copeland

Remember when you first got into the Word and were so excited about the things of God? Remember when you could hardly wait to read the next chapter in the Bible or listen to the latest teaching tape? There was only one word to describe you—hot! Your reborn spirit was on fire for God.

When Ken and I first heard the message of faith, we were like that. We were so on fire that nothing else in the world interested us. We had learned that we could trust God’s Word just like we could trust the word of a close friend, and we were hungry to find out everything He had promised us in His Word.

Back then, it seemed all I did was read God’s Word. I read faith books. I listened to tapes. I was dedicated. My total interest was the Word of God.

But slowly that changed. At first I didn’t even realize it was happening. Then the Holy Spirit went to work on me and showed me that I had grown lukewarm. I had let the fire die down. I still read the Word, but I had lost my enthusiasm.

Maybe you’ve had this same experience. If so, I want to tell you how to get the fire back. It worked for me and it will work for you.

God’s Word says to draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. In order to do that you will have to first drop the things that are stealing your time from reading the Word. Delight yourself in His Word. Become diligent again. If you will give your attention to the things of God, soon your desire for God will increase. Your desire will follow your attention. The more you attend to something, the more your desire is drawn to give attention to that thing.

I can show you that this is a natural principle. If you play golf, you’ll go for months at a time without even thinking about it. Then one day you’ll make time in your schedule to go to the course and play a round or two. The next day you may want to play again. Your desire gets stronger and stronger the more you play.

This same thing will happen in the spirit realm. Your soul’s desire will follow whatever you spend your time doing. Start building yourself up by praying in the spirit. Believe and act on everything God says to you. Before long that flicker that’s been wavering in your spirit will grow again into an all-consuming fire!