Give Us Zeal
2026-08-11
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🔥 Stir Up the Fire.
🙏 Opening Prayer.
Father God, this morning I come before You in the cold, not only asking You to warm my body, but asking You to set my spirit ablaze again; where my zeal has grown cold, stir it up, where disappointment has buried it, uncover it, where weariness has weakened it, strengthen it, and where I have willingly cast it aside, forgive me and call me back to the fire of Your presence, that my life may once again burn for Your glory, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
🔥 Introduction — When the Fire Goes Cold.
It is Tuesday — Otto’s Monday.
It is cold.
It is raining.
There is even the possibility of snow.
The grocery cupboard is bare.
Yesterday, what appeared to be a blessing arrived at the door, only to be discovered as something that had already gone bad.
Hope came wrapped in mold.
That is life sometimes.
You reach for what you thought was an answer, only to discover disappointment.
You expect provision and find frustration.
You expect warmth and find cold.
But this morning I don’t want to sit staring at the cold.
I want to stir up the fire.
There is too much cold water being poured over the things of God.
Too much apathy.
Too much hesitation.
Too much spiritual sleep.
Too many people who once burned with passion for God, but somewhere along the road allowed that fire to become an ember.
And I know this because I have done it myself.
I don’t need a bridle this morning.
I need a spur.
I need something that pushes me forward.
I need ZEAL.
Not zeal for recognition.
Not zeal for personal glory.
Not zeal to prove myself better than somebody else.
I want zeal for the Glory of God.
Where is your zeal?
Have you scorned it?
Have you pushed it aside?
Have disappointment quenched it?
Have hardship buried it?
Have exhaustion smothered it?
Have the circumstances around you become so cold that you have allowed your own heart to become cold with them?
Then today is a day to wake up.
📖 Scripture One — Be Zealous.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
— Revelation 3:19
Jesus spoke these words to a church that had become spiritually lukewarm.
That is important.
He did not say this to people who had never known Him.
He said it to a church.
A church can become comfortable.
A believer can become tired.
A servant of God can become discouraged.
A person can still attend church, still read Scripture, still speak Christian words — and yet discover that the fire inside has become weak.
But Jesus does not merely expose the problem.
He gives the answer:
Be zealous.
Wake up.
Repent.
Return.
Burn again.
Zeal is not merely excitement.
Biblical zeal is a heart that has been awakened to the worth of God and therefore desires to honour Him.
Sometimes we need God to give us fresh circumstances.
But sometimes what we really need is a fresh fire in the circumstances we already have.
The rain may continue.
The cupboard may remain empty.
The problem may not disappear overnight.
But our hearts do not have to become cold because our circumstances are cold.
📖 Scripture Two — Stir Up the Gift
“Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee.”
— 2 Timothy 1:6
Paul told Timothy to stir it up.
That is powerful language.
A fire sometimes needs attention.
It needs fuel.
It needs the embers disturbed.
It needs somebody to stop staring at the ashes and start stirring what remains.
Perhaps your spiritual life feels like that today.
Perhaps there isn’t a roaring flame.
Perhaps all you can see are a few glowing embers.
Then don’t despise the embers.
Stir them.
Pray again.
Read the Word again.
Worship again.
Serve again.
Repent again.
Give thanks again.
Open your mouth and tell God honestly:
“Lord, I want my fire back.”
God can breathe upon an ember and make it burn again.
📖 Scripture Three — Do Not Grow Weary
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
— Galatians 6:9
There is another enemy of zeal:
weariness.
Sometimes we don’t lose our zeal because we stopped loving God.
Sometimes we become tired from fighting the same battles.
We become tired of struggling.
Tired of waiting.
Tired of disappointment.
Tired of having to start again.
But Scripture reminds us that faithfulness has a harvest.
We may not see it today.
We may not see it tomorrow.
But God sees every act of obedience.
Every prayer.
Every sacrifice.
Every kindness.
Every time you chose truth instead of compromise.
Every time you got back up after falling down.
Don’t confuse delay with denial.
And don’t allow exhaustion to convince you that your labor for God is meaningless.
Keep going.
Stir the fire.
There is still a harvest ahead.
🕊️ Church History — When the Church Remembered How to Burn.
The history of Christianity contains many moments when the Church became comfortable, formal, or spiritually tired — and then God awakened His people again.
The early Christians lived with extraordinary conviction.
They worshiped Christ despite persecution.
They preached despite opposition.
They served the poor.
They carried the Gospel beyond the boundaries of their own communities.
Their circumstances were often terrible, but their zeal was remarkable.
Centuries later, the Church experienced other periods of renewal.
One particularly famous example came through the eighteenth-century revival associated with John Wesley and the Methodist movement.
Wesley preached throughout Britain, often traveling enormous distances to proclaim the Gospel.
His ministry emphasized personal conversion, disciplined Christian living, Scripture, prayer, practical holiness, and reaching ordinary people who were often neglected by established religious structures.
The revival did not begin because the weather was perfect.
It did not begin because everybody suddenly became comfortable.
It happened because people became convinced that God was worth everything.
That is the lesson.
Revival fire is not primarily about noise.
It is about devotion.
It is about hearts becoming dissatisfied with spiritual sleep.
It is about believers saying:
“God, wake us up.”
The Church has always needed that prayer.
And perhaps we need it again.
✍️ Poem — The Fire Within.
🔥 Stir the Embers.
When winter winds are howling And rain falls from the sky, When cupboards stand empty And weary hearts ask why,
When yesterday’s expectation Turns to disappointment’s stain, Do not surrender to the darkness, Do not make the cold your flame.
There is an ember waiting Beneath the ash and stone, A spark that God has planted That He has called His own.
So stir it with your prayer, Lord, Stir it with Your Word, Stir it with repentance Until Your voice is heard.
I do not need a bridle, I need a spur today. I do not need complacence, I need fire on the way.
Not fire for my glory, Not fire to make me known, But fire that burns for Jesus, And Jesus Christ alone.
So though the world be freezing, And though the road be long, Let those who belong to Jesus Rise up and once more be strong.
The rain may fall around us, The night may seem severe, But those who burn for Jesus Have nothing left to fear.
So wake, O sleeping Christian. Repent and seek the Lord. Stir up the holy fire. Stand firmly on His Word.
And when our earthly journey At last has reached its end, May heaven find us burning For Christ, our faithful Friend.
🛠️ Daily To-Do — Stir the Fire
Today, don’t merely read about zeal.
Do something with it.
🔥 1. Pray for fresh fire
Spend a few quiet minutes asking God:
“Lord, where has my zeal become cold?”
Don’t make excuses.
Don’t blame everybody else.
Let God search your heart.
📖 2. Read the three Scriptures again
Read:
- Revelation 3:19
- 2 Timothy 1:6
- Galatians 6:9
Then ask yourself:
What is God asking me to stir up?
🙌 3. Do one thing for God’s glory.
Do something today that serves another person without seeking recognition.
A small act of obedience can become fuel for a larger fire.
🗣️ 4. Speak life
Encourage somebody who is discouraged.
You may discover that while you are trying to warm somebody else’s heart, God is warming yours.
🚫 5. Refuse one cold-water thought.
When the thought comes:
“What’s the point?”
Answer it with:
“God is still worthy.”
💡 Practical Tips — Keeping the Fire Burning.
A spiritual fire needs tending.
Here are five simple habits:
Keep Scripture close. Don’t let your Bible become furniture.
Pray honestly. God already knows when you’re discouraged. You don’t have to pretend.
Watch what feeds your mind. Constant negativity can slowly extinguish spiritual enthusiasm.
Stay around people who encourage faith. Fire spreads. So does coldness.
Act when God prompts you. Delayed obedience can become forgotten obedience.
And remember:
Zeal does not mean you never get tired.
It means that when you become tired, you return to the One who gives strength.
🌤️ Heavenly View — Heaven Sees More Than We See.
Imagine looking at this morning from Heaven.
From our earthly perspective there is cold.
Rain.
Empty cupboards.
Financial pressure.
Disappointment.
Uncertainty.
But Heaven sees something different.
Heaven sees every prayer that nobody else heard.
Every tear that nobody else saw.
Every act of faithfulness that received no applause.
Every time you chose to keep going when you wanted to quit.
Every time you opened the Word while discouraged.
Every time you helped someone while carrying your own burden.
Every time you praised God when circumstances gave you little reason to feel like praising.
None of it is invisible to God.
The world measures success by what can be seen.
Heaven measures faithfulness by what is done for God.
So perhaps today’s victory is not getting everything you wanted.
Perhaps today’s victory is simply this:
You did not let the fire die.
You stirred it.
You prayed.
You got back up.
You chose Christ again.
And Heaven saw it.
One day we will understand how many seemingly insignificant acts of faithfulness mattered eternally.
Until then, keep burning.
🔥 Final Exhortation.
Where is your zeal?
Have you cast it away?
Have you allowed disappointment to bury it?
Have you allowed hardship to convince you that there is no point?
Then hear the invitation of Christ:
Be zealous and repent.
Don’t wait until everything is perfect.
Don’t wait until the cupboard is full.
Don’t wait until the weather changes.
Don’t wait until life becomes easy.
Stir up the fire now.
The world has enough cold water.
It needs people who are willing to burn.
Burn for truth.
Burn for righteousness.
Burn for the Gospel.
Burn for the lost.
Burn for holiness.
But above everything else:
Burn for the Glory of God.
There is still work to do.
There is still a Gospel to preach.
There are still people to reach.
There are still prayers to pray.
There is still a God to glorify.
So awake.
Be zealous.
Repent.
And stir up the fire.
🔥 Lord, set us ablaze again.
🙏 Closing Prayer.
Father, I ask You today to rekindle every dying ember within us; forgive us where we have become lukewarm, forgive us where disappointment has stolen our joy, forgive us where weariness has replaced zeal, and forgive us where we have willingly cast aside the fire You placed within us; teach us to seek You again with our whole hearts, give us courage to repent, strength to persevere, wisdom to serve, compassion to reach others, and a holy zeal that seeks no glory for ourselves but desires only that the name of Jesus Christ be lifted high; when the world pours cold water upon us, keep Your fire burning within us, and when our strength fails, remind us that You are our strength; let our lives become living testimonies that hardship does not have the final word, disappointment does not have the final word, poverty does not have the final word, fear does not have the final word, because Jesus Christ is Lord; set us ablaze again, Lord, and let that fire shine until the day we stand before You in glory, in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
🗡️ ‘God’s Journalist’ in conjunction with ‘ChatGPT .’ * and the *Holy Spirit