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Being fervent in spirit is a crucial message for believers in such a time as this. In a world filled with distractions, seductions, and pressures, to stay fervent in spirit can be a real challenge. It seems that everything in this world is out to kill our spiritual fervency—from the tough demands of school or work and family, the seductions of luxury being pushed into our faces daily, the temptations from the brazen displays of sensuality around us, to the subtle entrapment of social media.
Still, we have an instruction from the Lord to be fervent for Him. Paul, through the Holy Spirit, says in Romans 12:10-11:
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
What Being “Fervent in Spirit” Means
What Being “Fervent” Means
There are about five Greek terms translated to “fervent” in the New Testament, each conveying different nuances of intensity, earnestness, and passionate zeal.
- Ektenēs—means “stretched out or extended.” It conveys a sense of sustained effort (1 Peter 4:8).
- Agonizōmai—means “to strive, struggle, or agonize.” It describes a fervent effort (Colossians 1:29).
- Energeō—means “to work, be active, or be effectiv.” It denotes working energetically (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
- Zelos—means to be “most eagerly desirous of or for (a thing)”, “defend and uphold a thing”, “vehemently contend for a thing” (Titus 2:14). It is the source of the English word “zealous”.
The fifth—zeō, appears in Romans 12:11, and means “to boil with heat”, “to be hot”. It projects the picture of a pot of bubbling water over a fire. When used of liquids, zeō means to boil, and when used of solids (like metal) means to glow. Figuratively, it means to be fervent or earnest; to be intensely devoted to a thing.
What “In Spirit” Means
The phrase “in spirit” denotes Christian life. The Christian life is life in the spirit —it is about being in fellowship with God, who is Spirit. The Bible, in John 4:24, reveals that God is Spirit, and those who will relate with Him must be spirit. But how can humans enter into fellowship with the God who is spirit?
Well, God Himself made our fellowship possible by making us spiritually alive, by the new birth through His Spirit. Jesus said that those who are born of the Spirit are spirit (John 3:6). So, a Christian is a spiritually living being who is in fellowship with the Spirit God (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3)
Putting all these together, to be fervent in spirit is for our Christian life to be marked by vibrancy, diligence, and intense devotion in every aspect—Bible reading, praying, church attendance, serving, sharing our faith, etc. When Paul admonished believers to be “fervent in spirit”, he meant that we should always demonstrate vibrancy like water boiling on a fire—instead of being cold, idle, or apathetic.
Dear friend, there is a place for being vibrant with our faith, instead of being lukewarm. God detests lukewarmness (Revelation 3:14-16). God expects—and in fact, He commands us to be spiritually fervent for Him! Paul admonishes us in 1 Corinthians 15:58:
“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”
Four Marks of a Dwindling Spiritual Fervency
The decline of spiritual fervency is a grave peril that every believer should guard against. It can happen to any of us. The church at Ephesus—to who Paul wrote the depth of truth contained in the book named after them—eventually forsook the fervency they started with, that Christ had to rebuke them, saying “But I have this against you: you have abandoned the passionate love you had for me at the beginning,” (Revelation 2:1-4 TPT).
Now, let’s consider four marks that indicate that spiritual fervency is dying.
1. Decline of Personal Fellowship with God
1 Corinthians 1:9 and 1 John 1:3 says that believers have fellowship with the Godhead—jointly, but also individually. But our fervency is not firstly seen in how we perform in joint fellowship, but in individual fellowship with God—in personal prayer, fasting, and Bible study. That’s where spiritual fervency begins. But it is also where the death of spiritual fervency starts from.
A decline in personal fellowship with God is the very first reflection of a dying spiritual fervency. The believer begins to neglect personal prayer, fasting, and Bible study. At first, it is just going days without prayer, fasting, and Bible study, then it graduates to weeks, and months, until the personal fellowship finally cease completely.
2. Increasing comfort with sin
1 Thessalonians 4:7 says that our calling is to holiness, not to uncleanness. The chief visible proof that the salvation we are laying claim to is genuine is holy living. 1 Peter 1:15 says, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”
But when a believer’s spiritual fervency begins to die, he increasingly becomes comfortable with sin. His conscience—the inward judge of right and wrong— becomes dull, no longer able to judge him. He begins to compromise—to make excuses for, and do the ungodly things they once detested. They thrive in secret sins. In Romans 1:32, the Bible speaks of people, who, knowing the righteous stand of God and His judgment regarding sin, “not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them”.
3. Disconnection from other believers
One of the safety mechanisms that God put in place for believers’ security is the company of one another—for oversight, care, fellowship, support, etc. Acts 2:44 says, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common.” 1 John 1:3 speaks about the fellowship that we have with one another. And, the Holy Spirit, in Hebrews 10:25, sternly warns:
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
But when believers’ spiritual fervency starts dwindling, they start to disconnect themselves from other believers. They lose interest in church, and find excuses to stay away from believers’ gatherings. They also become critical of everything they once esteemed in church—including the leadership. Where they can’t totally stay away, going to church feels like a burden.
4. Decline of Spiritual Fruits
There are certain fruits that mark the life of a fervent Christian—fervency in love toward other believers, fervency for soul winning, fervency in service, fervency in the pursuit of growth, etc. (Romans 12:9-13). But when a believer’s spiritual fervency starts to decline, there will be a decline in zeal for all these things.
If even one of these is manifesting in your life presently, it is a sign that your spiritual fervency is declining. What should you do? The same thing which the ascended Christ recommended to the church at Ephesus.
Revelation 2:5:
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
You should also read: PRAYING ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD: 7 PROVEN KEYS
Practical Steps to Staying Fervent in Spirit
Some think that God’s requirements for Christian living are no more practicable, because the world has worsened than when the Bible was written. But that is untrue! There is nothing we are facing today that the saints of old didn’t face. We are contending with the same devil. Why do you think the apostles wrote their letters? One of the reasons is to stir up the saints to keep their fire despite the distractions, seductions, and pressures of their time. People left the faith then, because of the seductions of the world of the time. In 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul lamented to Timothy:
“For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…”
God’s standards and requirements for Christian living have not changed, despite the change in times. What He requires of the first century believers, He is still requiring of us today—to be fervent in spirit. And, it is practicable! Let’s consider seven practical ways to stay on fire for God in a world that is pulling us in every direction.
1. Recognize the Battle for Your Spiritual Fire
There is a battle for your fire. The devil is after you! 1 Peter 5:8 warns, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Satan is a bad loser. He does not like to let his captives go. It took the great power of God to deliver us from his captivity. But even at that he still wants to make us backslide from this life.
But he doesn’t kill outright. His tactic is to distract us long enough to cool our fire. He will throw use everything—not just the bad experiences of life, but also the good. We must learn to also suspect even the good occurrences in our lives, and to check with God before embracing them. They may be satan’s open doors to lure us away from our place in God. In the parable of the sower, Jesus described a soil—a heart—in which the seed of God’s word was choked to death by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for earthly things (Mark 4:19).
2. Decide What is Weightier
It is not a sin to seek to be better in life—get a bigger job, or advance in your career, or build a bigger business. I wrote extensively in an article on this blog that God is not against us doing well and being rich. But where our pursuit of earthly wellbeing takes us away from the place of personal fellowship with God in prayer and Bible reading, fellowship with the saints, serving the saints in our local churches, and sharing our faith with others, our souls are already being endangered.
It is only a matter of time before our fervency dies completely. So, we must decide what is weightier—our relationship with Christ, and prioritize it above any earthly gains. Our Lord asked, in Mark 8:36:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
The law of opportunity costs also apply to Christian living. We cannot be faithful to Christ and the world at the same time. The two are opposing entities. 1 John 2:15—17 warns us:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
To choose the world is to turn our backs on Christ and the way on life in Him. And, to choose Christ is to turn our backs on things that the world offer—not just sinful things, but even good things, but which can pull us away from our commitments to Christ. There will be occasions when we will have to reject offers and opportunities which could be gain to us, just to retain our hold on Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). The seductions of the present world is a major battle that we have to fight.
3. Protect Your Personal Fellowship at All Costs
Two spiritual disciplines that are always the first to suffer when a believer’s fire starts dying are personal prayer and Bible study. A person whose fire is dying can still keep up a public image as a lover of prayer and God’s Word for a time. And, people will think that all is well with him. Meanwhile, it has been months, or maybe even years, since he prayed and read the Bible personally last. He has been busy with the pursuit of earthly achievements.
Therefore, you must protect your personal fellowship with God through prayer and feeding on the Word—both in reading and hearing, at all costs. Having decided that your relationship with Christ matters more, you must be ready to sacrifice personal comforts and pursuits to spend time in prayer and the Word. Never allow yourself to go for days without praying or reading the Bible. It is how spiritual coldness starts. Have fixed schedules for personal prayer and Bible study, and stick to them. Romans 12:11—12 says:
11 Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.
4. Stay Accountable to Fellow Believers
One of the strategies of the devil to kill a vibrant believer is cutting him off from the circle of believers who can keep watch over him. That is why Hebrews 10:25 urges us not to neglect our assembling together.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The believers’ company is the safest place for any believer to be. Fervency grows stronger in the company of other believers. Because you get stirred up by them to good works. Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” When you isolate yourself, your zeal cools off gradually until it dies completely, because there are no believers around you to continually fan your zeal to flame.
Being established in a Bible-believing church is the first step toward walking in accountability. It is through your spiritual house—local church—that God will make the supply of His grace to you to keep you going and growing—His word, care, correction, and encouragement. But you must also walk faithfully in your spiritual house to get the best out of fellowship with other believers.
5. Guard Your Mind with All Seriousness
God, in the Bible, warns us to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” [NLT] Thoughts determine our spiritual temperature. Fervency or coldness dwells in the heart. What enters our hearts through our eyes and ears gates will either quench or fuel our passion for God. We must be careful what we watch, read, and listen to. We must protect our fire like we would protect a flame in the wind.
6. Serve God with Your Gifts
Another way to maintain spiritual fervency is to serve the Lord and the saints with our gifts. Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13-14, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””
Fervency increases as you serve. As a presiding pastor over a local church, I can personally testify to the amazing growth and development of people who enlist to serve in the church. Because they get more training than the regular church members, and they get more attention. Therefore, don’t just attend church—get involved. Enlist for service and ministry, share your faith with others, win souls, and disciple them. When you serve, your walk with God moves from theory to living passion.
7. Live with Eternity in View
We will only be living in denial and self-deceit to say that there is nothing attractive and enticing in this world. There is so much to be gained if we choose to pursue the world. But living with eternity in view makes it easier to sacrifice any earthly pursuit and gain for the sake of Christ. God’s Spirit, speaking in Colossians 3:1-2, says,
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Remembering eternity gives you strength to sacrifice anything for Christ—even your life. Believers—both in every generation have been able to endure terrible losses, even the lose of their lives, because they kept eternity with Christ in their views. Keeping eternity in your view will alter your perspective of the things of this world.
The world will always try to kill your spiritual fervency, but you don’t have to let it succeed. By staying rooted in Scripture, cultivating prayer, fellowshipping with believers, guarding your mind, serving God, and fixing your eyes on eternity, you can keep your fire burning. Your spiritual fervor is not meant to fade—it is meant to shine as a witness to the world. Keep the flame alive!
Having read this rich article, I encourage you to determine to put the things that you have read into practice. It is not just the words that you hear or read that changes you—it is what you do with what you read or hear. And, if this article has blessed you, it can bless many more. Therefore, please help us to share the article. You can also subscribe to the blog to get notifications when new articles drop. God bless you.
I love you with the love of Christ.
Good Articles on Fervent in Spirit
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Stay Fervent in the Spirit (TREM) — Bishop Mike Okonkwo devotional on Romans 12:11; how to stay fervent despite challenges. trem.org
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“Fervency in Our Walk with God” (KHCB) — Reflective piece on maintaining warmth, intensity, and zeal in prayer, praise, and study. KHCB
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Be Strong and Fervent in Spirit in the Cause of Truth and Life (Desiring God) — John Piper teaching including Romans 12:11; relevance of being fervent in public & private life. Desiring God
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“Fervent in Spirit” — Olney Church of Christ — Exposition on Apollos (Acts 18) + Romans 12:11; defining fervency and how it should fuel our service.
