Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/1146

1146 Slowing down the work for God....

October 23, 1939: Book 20

People who are under the influence of divine activity, who are supposed to stand up for it and fail to fulfil their duties are destined for an uncertain fate. For they are in great danger of losing contact with their creator and deviating from the right path.... All the forces of the underworld pounce on an earthly child who does not fulfil the divine will and try to dissuade it completely from working for the lord. And so the human being often recklessly endangers himself if he gives in to the impulses that hold him back from spiritual work. On the other hand, however, resistance, which is intended to bring about a slackening in spiritual activity, can increase the driving force and the will for spiritual work and bring about extraordinary results if the will is strong and the service of God is placed before all other work. Then the human being always and everywhere seeks the opportunity to bring about spiritual success and remains in constant union with God despite apparent difficulties; the influence of the evil spiritual world is then insignificant and fails due to the human being's will and faith.... Such an earnestly striving person can safely believe himself to be under divine protection and need not fear any external hostilities, whereas a human child who disregards the divine will or becomes lethargic and lukewarm creates a danger for himself which consists in the fact that he himself is no longer fully aware of the divine will, that he is no longer fully committed to the cause, slackens in prayer and in recommending himself to divine grace and thus spurns all the means of grace at his disposal and slowly strays into a state of helplessness that is unspeakably detrimental to the human soul. Depending on the depth of feeling and the greater or lesser depth of faith, man has to overcome temptations, and he must be able to stand his ground in such temptations, otherwise he is unfit to spread God's teaching. Anyone who fails prematurely will have to struggle twice as hard if he wants to devote himself fully to working for God again, and it is only prayer that can restore his old strength.... Prayer should be cultivated without ceasing.... there should be no lukewarmness whatsoever in it, and fervent prayer should first and foremost be directed towards the spiritual will and the supply of divine strength.... For then you will be able to carry out everything the lord has given you to do and you will never have to fear that the world can do something to you which could contradict divine will. On the other hand, anyone who does not remain faithful to Him but interrupts his spiritual work with fickleness and shallow faith and gives more credence to the world with its objections and doubts cannot unconditionally enjoy divine protection.... the father in heaven will abandon him just as the child has abandoned Him, and he will face an uncertain future....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers