I- THE FERVENT PRAYER—James 5:16

James 5:16 – “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” 

     Look, righteous people are fervent in prayer. Righteousness leads to fervency. We are to be zealous or enthusiastic in our prayer. In other people experience, prayer can often become monotonous. When it happened, don’t give up. Stay with it. Like when someone trying to start a fire with hard wood scraping a soft wood, remain at it. Then we notice the fire will start. We need to strive and labor with fervency in our prayers like Epaphras mentioned in Colossians 4:12, Epaphras was “laboring fervently for you in prayers.” When you pray you draw closer to the Holy God who “is a consuming fire,” described in the Bible in Hebrews 12:29. Therefore, you will have a fervent prayer because you get in touch with God.

II- THE FERVENT SPIRIT—Romans 12:11

Romans 12:11 “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;”

     We can have fervent spirit by being filled with the Spirit of God. Paul says in Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Paul said to the Ephesians two things “be not and be filled”. We need therefore to surrender, put aside or avoid whatever is keeping us from being filled with the Spirit of God. On the other hand, we need to add and maintain in our life whatever gets us filled with the Spirit of God. We read in Acts 4:31, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” The fervent prayer of this assembled congregation resulted in their fervent spirit. The bible says in Acts 18:24- 25, “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵ This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.” Since Apollos was a man “mighty in the scriptures,” he became fervent in the spirit. Do not just read the Bible, you must have the desire to become “mighty” in the Word of God. That will leads you on fire for God.

III- THE FERVENT MIND—2 Corinthians 7:6-7

2 Corinthians 7:6-7 “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; ⁷ And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.”

     There was sin mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul had therefore rebuked them for that sin in 1 Corinthians 5:2-5 “And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. ³ For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” The Corinthians with the right attitude took that hard preaching and settled completely the problem in 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 “For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. ⁹ Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. ¹¹ For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” Here we see the Corinthians repentant attitude and they got hot for keeping this stuff out of the church and out of their lives. You must have the right attitude toward the preacher and the preached Word of God because it would boost you and heat you up to more mighty things for the Lord.

     The Lord warns the church at Laodicea what they need to do regarding their lukewarm condition. In Revelation 3:18-19 the Lord says, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”  The message of the Lord is clear “Be zealous, therefore, and repent.” That is an example of a fervent mind that remains receptive and zealous for the messenger of God who deliver message of the Word of God like the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to preach in 2 Timothy 4:2-4 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” When you respond to good hot preaching it will surely keep you good and on fire for the Lord. It will give you joy, enthusiastic, strong desire to serve, follow the Lord and surrender everything for glory of God.

IV- FERVENT CHARITY—1 Peter 4:8

1 Peter 4:8 “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”

     Look at yourselves and examine your heart, does it have a fervent love with your fellow believers? When a brother and sister sins gets in their relationship, you must learn how to cover ii with charity. Again Peter said in 1 Peter 1:22, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” We are God’s beloved children of God and we must possess a pure heart and keep the fervent love between each of us. The fervent love toward another must be displayed, and the perfect place to do that is in the local church. Never neglect your heart involvement to your church. You must be happy, honest, and holy in faithful fellowship with your friends and brethren in your church. The best thing to illustrate this is when one coal in a charcoal fire is left isolated from the burning coals, it will gradually lost the fire and not be hot. But when we put it back to the burning coals it will become hot again in a few seconds. The point is you won’t be lukewarm if you remain faithful to your church and your church is on fire for God. Love one another and don’t treat other brethren with partiality but equally. Love other as the Lord loves you and as the Father loves His Son.

Conclusion: Everyone one knows the moment your heart becomes cool for the Lord. Don’t be complacent about that situation of your life. God taste your life badly, for it never pleases God at all. Be fervent in your prayers, in reading your bible consistently, in your response toward the hard preaching and in your love toward other Christian in your church. These things as the Bible shows us will keep you fervent for the Lord and keep you from being lukewarm Christian. God bless