Maintaining Spiritual Fervour

“Hey sister! Are you on fire for the Lord?” “Is there still fire on your altar?”

The above are age-long, somewhat rhetorical questions, prevalent among old-timers, yet relevant in present times. In simple terms, it seeks to examine the fervency of the recipient’s walk with God and their commitment to His work.

Often, with a new year comes renewed fervor and passionate commitments towards a vibrant relationship with God and spiritual progress. However, in a fast-paced generation, ladened with hustle and bustle, and the race to make ends meet, it is common to see the passion for the spiritual wane or fizzle out. This is sometimes traced to legitimate concerns including career, finances, family, etc., or needless distractions.

Shall we then slaughter a fervent spiritual life on the altar of legitimate concerns? Never!

The new life received at salvation is designed to affect our way of life and modus operandi.

2Corinthians 5:15. Our primary purpose now is to know Christ and make him known. This must therefore affect our daily living and choices. We must be intentional about our spiritual health and deliberately create a path to staying fervent.

The biblical instruction in Romans 12:11 remains “Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”. This is the will of God for you. You must remain zealous for the Lord.

Tips on maintaining a fervent spiritual life

• Set goals and milestones: Just as you do for your career, health, and finances, you should also set goals for your spiritual life. Goals give you a sense of focus and help you measure progress. Your goals should be clear and very specific. It could be a plan to study the new testament in a quarter, pray for 180 hours in a year, preach the gospel to 5 persons in a month, or read at least one spiritual literature in a month. Break these goals into tiny bits, daily objectives, and have milestones. You could even have rewards for achieving those goals. When it comes to growth, don’t run on vibes and “Insha Jesus”. Be very deliberate. Never leave things to chance. Don’t do it in your spare time, set time apart consciously. Start small, then up the ante

• Be Consistent: Consistency is the key to success. It is much better to pray 30 minutes daily for 365 days than pray 12 hours once a month. Set little goals for your day and stick to them religiously. Pray daily, listen to a message daily, study a chapter daily, talk to a person about Jesus daily or weekly. Never forget, the journey called spiritual growth is a marathon and not a sprint. Consistency is key.

• Take advantage of every spare moment: Why not plug in and listen to that message in transit? How about you listen to edifying songs as you do your laundry. Praying underneath your breath at work never goes wrong you know. Take advantage of every opportunity to edify yourself.

• Check your relationships: As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend Proverbs 27:17. Do you have friends who want to do every other thing except spiritual things? Mark them, and put a limit on their influence over your life. Cultivate meaningful friendships that would encourage fervency. Have collective spiritual targets, encourage one another, pray together, etc. The strong one will help the weak one up.

• Get a healthy spiritual family: You need a sound local church where the word of God is given first place, and the things of the Spirit are encouraged. Join one if you haven’t. Don’t just be a weekly sit-in member, be committed there. Submit to a department and serve the Lord with them.

• Be tenacious: Heads up! There might be times when you will miss your prayer time. You could forget to study in a day due to a hectic work routine, but one thing you should never do is give up. Don’t let it become a trend. If you miss it today, pick it up first thing tomorrow. It’s a long haul. We are not quitters. Fervency is first a discipline before it becomes a pleasure.

• Don’t be complacent: There is always more to achieve with God. There is never an end to spiritual wisdom and development. Keep the hunger and thirst. The moment you feel you have arrived, you just lost it.

Always remember, the grace of God has been given to you. You have the ability to be fervent all year. Dear child of God, God is committed to you. You can become all He wants you to be.