How to Grow a 'Wildfire Faith'

Carol Kent is an amazing woman, shaped by the Lord for a powerful ministry—but not through circumstances she ever would have chosen for herself. Be encouraged with this Faith UPGRADE.

“As a teenager I wanted to live for something that would outlast my life,” Carol said. “I remember saying, ‘God, I’ll do anything for you.’” 

I [Dawn] remember saying that to the Lord too … and then life got in the way. Carol had a similar experience.

She continues …

After I graduated from college and got married, I began a home Bible study. A couple of years later I was directing women’s ministries in a large church, followed by an opportunity to teach a city-wide Bible Study Fellowship class.

But in the middle of saying, “Yes” to a speaking ministry, I was stopped in my tracks when my only child was arrested for a serious crime.

Suddenly, I felt like my once vibrant faith was turning into an ash heap as I wrestled with God over why he would allow something so devastating to happen.

How about you? Do you sometimes wrestle with disappointment with God, deep discouragement, or diminished trust in God’s faithfulness? 

 Each one of us has our own trigger points for what wears us down to the point of feeling like the fire of our faith is going out. 

For some, it might be great personal loss or a series of losses; for others, it might be the burnout of working hard in business or ministry without visible results or much-needed breaks. Sometimes it’s dealing with the “daily” part of life. 

We don’t intentionally let our faith turn into a small flicker; we just get too busy to tend the fire.

Here are Seven Steps for Growing Your Faith-Fire:

1. Identify the current state of your faith. Is it an early spark, just beginning to flicker? A raging bonfire? Smoldering coals? Does your love for God burn so brightly that others are drawn to the radiance and warmed by its heat?

2. Embrace the power of embers. I used to think of embers as the sad remains of a dying fire. However, embers are the glowing, hot coals that remain after a fire.

If you’ve experienced a personal firestorm that threatened to quench your faith, ask the Holy Spirit to blow on the embers of your faith as you hang your weakness on his strength.

3. Document what God has done. Every time I get discouraged, I’ve started listing what God has done in the past and it reminds me that even if my current challenging circumstances don’t change, he’ll walk with me through the heat of the crisis.

4. Remember your first spark of faith. I came to know Jesus when I was five years old. I was listening to a Christian radio program and I turned to my mother and told her I was “such a sinner.” She immediately realized that God was speaking to my heart and led me to Jesus that day. Remembering that day reinforces my desire to stay close to him.

5. Tend the fire of your faith. I’m learning to be intentional about spending time reading God’s Word. I write out verses that strengthen my faith. Right now, I’m memorizing Rom. 12:11-12 (MSG):  “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.  Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant.  Don’t quit in hard times…”  

I have a friend who challenged me to plan DAWG Days (Day-Alone-With-God Days). She encouraged me to plan ahead for a full day, or even a half-day when I could go to a quiet place (a park, a library, or any place where I wouldn’t be interrupted) with my Bible, a devotional book, and a journal. I was to read God’s Word and then write out what I believed he was saying to me.

6. Pierce the darkness.  Matt. 5:14 (MSG) says, “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.  God is not a secret to be kept.  We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.” 

Begin doing one tangible act of kindness for someone else every day. (Examples: offer to babysit for a single mom so she can have a break; visit an inmate in a jail or prison; take a meal to a friend who is recovering from surgery (or send a gift card); or pray with someone who needs encouragement (over the phone, via a text message, or through an email).

7. Develop unquenchable faith. Wildfire faith springs from God’s Word and burns itself into your own story. As you ask him to give you a passion for living for things that matter, act on what you know to be true about God. Review his attributes and his names. 

Be assured that when the fire of adversity meets the God of the Flame—He wins…and so do you!

Which of these seven steps does God want to use to tinder the fire of your faith this week?

Janet Baker won the drawing for Carol's UNQUENCHABLE book.

Carol Kent, a bestselling author and international speaker, is the president of Speak Up Speaker Services, a Christian speakers' bureau, and director of the Speak Up Conference—equipping men and women to develop speaking, writing and leadership skills. She also founded Speak Up for Hope, which benefits families of incarcerated individuals. Some of Carol's books include: When I Lay My Isaac Down, A New Kind of Normal and Becoming a Woman of Influence. Her newest title is Unquenchable: Grow a Wildfire Faith That Will Endure Anything. Carol and her husband Gene live in Lakeland, Florida.