybe there's just a slight slow to that momentum. And you can feel yourself already now beginning to slowly but surely go back to old habits. Maybe old mindsets are creeping up. An old manner of speaking is creeping up. Maybe old habits are making their way back into your life. Either way, it's time for a spiritual reset. Maybe you feel you've grown tired, you're losing that passion, you're inconsistent in prayer, in the Word, in assembling with believers, and you're just noticing an overall weakening in your Christian walk. And it concerns you. And you're saying, I need to get back to where I was. I wanna get back to what I had with God. Well, this is the message for you. And I believe that the Holy Spirit has drawn you to this. I believe God wants to speak something to you. I believe you're gonna be challenged, yes, but I also believe you're gonna be encouraged, inspired to reach ahead to what's before you. In John 14, beginning at verse 16, we read, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him because it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you. When the believer begins to make mistakes, it's important to remember that the Holy Spirit does not leave them. He grieves within them. He abides to help you get it right. The Holy Spirit is pursuing you. I know we don't deserve it. I know sometimes we feel like our mistakes have taken us too far, but God's not giving up on you. His love is too strong for you. The Holy Spirit is more loving than you are sinful. He's more patient than you are stubborn. He will pursue you in his love. And that's part of why you're seeing this even now on your screen or listening to the audio version, however you're receiving this message, The Holy Spirit's getting through to you. And I'm here to remind you of who you are in Christ. Holy Spirit's not left you. He abides. He's not allowing the mistake, He's correcting it. And that is what He's doing right now as He speaks to you. Now there's this damaging teaching that I used to believe that goes something like, when a believer has reached a certain point, are cursed by God and they can never again regain what they had with Him. Sure, they can repent. Sure, they can experience some amount of restoration, but then that's it. They'll forever be marked by that mistake. They'll forever be identified by that falling away, and they can never regain what they had with God. That's a lie. That's based on legalism. That's based on man's performance. That's a religious lie that is causing many to stumble. Now, God does bring judgment, but when He brings judgment, He does so always for the sake of restoration. He chastises those whom He loves. Now, you may have a list in your head of all the boxes you have to check off before you can, quote, get back to what you had with God, to get back in His presence, to get back in His good graces. Well, let me tell you, your restoration depends upon Christ's sacrifice. Your restoration depends upon Christ's perfection, not on your performance. So if we, by faith, come back to Him, ask for His help, we admit our wrongdoing, thus begins the process of restoration. So in terms of this step-by-step guide I wanna give to you, It begins with step number 1. And step number 1 is repent and renounce. Now, to repent is to change your thinking. To renounce is to turn from. You've likely heard it said that to repent means to turn from your sin. Now, you should turn from your sin. That's biblical. But that's not what the word repent means. The word repent means to change your mind. And the word renounce means to turn from, to forsake. Watch this now in Acts 3:18-20. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah, that he must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God. Notice the language being used here in verse 19. Repent of your sins and turn to God. Well, if I'm turning to God, Of course, that means I'm turning away from sin. So you can see the distinction in the definitions here. You have to repent of your sins and turn from the sin so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord, and He will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. Matthew 3:2 says, repent of your sins and turn to God. For the kingdom of heaven is near. And then Titus 2:11-12 tell us, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly. So we renounce worldly passions. So when you repent, and this is the first step, You have to change your mind about the wrongdoing. Now, what does that mean? Because many believers miss this step and they try to go right to renouncing, which you should do. And then they find themselves in a battle with themselves. I'll tell you what I mean by that. To repent, of course, as I said, means to change your mind, to change your mind about your sin. You see, we lie to ourselves. And the fact of the matter is this, if you're in a state where your heart is growing cold towards God, you've lied to yourself. You've lied to yourself. And you have to be able to admit that. Because when we repent, or when we pray to God for forgiveness, this is how it often goes. We say, Lord, I'm completely done with this sin. And we say that with our lips. We express that with our mouths. And then in the back of our minds, that fleshly desire, Begins to chime in with whispers. We say, Lord, I repent of this sin. I'm done with this sin. And the flesh whispers, for now. We say, Lord, I don't want this in my life. And the flesh says, well, maybe just a little. We say, I'm done with this forever. And the flesh whispers, or at least until the craving gets too strong. And so there's this battle with this sin nature, because we haven't resolved to change our minds about that which we're doing. This is why some are stuck in the same habit again and again and again, because they're accepting the sin, maybe not at first in action, but they're making allowance for it with what they believe. And they lie to themselves saying, well, as long as I don't do it too much, it doesn't count as a lifestyle of sin. Or as long as I have more good days than I do bad days, then it doesn't count as a lifestyle of sin. Or as long as the sin is far enough in the past, or the patterns are few and far between, it doesn't count as a lifestyle of sin. Like the alcoholic who goes to the bar and says, I'm just gonna celebrate the evening with friends. I have no intention on having a drink. Well, we all know what they really intend to do. Like that unmarried couple who tells themselves, well, we're just gonna go to each other's houses. We're just going on a car ride. We don't intend on doing anything sinful, but really they know what they're setting themselves up for. This is why it begins with repentance, because we have to change our minds first. We say, God, I agree with you. This sin is wrong. It has to go. It has to go now. It has to go in all forms. And it has to go for all time for the rest of my life. Well, that is repentance. And only once you've repented, that is changed your mind about it, can you now successfully renounce it. Because otherwise, as I said a moment ago, you're just going to be in a battle with yourself. Because part of you will be convinced that you can handle it. Part of you will be convinced that a little bit of sin is okay. Part of you will be convinced that you can always go back to it every once in a while. But once you've made up your mind and said, this has to go permanently in all forms, in all sizes, in all measures for all time, I agree with God, this is wrong. Now you can renounce it. So that's step number 1, you repent and you renounce. Number 2, you have to return. You have to return to devotion, to worship, to prayer, to the Word. Now, this is where the enemy will begin to play tricks on your mind, because you repent of the sin, you renounce the sin, you turn from it, And now the enemy will tell you, well, you've turned from your sin, you've repented, but it's gonna take you a while before God will accept you back in the place of prayer. It's gonna take a while before God talks to you now through the word. Why? Because we imagine that hearing the voice of God is somehow a reward for a good performance, when in fact hearing his voice is key to us living right. And so the enemy will trick you. He'll lie to you. He'll plant thoughts in your head like, well, you're not clean enough to start praying yet. You're not good enough to start hearing God again. You're not good enough to start receiving revelation. That's a lie from the enemy. Revelation 2:2-5 says this, I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting, but I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen. Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. In other words, come back to your first love. Come back to that place of prayer. Many know how to repent. Many know how to renounce. very few know how to return. Why? Because they're so filled with shame and they're so filled with anxiety, they forget their identity. They've lost the sense of self. And maybe you can no longer feel like you identify with that person who was on fire with God, for God. You view that as an entirely separate individual. You long for the days when you were passionate for the things of God. You long for the days when you would worship with passion and pray with passion and read the word with joy. And you look back on yourself in those days And it's almost like you're disconnected from that former self and you feel like that was a completely different person. No, that's still you. That's still you. That person with childlike faith and a love for the presence of Jesus, that's still you. That's still your identity. Somewhere deep inside, you're still a child of God. And so you have to return to prayer despite the guilt. Return to the Word despite the frustration over what you perceive is lost time. What do I mean by that? Well, think about the fact that some believers like to keep record of their spiritual disciplines. And maybe you read the Word every day for years, and then there was a season of life where you just stopped reading the Word. Well, if you're not careful, you're gonna get so frustrated at what you think is missed opportunity, or you're gonna get so frustrated because you broke your streak of reading the Word, that it's gonna be now very difficult for you to return to the Word. Don't even think about it in those terms. Stop tracking your spiritual disciplines in a way that you think it's going to change your whole identity. It doesn't. Yes, you ought to read the Word. Yes, you ought to pray. Yes, you ought to worship. But when you miss those days of prayer, when you miss those days of reading the word, instead of beating yourself up for it, determine in your heart, you're going to be more consistent moving forward, turn back to God and realize that he's actually going to embrace you. So return to prayer despite the guilt, return to the word despite the frustration over the perception of lost time. Return to holiness. Despite the blemished record. There's another point of frustration. Well, I was doing so good. And we do that to ourselves way too much, I think. I was doing so good. 6 weeks I did well, 6 months I did well, 1 year I did well, and then I messed up here, or I made this mistake, or I thought this thought. Enough with the record keeping. The scripture declares, love keeps no record of wrongs. And by the way, when you make a mistake and you repent, God wipes it clean. As far as the east is from the west, that's how far he removes it from his memory. So return to those devotions, return to those spiritual disciplines. Now, the next step I'm going to give you, so, so far, step number 1, repent and renounce, number 2, you return. The next step I'm going to give you is the most often overlooked key. And if you miss this step, you're gonna live in condemnation. If you miss this step, it'll be very difficult to experience the joy and peace of salvation. I wanna share this step with you, but first, if you're enjoying this message, it's challenging you, it's encouraging you, and you think others need to hear it, make sure you leave a like on this video. That'll help spread it to more people. Also, make sure you share this with a couple of your friends by using the share option below the video. Also, if you wanna continue to receiving teachings like this, as well as footage of the power of the Holy Spirit in action, And then make sure you're subscribed to my channel and do click the notification bell when you subscribe. Subscribe right now and click the notification bell so that you don't miss a thing. Number 3, realize. Realize what? Realize that God has forgiven you. Realize that he's restoring you. Realize that God has embraced you. You need to let go of the past. I know this is for someone. Because what happens is we repent, we renounce, we return to devotions like prayer and the Word, but then we're still connecting our identity to those past mistakes. We're still allowing the memory of the wrongdoing to linger in the mind. We're still identifying with that season of waywardness. And no matter what you do, it's like you keep your past ever on your mind. And maybe you feel like that's just your identity now, the one who fell away but is back. Or maybe you feel like, I'm back with God, I'm back on the right track, but I'm forever marked by that wrongdoing, or I'm forever to identify with that wrongdoing. The devil is a liar. That's not who you are. You need to realize now that God's forgiveness applies to you too, that you can indeed enter into a new season of joy and restoration, that you can indeed step into what God has for your future. In Psalm chapter 103, beginning at verse number 8, the scripture declares, the Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. Now, I'm gonna get back to this portion of scripture in just a moment, but think about what that says there. He will not constantly accuse us. What does that tell you? That if you're being constantly accused for sins you've repented of, it's not the voice of God. If you're being constantly accused for sins that you've been broken over, that you've confessed to God, that you've put under the blood, so to speak, then that's not the voice of God. That's the voice of the devil. Listen to me now, and I pray the church would discern this in this hour. The voice of accusation is the voice of the demonic. The enemy will constantly bring up your past to you. And some of you are finding it really hard to experience the joy of salvation because you're constantly being reminded of your mistakes and you're allowing yourself to identify with that. It's time to come away from that kind of thinking. It's time to step into the realization that you indeed are a new creation. Now, verse 10, He does not punish us for all our sins. He does not deal harshly with us as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are. He remembers we are only dust. One of the most difficult things about returning is actually embracing the idea that you're restored. Because again, and I wanna hammer away at this point, because I believe you need to hear this, because the psychological aspect of this is gonna be one of the most difficult to overcome, because others may forgive you, God may forgive you, but you may not forgive yourself. You may carry the memory of that thing over your shoulder, burdening you, weighing you down as a means of punishing yourself, because you've forgotten that Christ took upon Himself all the punishment. It's the psychology of regret. But 1 John 1:9 says, but if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us from all wickedness. Well, if you confess it to God, you turn from it, remember, you repent, you renounce, you're returning now to those devotions. Now you have to realize it's done. You can indeed begin to move forward. You can indeed begin to look ahead. You can indeed, number 4, reach ahead. Reach ahead. Once your soul has been restored and you've addressed those issues in your life that caused compromise, now you can begin to reach ahead and God still wants to use you. God can use anyone he wants. And I believe God still wants to use you. Only the Lord now can determine the timeframe. For some, it could be days, for others, it could be months, for some, Maybe a year or two, but he wants you to begin to reach ahead. God didn't put gifts in you to go to waste. That's a lie of the enemy. Nowhere in the scripture does it indicate anything even close to that. Now it's time you begin to say, okay, Lord, I wanna know how you're gonna use me now so that I can make myself available to you in obedience. Reach on ahead to the future you have in God. Philippians 3:13-16 say this, no, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you, but we must hold on to the progress we have already made. It's time again to lay down your life for God to use you. Let me reiterate this to you. God can use anyone He wants. God has placed gifts within you That are without repentance. The gifts and the calling are without repentance. In other words, God doesn't remove those from you. That's a religious legalistic lie. Nowhere in Scripture does it even come close to indicating such a thing. Let God use your life again. Because you've made mistakes, does this mean your life no longer has purpose? Of course not. And so I wanna talk to that one right now. You've been battling these things in your mind and in your heart. The enemy's accusing you. The enemy's filling your heart with shame. By the way, again, for things in your past, you've repented, you've renounced, you've returned. There's restoration, and now it's time to get going again. Maybe you slipped up on your Bible reading. Keep going. Maybe you were inconsistent in prayer for a season. Keep going. Maybe you allowed your old habits to begin to return. Repent, renounce, return. Repent, renounce, return. Don't renounce, keep going. God still wants to use you. There's still purpose for your life. There's still gifts that were deposited in you. And I'm coming to you as your brother in Christ with this message. It is the season of restoration. It is time for that spiritual reset. So Father, I pray you would help them to embrace your truth. Remind them of who they are in you. Remind them of how much you love them, Lord Jesus. Touch their lives in a fresh way. Use them for your glory. Help them to overcome the demonic voices of the enemy. Help them to step into their identity and embrace who they are in you. I thank you, Father, that in this new season, you're giving them a fresh start. Help them to live in the joy of their salvation. Help them to walk humbly and holy as they enter this new season. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to comment if you agree, a big amen. Well, if you've been blessed by this ministry, you believe in what we're doing, you believe in the work of soul-winning, building the kingdom, it's time for kingdom expansion. Power and dominion. We are seeing the gospel go forth. The gospel is working. Listen, we are winning the battle for the soul of a generation. So get on the front lines, help us out. Consider today becoming a monthly financial supporter by signing up for our automatic giving plan, our partnership plan. You can go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. You can start a partnership for as little as $15 a month. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Everything you do helps us on our mission. It funds livestreams like these, as well as events that we do around the world, and much, much more that the ministry does. Thank you for your support. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.