The Burning Heart Prayer asks for something bold: that Christ would set our hearts on fire with His own love.
“O my adorable and loving Savior, consume my heart with the burning fire with which Yours is aflame.”The Burning Heart Prayer
This is not a new longing. From the bush that burned on Horeb to the tongues of flame at Pentecost, Scripture speaks of God’s presence as living fire — a fire that guides, purifies, and kindles love. Read slowly. Let each verse rest a moment before moving on.
Hearts Set on Fire
Scripture speaks again and again of a heart that burns — not with anger, but with a Word too living to keep silent, and a Love too strong to be contained.
“They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’”
Luke 24:32 ESVThe Road to Emmaus
On the road to Emmaus, the disciples did not recognize the stranger beside them — yet their hearts knew. The prophets and psalmists knew this fire too.
“If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”
Jeremiah 20:9 ESV
“My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.”
Psalm 39:3 ESV
The Song of Songs gives this fire its truest name: love, sealed upon the heart.
“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.”
Song of Solomon 8:6 ESV
And Christ Himself longs to set the whole earth alight.
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!”
Luke 12:49 ESV
The fire is not only something God gives; it is who He is.
“for our God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:29 ESV
“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV
This consuming fire is poured into us as love, and it rested visibly upon the first disciples.
“…God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:5 ESV
“And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.”
Acts 2:3 ESV
- When have you felt your heart “burn within you” while hearing or reading Scripture?
- Like Jeremiah, is there a word of God you have tried to hold in? What would it mean to let it speak?
- How does knowing that God’s love has been “poured into our hearts” change the way you pray?
The Burning Bush
At Horeb, the mountain of God, a shepherd turns aside — and finds a fire that burns without destroying.
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:1–6 ESV
Another translation draws out the wonder of the second verse:
“There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.”
Exodus 3:2 NIVKey descriptive line, for comparison
This is the fire the Burning Heart Prayer asks for: a flame that consumes the heart without destroying it, leaving it alive, aflame, and holy.
- Moses had to “turn aside” to see. What would it mean for you to turn aside today?
- Where is the “holy ground” in your daily life?
- How does a fire that burns “yet is not consumed” describe God’s love for you?
Pillar of Fire
God’s fire is also guidance — light in the darkness, presence that does not depart.
“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”
Exodus 13:21–22God’s Guidance & Presence
“And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic.”
Exodus 14:24
- In what night of your life has God been a light that went before you?
- The pillar “did not depart.” Where do you most need to trust His unfailing presence?
Mount Sinai
At Sinai the Lord came down in fire, and the whole mountain trembled before His holiness.
“Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.”
Exodus 19:18God Descending in Fire
- How do awe and intimacy meet in your prayer?
- What does it mean to you that the same God who shook Sinai asks to dwell in your heart?
Baptism with the Holy Spirit and Fire
John the Baptist foretold a baptism greater than water.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11
“…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Luke 3:16The same promise
At Pentecost the promise was fulfilled: the tongues of fire we read in Acts 2:3 rested upon each disciple —
“And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…”
Acts 2:3–4Central to the fire of Pentecost
- How have you experienced the Holy Spirit as fire — warming, emboldening, purifying?
- What would you ask the Spirit to set alight in you today?
Refining / Purifying Fire
God’s fire also refines. It burns away what is not of Him, so that what remains may shine.
“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”
Malachi 3:2–3
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”
Isaiah 6:6–7
“…so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:7
- What in your heart might the Refiner be gently burning away?
- Isaiah’s lips were touched by a burning coal. What words of yours need His purifying touch?
- How can trials become, in God’s hands, a fire that proves your faith precious?
Other Strong Fire Images
Some verses return like embers stirred again: Christ’s longing to cast fire on the earth (Luke 12:49), and the God who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29 / Deuteronomy 4:24). To these, Scripture adds the very gaze of the risen Christ.
“The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.”
Revelation 1:14Description of the risen Christ
“…he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.”
Psalm 104:4
- What do you see when you imagine the eyes of Christ, “like a flame of fire,” looking upon you with love?
- How might you become a “flaming fire” — a minister of His love — to someone this week?
Living Fire
These verses expand the same imagery found in the burning bush and the “burning heart” theme: God’s presence as living fire that guides, purifies, empowers, and consumes what is not of Him while leaving His people transformed.
Having read, now pray. Ask the Sacred Heart to set your own heart alight.
Pray the Burning Heart Prayer →