Rethinking Prayer #4: The Gnostic Drift of “Super-Spiritual” Practices

One modern (maybe not so modern) tendency in evangelical Christianity is to believe that some activities are truly "spiritual" while others are merely "ordinary." Charismatic and revivalist movements often emphasize this divide between things like long prayer nights or fasting retreats vs. working, parenting, or resting. The result is a quasi-gnostic idea that only the invisible, mystical, and "religious" things are spiritual.

This "gnostic drift," as I'm calling it here, teaches that spiritual life is detached from the physical and ordinary. The spiritual is seen as superior, while the physical seems trivial or even distracting. Christianity then becomes monk-like, always striving, always withdrawing from the "normal" to seek God in solitude, emotion, or "intimacy." In this paradigm, everything and everyone seems to be an obstacle to a truly spiritual walk. Children and spouses become distractions, work is only a necessary evil, and conversations about normal life feel too mundane and a waste of time.

But this isn't biblical spirituality. In Christ, all of life is sacred. The Spirit doesn't only show up in heightened moments—He dwells in us permanently. He sanctifies the ordinary. The mother whispering a prayer while folding laundry, the worker doing his job unto the Lord, the student seeking help for exams—this is true spirituality, not because of outward intensity, but because of inward union with Christ.

Nowhere does the New Testament call us to escape ordinary life. Instead, it calls us to do everything in the name of Jesus (Col. 3:17), to offer our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1–2), and to live peaceful, faithful lives (1 Thess. 4:11). Even elders (pastors) aren't super-spiritual mystics—they're men of character who manage their homes well and are faithful in regular life.

You don't need to "level up" with hours of mystical prayer or spiritual highs. Holiness isn't found in your feelings—it's found in faithfulness. And that kind of life is fully available to you today, right in the middle of your ordinary.

Nino Marques