Topic: When Your Fire Goes Out
I. Introduction: Has your excitement about the Lord grown with time? Or has your enthusiasm faded over the years? Maturing in Christ should cause the flame of your faith to grow stronger, not weaker.
A. Caution: The flame of your devotion to Christ can die out.
Even Timothy became discouraged. When the young pastor faced difficult circumstances, Paul encouraged him to fan the flame of his devotion for God (2 Tim. 1:1-11).
Cooling off spiritually happens two ways. A Christian's faith can be doused suddenly by devastating circumstances, or it can dwindle gradually through a loss of interest in spiritual things.
B. What is evidence of a cooling flame?
You neglect the Word of God. What wood is to a fire, the Word of God is to your Christian life. As a follower of Christ, you can't live effectively without it.
Your prayer life changes. You begin to feel that God isn't listening.
Your church attendance becomes sporadic. You start making excuses not to go.
You give less consistently. You begin to feel that you can't afford to sacrifice much to God.
You become defensive about your lifestyle. You rationalize making compromises.
You begin to lose your joy. Serving the Lord becomes a duty instead of a passion. Worry and fear replace your joy.
You begin to doubt God.
You stop paying attention to the Holy Spirit's promptings.
C. How do you recover your fire?
Recognize your condition. Ask yourself, Has my fire gone out?
Recall a season of life when you were passionate about God. What was it like? How did you spend your time?
Repent. Losing devotion to Jesus is usually a direct result of sin.
Refocus your attention on the Lord.
Read the Word of God. Start with a short book of the New Testament, and ask the Lord to speak through it as you read.
Seek God daily in prayer. Go beyond praying for what you need or want. Seek an intimate relationship with Him.
Get involved in someone else's life. Your problems will consume you if you let them. Take the focus off yourself, and meet another person's needs.
Rely on the Holy Spirit to enable you.
III. Closing: Has your fire for God dwindled to cold ashes? If it has, begin to stir up the embers of your faith. Allow the Lord to make your life a bright flame for His glory.
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