Defeating the Demon of Despondency | Ep. 95
Season 5, Episode 4 Show Notes of The Raised & Redeemed Podcast
Have you ever felt far from God? Like He isn't hearing your prayers anymore? Like your hope for His promises in your life have run thin?
All of a sudden you're consumed by doubt, a weariness of spirit, a heaviness of heart. But this is more than just a mood. More than depression. It's a spiritual battle, and one of the most subtle.
It doesn't shout; it whispers. It numbs. It lulls us to sleep in the middle of the fight.
But today, we're waking up.
About This Series
This season, we're walking through Thirty Steps to Heaven by Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou, a practical guide to spiritual warfare and growth based on The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus. Each week, we examine a new step of the Ladder, confronting the passions that bind us and discovering the virtues that set us free.
Today, we arrive at Step 13: Despondency—also known as acedia or spiritual sloth. This is one of the enemy's most subtle and dangerous tactics in spiritual warfare because it creeps in slowly, stealing our motivation and dwindling our hope.
We feel too tired to read Scripture, we tell ourselves we will pray tomorrow, and we make excuses for not doing the spiritual disciplines we know we should. We scroll instead of seek, numb instead of pray, and surrender to spiritual paralysis rather than pulling close to God.
As C.S. Lewis illustrates in The Screwtape Letters, when a demon can't lead a soul into scandalous sin, it will settle for distraction—anything to keep us from turning our gaze toward eternity.
And then we wonder why our world seems void of hope, why we've fallen into despair.
What is Despondency?
In the Orthodox tradition, despondency is a deep spiritual weariness, understood as a demonic attack that strives to veer us from our course toward God. But in our modern world, void of spiritual understanding, we often diagnose it as depression and seek to justify it, medicate it, and numb it without addressing the deeper issue.
Saint John describes despondency as:
"A paralysis of the soul, a slackness of mind, a neglect of religious exercises, and a hostility to vows taken." (p. 109)
Those struggling with this despair and hopelessness often don't realize how they have contributed to this state with their actions—or more so—inactions.
We know on a basic level that healthy food, exercise, sunlight, friendship, and accomplishing things that are important to us can make us feel good. But it takes more than that to feel truly alive—it also takes feeding our soul regularly with the things of God.
The Deceptive Progression
Saint John shares the "mothers of despondency," or the ways we let this demon in:
1. Talkativeness - Hearing too much of our own voice and not enough of God's.
2. Excessive labor - Perhaps putting spiritual growth and priorities on the backburner because we're working too much.
3. Forgetfulness of God's many mercies - How we can fall out of gratitude and hope and into despair.
These things can lead to a creeping sense of dissatisfaction in our lives—thinking the problem is our circumstances, our marriage, or something external we are hoping will fill us. We start believing that if we could just change these things, we'd feel better emotionally and spiritually.
It's a vicious cycle because even if those things change, we might still find that it didn't bring the peace or contentment we'd expected. This is why Saint John says one of the outcomes of despondency is shiftiness—changing place to place, seeking contentment.
Too much striving and seeking in the wrong ways can add to our hopelessness, believing we have done everything we can do and we must just be forgotten by God.
Where faith trusts God's goodness, despair assumes God has abandoned us. Where hope looks forward to eternal joy, despair sees only endless suffering. Where gratitude recognizes God's gifts, despair only sees what's lacking.
The Gateway to Other Passions
The Church Fathers describe despondency as the "noonday demon" because it can strike in broad daylight—even those who desperately desire closeness and union with God.
It can follow anger, as resentment festers into despair
It's fed by pride, as we expect spiritual life to be easy or rewarding on our timeline
It opens the door to gluttony and lust as we seek comfort in the flesh when our spirit grows weak
It is both a consequence and a catalyst—spiritual sloth feeds on the sins we've tolerated and multiplies them through passivity.
It's a brilliant approach from the enemy: despair prevents spiritual action, and spiritual inactivity deepens the despair.
Personal Reflection
This is a passion I regularly battle—especially as a new mom, when life feels too busy to intentionally pray or read Scripture. I always pray in my head and throughout the day, but there's something far more potent in those moments I set aside intentional time—getting on my knees, making space, and entering the presence of God.
As for Scripture—I used to read it all the time. Before I had my baby, I could spend hours taking notes and reflecting on God's Word. But now, it's hard just to keep up with the necessary daily tasks, and so Scripture study can easily slip away.
But I remember the zeal I had when I first came to Christ—how hungry I was for the Word, how alive it made me feel to hear from God through it. That hunger is still there. But despondency clouds it, tricking me into thinking I don't have time and missing another day doesn't matter much anyway. Yet every time I push through and return to those disciplines, I hear from Him again and am reminded that God never moved—I did.
Another layer to this is I came to Christ out of a background in the New Age. I used to seek instant signs and answers—through psychedelics, tarot cards, and mediums. I didn't want to wait in silence. I didn't want to surrender control. And I didn't realize I was communing with demons in that search for power and clarity.
When God first began to reveal Himself to me, it came with spiritual experiences that got my attention. But the longer I walked with Him, they faded, pushing me to rely on faith and a daily pulling close to hear His still small voice.
While my life became quieter and more peaceful in His midst, sometimes it feels too quiet, and I begin to miss the sense of spiritual "encounter."
When I shared this with my priest, he gave me a beautiful assignment: Read one of the Gospels, and start morning and evening prayers again—this time, with my baby beside me. "You've got to spice it up!" he said with a smile.
There are Church Fathers who say that spiritual experiences are available to all of us—but that they come through the narrow path of prayer and fasting to be truly open in heart and spirit to have those encounters.
It takes effort on our part... but the more we slip out of putting in effort towards God, the more hopeless our spirits grow, and the harder it is to get back on track.
But every time I open my Bible, pray on my knees, or fast in faith—God meets me again. Not always in fireworks, but always in peace. He's always there, waiting for me to return.
"We drown in entertainment to avoid the silence where God speaks—then complain when He is silent..."
How to Combat Despondency: 6 Ancient Weapons
Each passion is destroyed by embracing the opposing virtues. Here's how to fight this invisible enemy:
1. Awareness of the Warfare
The first most crucial step is recognizing that despondency is not just a bad mood or difficult circumstances—it's a spiritual attack designed to separate us from God. When we name it for what it is, we can begin to fight it properly.
2. Hope and Faith in God as Our Reason to Endure
We must anchor ourselves in the truth that God is good, present, and working even when we can't see or feel Him. This hope gives us a reason to endure when everything feels pointless.
3. Patient Endurance
St. John teaches us to think constantly on the eternal blessings that await the faithful. When we're tempted to despair over earthly circumstances, we must lift our eyes to heaven and remember that "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)
4. Repentance
We must honestly examine our own hearts and repent for our sins, our lack of hope, and our insufficient striving toward God. This isn't self-condemnation—it's humility that recognizes where we've contributed to our own spiritual state and turns us back toward the path of closeness with Him.
5. Regular Confession and Community
Regularly confess to spiritual mentors and fathers to cleanse your heart and receive direction
Develop community—the demon of despair and despondency loves to keep us isolated, but fellowship and service reconnects us with the feeling of love, the opposite of despair
6. Engaging Our Senses in Worship
St. John wisely understood that when our souls feel dead, our bodies can help lift our spirits:
Creating a prayer corner
Lighting incense - letting the sweet fragrance remind us of our prayers rising to God
Gazing at icons - using our eyes to contemplate heavenly realities
Listening to chants and psalms - letting our ears drink in the worship of angels
Reading Scripture prayerfully - not just studying but communing with God through His Word (specifically the psalms of King David when feeling down)
Attending Liturgy regularly to engage all senses in worship
7. Unremitting Prayer
When we feel like it, and especially when we don't. We don't pray because we feel spiritual, but because prayer creates the spiritual life within us. Saint John says prayer with firm hope of future blessings is our biggest sword against the demon of despondency.
Breaking the Cycle: From Despair to Action
The enemy's strategy is predictable: use despair to prevent spiritual action, then use our spiritual inactivity to deepen the despair. But here's the key: we don't break the cycle by feeling better first—we break it by acting in faith despite how we feel.
We don't wait to feel hopeful before we hope—we choose hope and let the feeling follow
We don't wait to feel faithful before we act in faith—we act in faith and let God strengthen our belief
We don't wait to feel prayerful before we pray—we pray and let prayer awaken our spirit
The moment we choose to pray when prayer feels pointless, to hope when circumstances look hopeless, to repent when we feel justified in our bitterness—that's the moment we begin to win the battle.
Remember: the remedies for despondency aren't just things we do—they're acts of war against an enemy who wants to keep us spiritually paralyzed. Every prayer, every act of worship, every choice to hope is a victory in the battle for our souls.
Scripture & Saint Quote
"Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
— Galatians 6:9
"Do not be surprised if you fall every day and do not surrender. Stand your ground bravely, and you will gain the victory."
— St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Final Encouragement
If you're walking through a dry season, if you're battling the noonday demon of despondency, know this: you are not powerless, and you are not alone.
The Church Fathers faced this same enemy and left us a roadmap for victory. The antidote to spiritual death is not found in changing our circumstances or waiting for better feelings—it's found in the ancient weapons of awareness, hope, repentance, worship, and unremitting prayer.
Many of the saints endured long periods of spiritual silence, desolation, and struggle—and they became radiant because they didn't give up. They chose to act in faith regardless of their feelings, and in their faithful action, they found God waiting for them.
This step on the ladder reminds us that despondency is not the end of the story—it's the battle before the breakthrough. When we remain faithful in the dark, when we anchor ourselves in hope, when we persist in prayer and worship, we discover that God has been with us all along, transforming our struggle into strength.
Remember: even in the silence, God is working. And every step you take toward Him—no matter how small—is a victory in the battle for your soul.
Coming Up Next
Episode 5: Next week we arrive at Step 14 on gluttony—exploring what fasting and self-control teach us about redeeming our desires and reclaiming spiritual authority.
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