Have You Lost Your Fierce Faith? It’s Costing You

Catherine of Siena went to her secret place to pray. But instead of peace, her ears were assaulted by blasphemous words flooding her mind.

She cried out: “Oh, look Lord, I came up here to give you my day. Now look what is happening.”

The Lord asked, “Does this please you, Catherine?”

“Oh no, Lord,” she said.

“It is because I indwell you that this displeases you so.”

Catherine understood immediately. This wasn’t her heart—it was harassment from outside, from the accuser of her soul.

She cried out again: “Take it away, Lord. Send this filthy, horrible thing away.”

But the Lord said, “No. You do it.”

In that moment, Catherine learned spiritual authority. Centered in God and He in her, she took authority over the evil spirit and commanded it to leave.

After several months of this concentrated training—moving from the center where Christ dwells—she was utterly free.

This is fierce faith in action.

What Fierce Faith Actually Looks Like

Our full-on engagement is required to live worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1). The authority flows from above, but a fierce mastery must flow through us.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule'” (Genesis 1:28 NIV).

Hebrew scholar Robert Alter says the idea of rule in this passage means “a fierce exercise of mastery.” It’s active, engaged, passionate. It’s fierce.

Catherine’s fight teaches us critical truths about fierce faith:

Her heart was good. The assault came from outside, from the Enemy. We need to know the new heart Jesus gave us is good. We also need to know we’re at war.

Jesus told her to do it. “You do it.” We are to resist. Notice the proactivity? We must exercise fierce mastery. It’s His authority, yet He’s given it to us to use.

Her experience was training. It took several months of battle. She wasn’t blowing it—she was developing as an apprentice of His Kingdom. We must learn how to rule.

His Dominion Flows Through You

There’s no way around this: we are designed to live with strength.

Fierce faith requires renewal. Our thinking must shift to a dominion mindset—understanding that God’s sovereignty and our agency work together.

Here’s how fierce faith develops:

Our thinking gets renewed through Scripture and the Spirit.
We become focused, proactive, intentional.
Prayer flows from the Word and our worship.
Authoritative decrees flow from our prayer.
Prayer-borne action soars on the wings of our belief-filled declarations.
Accurate, authentic action releases the breakthrough we’re longing for.

This is the pattern of fierce faith.

“The righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1 NKJV). Not timid. Not passive. Bold.

Invest time meditating on Genesis 1:26-28. Read Psalm 8. These passages reveal your design. You are blessed—empowered—by the Creator. But understand: your internal state must carry a godly fierceness.

When you lose your fierce faith, you lose your effectiveness. You drift into reactive living instead of ruling from rest. You manage symptoms instead of commanding breakthrough. You tolerate what you’re meant to transform.

It costs you.

Catherine could have accepted the harassment as her new normal. She could have prayed passively, hoping God would eventually intervene. She could have questioned whether she had the right to command anything.

But fierce faith doesn’t work that way.

Jesus didn’t say, “Ask the Father to move the mountain.” He said, “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23 NKJV).

Saying. Believing. Not doubting.

The authority is from above. The exercise of mastery flows through you. This is the Kingdom dynamic. Partnership with God, not passive waiting on God.

“Much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17 NKJV).

Reign in life. Not someday. In this life now.

Recover Your Fierce Faith

Father, I thank you for creating me in your image. I’m grateful you designed me to exercise godly dominion. You are sovereign—I’m designed to exercise dominion under your sovereignty. I yield myself to you to be transformed from the inside out. I say “Amen”—let it be—to your authority flowing through me in all spheres of my life. I take initiative moving forward. May you be glorified in every way. Amen.

Q4U: Where have you lost your fierce faith? What have you been tolerating instead of commanding? What would it look like to recover the fierce exercise of mastery God designed you for?