Lord, Light a Fire within Me

Do you ever feel like a "mechanically defective Christian" (to borrow a line from cartoonist Howard Paris) who, however much you agree with the principle of being active in the Lord's work, just doesn't seem to have the will to get up from the comfortable, safe couch potato life?

Christ said, "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.... apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5). Trying to work for Christ without His power is like trying to run a car without fuel--or trying to dig all the oil and refine it into gasoline ourselves.

If we lack spiritual drive, maybe it's because we've forgotten to ask the Holy Spirit to put fuel in our tanks.

Lord, light a fire within me:
A tiny spark will do;
Ignite it by Your Spirit,
And make its light burn true.

Lord, light a fire within me:
My heart is cold and dark;
Send light into my spirit--
Oh, just one tiny spark--

However small the flicker,
I know that it can grow
As by Your power You feed it,
If You sustain its glow.

The Spirit's wind blows strongly,
And brings Your mighty power
To fan each sputtering ember
And feed it hour by hour

Until the light, enlivened,
Burns strong with steady flame,
And shines with blazing brilliance,
A beacon to Your Name,

A light that can feed others
From the true Source of Light,
Until they too are kindled,
Until their hearts burn bright:

A million flames ignited
Into one blazing fire,
All shining in the darkness
And burning ever higher,

Till the whole world is shining
With Your own holy Light,
And blazing with Your glory
To overcome the night.

Lord, light a fire within me:
However small it glows,
Make it a spark ignited
Through which Your own power flows.