Research Paper for God

Lately my life has been a struggle. Things just haven't seemed to go my way. I've been sick, I've fallen behind in school(and these are classes I enjoy), I have been lazy in my relationship, and my summer plans didn't turn out how I wanted. These things have all been unnescessary struggles because of my walk with God. All year I have been on fire for God and for some reason I have really fallen away from Him this time of the year. I continue to set goals for myself and make plans to change that and every time nothing happens. I keep putting God on the back-burner. What can I do? I woke up this morning and really just asked God to help me, help me figure out some way to get that fire back. Here's what he told me:

Our walk with Christ can be like a research paper for school, given at the beginning of the quarter. You have all quarter to finish this paper and do the research and it is even on a topic you feel pretty good about. You are given the assignment and you think, well this is a big project I should start early. So you do, you dig deep into research and you start getting it done, your typing and it just feels soooo good to get a head start. Then the quarter goes on and other things seem to get in the way and now the research paper is not a top priority even though it is something that will take a lot of time and effort to get done. Pretty soon the quarter is nearing an end and you finally have some time to work on it. But now, it's been so long, you have no motivation to work on it at all, instead you decide to put it off until the last minute. And then before you know it, the paper is due, you are up late the night before trying to finish it really quick. You are making up references, your copying and pasting and even doing that you find yourself writing your teacher an email that night to explain why you want a couple extra days to finish it. Eventually you turn it in and get some grade.
I don't know about you but that sounds a lot like my walk with God lately. But what I realized today, is that God's research paper could be due at anytime. And if you haven't worked on it and showed some effort, you will fail. You can't wait unitl the last minute to work on God's research paper, because the last minute is too late. And when the paper is finally due, there is no second chances. When He has come and your not ready, there is no email to explain your reasons, there is no time to cram, you have simply put it off too long. And too long is one day, one hour, one minute of your life. So why do I keep putting it off?
One thing I realized was that sometimes on that paper due for school, you literally have to force yourself to do it, even if you don't want to. And sometimes with God, you have to do that. It might not sound great to force yourself to read your bible or pray or worship but if that is what it takes, THEN DO IT. Because God would respect that, and He would know that even though your heart is currently weak or just not in the right spot, that you are making an effort, you are working on your research paper, and eventually that fire will come back. But whatever you do, do not put off the research paper. It is just not worth it.