Does your prayer burn? Does it radiate?
In the south where I live, the summer sun is an intense reality. It affects and controls everything for months. We expect to sweat. A lot. Our cars become mini-furnaces. We know not to walk barefoot on blacktop. The sidewalks will still be scolding, even after the sun has been set for hours. Really though, if you let your hand hover over the cement at 9 pm, you can still feel the heat.
Our prayer should be like this. Our time with Christ, who is the light; our time being filled with the Spirit, the fiery flame that is the love of God; the time where we are set ablaze – this should be present in every part of our lives, every interaction, every moment of ministry. Our prayer should radiate. Others should encounter the love of God when they draw near to us. They should become aware of His presence, His warmth, His compassion.
If this is how it should be, particularly for us as ministers, this begs the self-evaluating question:
Are you taking time to absorb God, to receive Him into your soul, to the point where you are being transformed and purified, to where you are being made a burning one, set ablaze? Because…
the answer to this question reveals
the nature and the fate of your ministry
If the answer is no, if you aren’t being filled with the Spirit of God and made new, made His, then that means your ministry is being fueled by your own efforts, rather than by the life of God, by a love you’ve constructed, rather than an eternal one you’ve been filled with, a truth that you’ve crafted, rather than one that is lasting and pure.
Your youth deserve and desire better than something you’ve come up with. Your youth need Jesus. And so does each and every one of us. God, who is the reason we’re alive, the end we were made for, our source and summit, desires to draw near to us. The only way we can receive Him is to open our hearts to receive Him, which is the work He is bringing about in prayer. [tweetthis]Youth deserve better than something you’ve come up with. They need Jesus.[/tweetthis]
If God doesn’t drive everything in our lives and in our ministry, then what are we even doing? If we proclaim Christ as Lord to our young people, but He’s not actually Lord of our lives, of our days, of our schedules, if we don’t take time to receive marching orders from Him, if we don’t let Him tell us that we belong to Him – then our works and our relationship with Him are empty.
if we don’t allow Him to fill us,
we are hindering His work through us
Our young people need His words to speak truth, His light to shine into the dark places, His movements to move in souls. You and I cannot do that. Only He can. And the beautiful thing is, He wants to do that through us. But if we don’t allow Him to take space within us, to fill us with Himself, we’re hindering Him from this ministry through us.
We need to be transformed, made new everyday, to be transformed from mere pavement to impactful heat. To go from just being dirt to being the fire of God’s love. Our families, our friends, our youth need this. And the truth is, we will be disappointed if we settle for anything less than the fire of Love we were made for.
Start today. Begin anew and let God warm the places in your heart that are desperate for His love. Let Him set your life ablaze and transform the way you proclaim the kingdom in His name. [tweetthis]If we say Christ is Lord and He’s not Lord of our lives, our works are empty.[/tweetthis]