Three Ways to Keep Our Spiritual Fire Burning Brightly
By Leslie Ludy
It is impossible not to be spiritually fervent
when the glory of God matters more to
us than any personal ambition.
Spiritual fire can feel very elusive in our modern, apathetic Christian world. Just as a dwindling campfire can be reignited into a roaring flame by being stoked, there are specific action steps that can do the same in our spiritual lives. I would like to explore three principles for the Christian life that naturally lead to spiritual passion. These three principles have helped me personally keep my spiritual fire from fading, especially during seasons when I have felt too busy or distracted to make spiritual passion a priority.
1. Adopt God’s Burden for Souls
When we are busy or weighed down with our own cares, usually the last thing that we think about is turning outward and becoming Christ’s hands and feet to this world. And yet, I believe the reason that Peggy and Christine Smith and Frank Jenner maintained their spiritual fervor so strongly is because they never let go of God’s burden for souls, no matter what personal challenges they faced. Adopting God’s burden for souls must be a supernatural work within us; human compassion will always fall short.
In Revelation 3:18, Jesus gives some straightforward advice to a lukewarm, spiritually apathetic church: “Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” I have found that when I pray, “Lord, give me eyes to see what You see. Open my eyes to the lost souls around me,” I begin to tune into the burdens that are on God’s heart.
It has been estimated that approximately 150,000 people die daily without knowing Christ. Are we making ourselves available to be part of God’s rescue plan for these precious souls? I have been very convicted and inspired by Christians who have gone before me and have dedicated their entire lives to the rescue of lost souls. One thing these men and women all had in common was lasting spiritual fervor all throughout their lives.
When William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, signed the guest book for King Edward VII, he summed up his life’s work with these words: “Your Majesty, some men’s ambition is art, some men’s ambition is fame, some men’s ambition is gold; my ambition is the souls of men.”
His wife Catherine challenged a group of apathetic Christians to reach lost and dying souls with
these words:
[If] your neighbors were sick of some devastating plague, and you could go and help them, would you not do it? Would you say, “I am a woman, I cannot go?” [Or — I am too young/too old/too busy.] Oh, you would say, “Let me go, like Miss Nightingale did to the sick and wounded soldiers. Let me go.” And these are not the bodies, but the souls. They are dying. They are going to an eternal death. Will you not rise up?
Hudson Taylor spoke a similar message to complacent, well-to-do Christians in England:
Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success.
These words are powerful and deeply stirring. Yet, even when reading them, I have sometimes felt an unwelcome coldness or indifference to the concept of actively winning souls for Christ. When I diligently ask God to remove any indifference from my heart and when I pray for God to give me His heart for the lost, He is faithful to answer. It is not a matter of feeling an obligation or duty to check the box of winning souls for Christ. It is asking God to give me His desire to reach the lost and making myself available for the divine appointments He brings across my path.
Not all of us are called to become overseas missionaries, but all of us are called to be proactive ambassadors for Jesus Christ — wherever He has placed us. (See Matthew 28:19–20.) And when we make ourselves available to this call, spiritual passion is the natural outflow.
The only way to adopt God’s burden for lost souls is to live with an attitude of complete consecration to Jesus Christ. I love the very practical advice that Catherine Booth gave to Christians who were wondering where to begin in adopting God’s burden for reaching lost souls:
There is one soul that you have more influence with than any other person on earth – some soul – or souls. Are you doing all you can for their salvation? Your relatives, friends, acquaintances [are] to be rescued … from the depths of sin, degradation, and woe … Let them see the tears in your eyes; or if you cannot weep, let them hear the tears in your voice, and let them realize that you feel their danger, and are in distress for them. God will give His Holy Spirit, and they will be saved.
And as Frank Jenner and Peggy and Christine Smith’s examples remind us, sometimes these people are right outside our front door. Sometimes they are even right in our own homes. If you don’t know where to begin, start by praying for lost souls consistently. Make yourself available to God, and He will show you where to start.
2. Live for His Glory Alone
Jesus made a profound statement in Matthew 10:25: “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.”
We often get caught up in our own plans and pursuits. But is it enough for us to simply be like Jesus? This verse challenges me to ask some important questions: Am I living for the glory of Jesus Christ, or for my own personal desires? Am I seeking fulfillment in any other pursuit outside of Him?
I have found that when I stop reasoning from the mindset of, “What will make me happy?” and instead ask, “What will bring God glory?” I step into my true calling.
John the Baptist lived out this principle powerfully. His mindset was one that said, “He must increase, [and] I must decrease” (John 3:30).
This attitude is extremely countercultural in a world that tries to make us believe it’s all about us and what we want. But this is the example that Christ set for us when He left His throne in Heaven and made Himself of no reputation in order to rescue and redeem us.
One of the most beautiful illustrations of this principle is summed up in the words written by a young woman named Betty Scott Stam just a few years before she gave her life on the mission field in China:
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires, hopes and ambitions, and I accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. Fill me now and seal me with Thy Spirit. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, for to me to live is Christ. Amen.
Any Christian whose heart echoes these words will live a spiritually fervent, triumphant, world-changing life. Though difficulty, suffering, and even martyrdom can be the result of this kind of radical obedience, there is no greater joy or fulfillment that we could ever find than to become a living sacrifice for our King.
In the book of Acts, we are given an amazing picture of Romans 12:11 when Stephen was martyred for his faith. He did not lack zeal, but kept his spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. And when he was being stoned and saw Christ standing at the right hand of the Father, he was so overcome with joy and wonder that his face literally glowed “like the face of an Angel” (Acts 6:15 NIV).
Let’s not listen to the enemy’s lies that we will find happiness in living for ourselves and protecting our lives. True joy, as Paul said, comes only from living for His glory alone — whether by life or by death. (See Philippians 1:20.) It is impossible not to be spiritually fervent when the glory of God matters more to us than any personal ambition.
3. Become a Spiritual Athlete
We often approach the Christian life expecting a picnic instead of a battlefield. But when it comes to sharing the Gospel and serving others, we must get into the mindset of being a spiritual athlete. It’s not supposed to be easy. Easy doesn’t bring life-changing results. When it comes to ministry — and the Christian life — it is not ease that we should seek, but grace. God’s amazing grace can equip us to joyfully handle weights that we could never handle on our own.
Early in my ministry journey, I was often tempted to give up because of the extreme difficulties and challenges that we constantly faced. I was totally unprepared for the battle we had stepped into. But as God began to equip me to become a spiritual athlete — to rely on His enabling grace to push forward instead of retreating — it completely changed my mindset. I began to thrive, instead of merely survive, even though the difficulties did not lessen. God designed us to be spiritually on the offensive, not the defensive.
Becoming a spiritual athlete is not about striving, human effort, or trying to “earn” God’s favor or human approval by our impressive discipline and good works. Rather, becoming a spiritual athlete means counting the cost, taking up our cross, and following the narrow, self-sacrificing way of our Lord — enabled and empowered by His grace.
When Africa was first opening up to missionary work in the 1800s, it was extremely dangerous for foreigners to travel there to share the Gospel with the native people. Disease and violence claimed so many lives that it became known as the “White Man’s Grave.” Despite this harsh reality, missionaries continued to faithfully risk their lives to travel to Africa and share the hope of Jesus with the lost. It became so common for missionaries to die within the first few months or years of arriving that when new recruits were called upon to replace them, they routinely packed their belongings in a coffin. They knew they would not be coming back alive. And yet, they were willing to “spend and be spent” for the glory of God.
What was the difference between this mindset and the self-preserving attitude I had in my early days of ministry? Simply put — these missionaries understood what it meant to be spiritual athletes. They were not trying to self-protect. Rather, they held nothing back. They were not expecting the Christian life to be easy; they were expecting it to cost them everything. And it was their greatest honor to give everything to the One who gave everything for them.
It is impossible to become a spiritual athlete by sheer determination. It is a heart condition. It means knowing that our lives are not our own, that we have been bought with a price, and that there is no greater honor than to give our lives for the One who gave everything for us. This type of absolute givenness to God is referred to in Revelation 12:11: “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (NIV).
In my own life, I have found that the secret to becoming a spiritual athlete comes from a simple change of attitude. Taking time to meditate upon the reality of what Jesus has done for me always reminds me how worthy He is. It reminds me that it is foolish to cling to my own life when He Himself did not cling to His.
All of us are susceptible to the trap of lukewarmness in our walk with Christ. In Revelation when Jesus rebukes the lukewarm church, we often remember His strong words, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:16). But that rebuke also comes with a beautiful invitation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). That verse literally means an invitation into intimate communion and fellowship between dear friends. When we say yes to that invitation, lukewarmness and spiritual apathy will quickly melt away.
I once heard a powerful testimony in a radio interview with Leonard Ravenhill. He was in his eighties and reflecting back on the impact that his father had upon his life spiritually.
He recalled, “I saw his joy — even though we lived in comparative poverty and hadn’t much money, because my daddy was a laborer. I remember him taking me to a half-night of prayer when I was 14, and my daddy, who was a big husky man, taking his coat off at one o’clock in the morning in a room that had no heat, and praying with tears and fervor … from that very day I recognized that there was something far beyond what the average Christian had … I got saved at 14 — I’m 84 now. I’ve seen all kinds of tragedies in the Church. I’ve seen wars and rumors of wars. I’ve seen popular men go unpopular. But I keep looking to Jesus, and remembering these ‘old paths’ that my daddy used to talk about so much. And it makes all the rest look like trivia.”
Leonard was an old man and still was being influenced by the example of his father. It wasn’t his father’s money, position, or education that he remembered — it was his father’s spiritual passion. This testimony causes me to stop and ask the question: What do I want to be remembered for? Accomplishments? Personality? Style?
I have come to realize that the greatest thing to be remembered for is spiritual fervor. May we follow in the footsteps of Leonard’s father and live our lives fully and passionately for the glory of God.
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.
For more content, explore our article collection.