I was chatting with a sister in Christ one night and asked her about her relationship with God these days..
Me: Going strong with the Lord? :”)
Her: Nuh. Trying pa..I really don't know if you know the feeling or you went through with the struggle, but when people say na pray like ako, read this and that, seek Him, I dunno.... It doesn't help, hindi madali. Im not backsliding pero im not on fire. ..
It left me asking myself, “What does it mean to be on fire?, How to be and to stay on fire for God?, Am I on fire?” I think these are important questions because I know that being lukewarm / not so on fire is not honoring to Him. As it is mentioned in Revelation 3:14-16, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
On fire.
Dictionaries defined this idiom as being enthusiastic, excited, passionate or highly motivated.
When it comes to our faith, it is safe to say that it’s all about spiritual passion, it’s our devotion to God. Julie Ackerman Link wrote on one of her entries for Our Daily Bread that “In ancient Israel, the priests were instructed not to let the fire on the altar go out (Lev. 6:9,12-13). This required a lot of work, not the least of which was collecting firewood in a land not known for its dense forests. Some scholars see the fire on the altar as a symbol for the flame of our devotion for the Lord. Spiritual passion is not something to be treated lightly or taken for granted. It will grow cold if we fail to keep it supplied with fuel.”
So when we’re not that enthusiastic, excited, passionate or highly motivated about God, What are we gonna do? How can we fuel it? How to be and stay on fire for God?
I asked my friends/mentors/ churchmates to share their thoughts about this. These are the people that I really look up to when it comes to their devotion to God and they’ve been walking in this journey for a while. Let’s learn from them. :)
- Back to Basics
I find wisdom in reading His word. I find joy in every revelation God gives to me.. i find hope in every promise He says.. When I’m down i just go back to the Word. I go back to the cross. to His throne of grace..His living word.Jesus.and what Jesus did.. I focus on the reality of who God is not on who I am. – Daisy Gasmen, Food Technologist
How I stay on fire for God? Basic I just continue knowing Him and knowing His will for me. And I just continue listening and obeying Him. Continue my devotion. The fire [is] never gone it’s just setting low. It happens when God gave me something I think I can’t go through and fear overcame me I just feel I can’t hear Him. When this thing happens, sometimes I stop myself on doing something I literally stop and close my eyes and talk to Him until I’m done giving all my worries to Him/ until I calm down. Sometimes preaching/declaring His words/promises to myself. Well, that's it. Ay isa pa pala sometimes nakanta ko ng “Keep holding on”. – Alaisa Nazareno, Food Technologist
When prayer and Bible readings seem not to be working, (but of course we know it still work and is a necessity sa Kristiyano) then the disciple has to develop the habit of Fasting. As we humbly seek God, on our knees, we will become more sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit! -Gab Ternida, future Campus Missionary
Hello, well, eto medyo generic, but first is communication; without you praying or talking to Him I think there is a very low chance of you hearing what He wants you to do, next is read His word; most of the time you cannot audibly hear God, but you can read His word and that's as good as hearing Him, lastly is stay close to Him; like an actual fire, it's most likely to be put out when there's no cover and exposed to strong winds, so keep God close to you so He can cover you from the things that can put out the fire in you… - Joshua Antolin, Game Developer
How to stay on fire for God - we usually measure our "ON FIRE" for God through our ministry involvement or with the people we meet for vg or discipleship. Most of the Christians think that as they go to church, meet people for fellowship and do all kinds of ministries --- they are already on fire for God... or they rather feel that they are on fire. on the other hand Christians who used to be so active in the ministries and for some reasons hindi na sila ganun ka active, they feel like they are not on fire anymore. Kasi yung routine of serving God decreases. Siguro dahil naging busy sila sa work or ministries or may iba ng priorities than the ministries. BUT really at the end of the day, whether you are busy in the ministry or not, going to church or not what really determines our ON FIRE for God is our relationship with HIM. With the help and power of the Holy Spirit, we can sustain our "On Fire on God because of our relationship with HIM... nothing more nothing else. Pag may self preservation na tayo sa sarili natin, like we find our worth in the ministries or with our vgs, dun na mejo may mali... kasi our relationship with God will not depend on our works or ministries but with our relationship and identity in HIM. So how to stay on FIRE FOR GOD is simply to deepen our relationship with HIM... through getting to KNOW him more…
1. By HIS WORD (BIBLE) and by listening to HIS WORD (Preachings, podcast, prov 1:5, luke 11:28) 2. Obedience (Luke 11:28) hindi lang makikinig pero mag oobey din 3. Walk in Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16-17 fruit of the HS) minsan din, its the sin that keeps us away from being on fire, because of sin... shame guilt and condemnation... whenever this comes, GO BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD FAITH.... natetest tayo tru our FAITH, keep the FAITH and TRUST God in everything
2. Pag nabuburn out nako or if i dont feel the fire... I go back to that old path where I first meet Christ Jeremiah 6:16a and i check my heart, bakit pakiramdam ko wala na ang fire.... dahil ba hindi nako active sa ministry? wala akong wina one to one? I also check my quiet time, my devotion, am i doing it for the sake of masabing nag devotion ako or am i really seeking God. The WORD OF GOD is like treasures from heaven, it will always depends on how long you spend time in collecting the treasures... treasures that we need for our soul and our daily living. - Long Term Missionary in the Middle East
Just continue stoking the fire - continue seeking Him even if you don't feel like it - Lanie Teves, Professor
Reading the Word. Minsan mahirap. Pero kasi nilalaban talaga yun eh. - Anne Sabrina Rojo,Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian
Mahirap magstay on fire kapag inisip ko na, "kung ano bang ginagawa kong magstay on fire". Kasi minsan kapag sobrang feeling ko napapariwara na ako, tapos gustong gusto ko nang bumalik, yung idea na "kung gusto kong bumalik, mas gusto ng Lord na bumalik ako" yun lang yung tinatanim ko sa isip ko, kasi minsan ang original na response ng heart ko is mahiya e. Basta yun ate. Feeling ko wala akong kayang gawin para magstay on fire. Ang hirap kasi e. Siguro yung spiritual discipline pero yun nga kung walang internal na ginagawa si Lord lahat yun magiging duty nalang e. -Ja Macarayo, Young Professional
- Better together
Word and prayer po talaga ate like really soaking myself in the word also with worship. Babad kung babad. Hahahaha. AND if not really okay, I ask for godly counsel, I become more accountable, I let God's light through His people, to shed some light in my dark situation. It really helps to be surrounded by people who are more on fire with God. Just like the very classic example, a burning coal, I need to remain connected with the other who are also burning for God. – Nikki Sean Enyong, Student
There's no secret on staying on fire it is simply being consistent and faithful on having your QT. When fire is not there best way for me is to get close with people who are on fire. Remove the pride and approach those people. Ask for prayers and advice. – Jethro Gonzales, Operation Specialist
..unang naisip ko being inspired...Inspired sa word ni God. Pero sobrang general. Haha.
You need also other people to bring back the fire much more stronger . Hahaha kaya need mo yung mga accountable friends and leaders mo. – Renmark Tapang, Engineer
I'll just share a couple of things. Well, being a Christian is not an easy walk. It's a continuous process of learning and application. I just want to highlight the application part. Whenever I fell short, sinned, or disobeyed God in my journey, i go back to Him. I asked forgiveness and grace to overcome those. I make it a point to be accountable. Acknowledge and expose the darkness to light and be humble enough change to be better. Its painful at first to hear corrections but it's worth it because would help me in the future. I set aside my prideful heart bec it wouldn't help me if i take it as an offensive statement. – Timothy Tolentino, Young Professional and Student
- Bring back the Joy
The Gospel is helping me to stay on fire. Everytime I feel like I’m losing my endurance to run the race, I remind myself of His great love. More often than not, i wasn’t the one reminding myself about His goodness, it's still Him who do the reminding and restoring. Other times, I do the opposite of how i feel. My leader once told me that if I don't feel like doing my QT, I should all the more do it. – Dexter Alvarez, young professional and blogger/vlogger
Personally, I also experience moments or days that I’m not that on fire for God. I don’t feel like praying, reading the Word, sharing the Gospel or encourage someone. Those days are usually (I think) because I’m distracted with my worries, fears, problems, issues, good things (yes, even good things) and other things or maybe I became just familiar with Jesus, cross,salvation, resurrection, prayer, Bible, worship etc.
As I reflect on my on fire, I realized it burns when God restores the joy of my salvation. I bring my focus on the cross and what Jesus did for me. I remember the old me and how He saved me. I remembered the moment that the cross stopped being a cliche’ and became a reality to me. The moment that I prayed to Jesus that I don’t want to be familiar. I don’t want to be familiar. I want it to be fresh to me. So fresh to me all the days of my life.
Basically, just like Dexter, the Gospel is helping me to stay on fire.
This might or might not apply to your situation since we could have different reasons why we don’t think we’re on fire for God sometimes. Nonetheless, I hope this helped you.
Be on fire . Keep the fire. Set the world on fire.
At the end of the day.. May we all do this: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
P.S.
Special thanks to all of you who answered! I really appreciate you guys!Keep the fire burning!!!!
Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash
