4 Things That Kill Your Fire For God

People often search for videos, books, or blogs that will tell them the secret to rekindling the lost fire of God within them. There are countless resources that will guide people towards the basics for reigniting God’s fire– fasting, praying, and reading the Word.

A pastor once said, “Keeping the fire of God has less to do with how long you pray, and more to do with what you do after you pray.”

I want to share with you 4 things to steer clear of to maintain your fire for God.

“The fire of man has no power over those burning with the fire of God.”- Anonymous

4 Things to Stay Away From

1. Offense

Most people who leave the church do so because of an offense. As a result of this, you’ll find many churches and leaders who are unwilling to confront sin in fear that members will be offended, but that is not Jesus’ example.

The Scripture tells us of an instance where Jesus spoke very straightforward to His disciples. That day many of His disciples left him. Jesus knew that offense was unavoidable.

Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

John 6:65-66

We can limit the offenses that are released through us, but we cannot stop people from being offended altogether.

Storing offense is a huge trap of the devil to kill our fire. If he can get someone to store an offense in their heart, he will be able to limit their productivity in the Kingdom of God.

If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

Ecclesiastes 10:4

Leave all the offenses you’ve been carrying against you at the cross. 

2. Disappointment

As Christians we are commanded to pray and fast for healing, deliverance, and salvation; however, sometimes disappointment creeps in when what we’ve been praying for doesn’t happen quite like we were expecting. Disappointment, if not managed well, can cause God’s fire within us to dwindle. Instead of focusing on what has not happened, shift your focus onto God’s faithfulness.

3. Busyness

Busyness can be a good thing when it comes out of our intimacy with the Lord. For instance, a person can be considered busy when they begin to volunteer above what is asked at their local church, when they spend longer in the Word, or when they start building Godly connections. This sort of busyness is a blessing because it propels people towards Christ. Intimacy with the Lord will always make you fruitful, not busy.

Anything that distracts you and causes you to be further from God is the kind of “busyness” that you want to be aware of.

This is one of the easiest ways the enemy distracts God’s people and hinders their eternal productivity. The devil will cause people to get so busy doing things that provide no spiritual benefit in order to make them “too busy” to serve in the Kingdom of God. 

4. Materialism

The Bible shows us a passage where a young man had many riches. He loved them so much that when Jesus asked the young man to give them away, he is distraught, and walked away from an opportunity to follow Jesus more closely.

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Matthew 19:21-22

When blessings have us instead of us having them, it can be a dangerous thing. If we as Christians become so attached to the riches or blessings of this life we are in danger of allowing them to hinder our closeness to Christ.

Blessings are not evil as long as they don’t have our hearts. As followers of Christ, there should be nothing that we are not willing to surrender for Jesus.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:26

If the enemy cannot get you to fall into sin, he will try any method he can to extinguish the fire God has started within your heart.

Stay on guard, examine your heart, and fan the flame of God by steering clear of offense, disappointment, busyness, and materialism.