Cultivating Passionate Devotion to Christ
By Leslie Ludy
I wearily sat down on the cold hotel bed, feeling completely overwhelmed as I watched my two toddlers toss restlessly in their portable cribs, coughing every few seconds. For the past two weeks our lives had felt like absolute chaos. Our four children, all under the age of six, had been hit with a serious respiratory infection that required us to give them nebulizer treatments several times a day. Our septic system had backed up, flooding the lower part of our house with contaminated water and forcing us into a hotel for several days while the damage was being repaired. I was fighting off the same sickness that my children had and was beginning to lose my voice … all while being scheduled to speak at a women’s event out of state in just two days. Eric and I were in the process of launching a new discipleship training ministry and were battling all kinds of setbacks and frustrations.
I knew that much of what we were going through was the result of spiritual warfare. I also knew that prayer was the most powerful weapon God had given us. And yet, as I juggled sick children, lived out of a suitcase, and attempted to prepare for travel and speaking despite my own weak health, the thought that kept running through my mind was, I’m too busy to pray. My prayers had been rushed and scattered instead of powerful and passionate, but it didn’t seem possible to change that pattern in the midst of such intensity.
The next day, I heard a busy mom of six make the comment: “I’m too busy not to pray!” Her statement gripped my heart. I knew those words were God’s message to my soul. It was spiritual fervor — not spiritual laxity — that would cause me to thrive in the midst of difficulty. I began to take the phrase “too busy not to pray” to heart and found pockets of time while rocking my children to sleep, while folding laundry or preparing meals, and while driving in my car to cry out to God in earnest, importunate prayer. My prayers became passionate instead of passive. And God began to pour supernatural strength and grace into my life as a result. I was no longer leaning on my own strength, but His. And it changed everything — not in my circumstances, but in my ability to respond to my circumstances triumphantly.
Over the past 30 years in marriage, family, and ministry, I have walked through many difficult seasons. But one lesson that has always remained with me is the principle of “I’m too busy not to pray.” Whenever I put my relationship with Christ on the back burner and spiritually “coast,” I find I have no strength for the daily battles I’m called to fight. But when I pursue Jesus passionately — no matter how hectic or heavy my life may seem — I thrive spiritually. Importunate prayer ushers His strength, wisdom, and power into my life and spirit.
Romans 12:11 gives us a straightforward command: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (NIV). “Spiritual fervor” in this verse means a fire glowing with red-hot flame. So instead of letting our spiritual fire dwindle, we are supposed to make sure it is always blazing hot and bright.
When I first encountered this verse, I was baffled. The command seemed unrealistic. Was it actually possible to never lack zeal and always be spiritually fervent? Like most modern Christians, I grew up thinking of my spiritual life as a roller coaster with constant mountaintops and valleys. Whenever I had a spiritually inspiring experience, like reading a powerful Christian book or attending a “get pumped for Jesus” Christian summer camp, it was easy to feel passionate and excited about my relationship with Christ. But whenever life became busy, stressful, or difficult, it was just as easy to let that spiritual passion fade to the back burner and give way to apathy and mediocrity.
And yet, the Bible makes it clear that our spiritual fire was never meant to dwindle. I have heard many Christian women remark — often defensively — that constant spiritual passion is unrealistic. I can certainly understand where this mindset comes from. Most of us have a tremendous amount on our plate, and the idea of pursuing and maintaining spiritual fervor can feel like just another burden to carry. But I have learned through personal experience that spiritual fervor is not simply an emotional high that we need to somehow muster up through mental determination. Spiritual fervor is the natural outflow of a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. It comes from not merely fitting Him into our lives, but building our lives around Him.
I have been deeply inspired by the examples of Christian men and women who maintained spiritual fervor throughout their lives, despite having plenty of reasons to spiritually coast. These are the Christians who most impact this world for the glory of God. More often than not, these spiritually fervent Christians are ordinary people, without any special qualifications, who have personal obstacles and challenges like everyone else. And when I hear their stories, I realize I have no excuse for spiritual apathy. Here are two of my favorite examples.
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Peggy and Christine Smith were two sisters who lived in a rural cottage on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. They were deeply burdened because of the widespread spiritual apathy among the young people in their community and felt compelled to do something to win the youth of their island to Christ. But the two sisters were elderly and in poor health. Peggy was nearly blind, and Christine had severe arthritis and could not stand upright. Both of them were too frail to leave their home. But they realized they were not helpless … because they could pray. And pray they did! Instead of sliding into spiritual apathy, they embraced spiritual passion.
Month after month, they cried out to God for hours each day, often staying up most of the night, asking Him to send revival to their island. God answered their prayers in a most glorious way. He began to stir spiritual hunger in the hearts of the people on the island. Between 1949–1952 a widespread revival swept through the Hebrides Islands. People all over the islands suddenly became so hungry for God that they put their entire lives on hold in order to seek Him. In one situation, young people who had been drinking and dancing at a local pub suddenly had an overwhelming desire to know God. They fled from the pub and went straight to a nearby church where Christians had gathered to pray for revival. All of them gave their lives to Christ! An evangelist named Duncan Campbell came to conduct meetings on the island for two weeks and ended up staying for two years because of the overwhelming spiritual hunger he encountered. Thousands of people came into the Kingdom of God as a direct result of the faith-filled prayers of two elderly sisters who were too weak to even leave their home.
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Frank Jenner lived and worked in Sydney, Australia during the Second World War. Since Sydney was a stopover for military personnel, Frank was burdened to reach the souls of the soldiers that would soon be headed to dangerous battlefronts. He wasn’t a pastor or trained missionary; he didn’t have a seminary background or any special abilities that equipped him for ministry. But he had an overwhelming passion to bring souls into the Kingdom of God. He made a commitment to God that he would witness to ten people each day for the rest of his life, as long as he was physically able to do so. And for the next 28 years, that is exactly what he did. In war-time and in peace, in bad weather and good, Frank left his workplace every afternoon and headed for George Street, a stack of Gospel tracts in his pocket. Frank later admitted that even after 28 years of daily witnessing, he never found street evangelism easy and would frequently remind himself of the verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Near the end of Frank’s life, a traveling pastor named Francis Dixon began to hear testimonies from literally all around the world of people who had given their lives to Christ because of a man on George Street in Sydney, Australia who had stopped them and asked a simple question about the state of their soul. He was amazed that one man’s witnessing could have such a powerful global impact. Dixon eventually met with Jenner and told him about the eternal fruit that his simple street witnessing had borne. Frank was overwhelmed with gratitude that God had used his humble ministry in such a mighty way. After 28 years of faithful ministry, it was the first time he caught a glimpse of the difference his life had made.
Over the course of Frank’s lifetime, it is estimated that he personally witnessed to over 100,000 people. Thousands responded to the Gospel as a result. Many of the people he won for Christ went on to become pastors and missionaries who continued to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ all around the world.
These stories, and countless others throughout history, prove that spiritual fervor is not dependent upon our circumstances. Peggy and Christine Smith found that it comes from passionately pursuing Christ and building our lives around Him.
Spiritual fervor is also not a short-term emotional or spiritual high. Frank Jenner’s faithfulness to share the Gospel with a dying world proves that we, too, can “keep” our spiritual fervor (as Romans 12:11 instructs us) through faithful obedience to God. True, lasting spiritual fire isn’t something we can muster up, but it is something that we can stoke and strengthen through prioritizing prayer and seeking His face in every season of our lives.
When we read these world-impacting stories, serving the Lord can seem like a vague idea at first glance. How can a single soul affect such large-scale change? But, in reality, there is nothing vague about it. As Christians, we are called to be the bondservants of Christ, which means that our lives are not our own and that we have been bought with a price. (See 1 Corinthians 6:20.) We are called to offer our bodies — and our lives — to God as a living sacrifice. And, as Paul says, complete givenness and availability to Christ is the only reasonable response to the One who has given everything to rescue and redeem us. (See Romans 12:1.)
When we make ourselves completely available to God, spiritual fervor is the natural result. Instead of being passionate about the fleeting things of this world, we become passionate about the things of God’s Kingdom. Instead of being preoccupied with our own selfish cares and concerns, we become consumed with God’s priorities. This alone is what leads to lasting spiritual fervor. No amount of personal discipline or willpower can produce that kind of heart condition. It is only the result of absolute surrender to our King.
This article was originally published in Issue 50.
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