Whatever happened to our Power?
When was the last time you heard a message about power? I reckon we don’t preach it, because the challenge of living up to it is too great, so we dial it down, scale it back and dumb it down, because it demands too much from us, to live in the realm of Power!
Remember Scotty from Star Trek? “I canna do it Cap’n, I don’t have the power…”
I wonder if we post-modern Christians have come to the same place on our trek to Heaven, where we can’t do ‘it’ (e.g. life, relationships, church, obedience) because we don’t have the power?
I believe that power is more than a dimension, or an experience that we aspire to, I believe it is our identity as Christians. Powerless Christianity is an anomaly, an aberration, it shouldn’t exist! Power is at the core of our identity, check this out:
- We were saved by power! (Romans 1:16 – The Gospel is the Power of God for salvation…)
- We are immersed in power! (Acts 1:8 – We will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us…)
- We are grounded in power! (1Corinthians 2:4 – Our faith rests on God’s power, not on men’s wisdom…)
- We are being built up in power! (1Corinthians 4:20 – the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power…)
If these scriptures are true, then our lives should be a succession of Power Encounters! a series of holy meetings with God! A succession of divine appointments with men and with God!
But here’s the real kicker: We have no power because we have no power source.
You may say: “What?!” “But I’m a Christian, I have a relationship with God…” “How can you say that I’m not connected to the power source?”
I say we have no power because we have not identified our power source correctly. Our power source is, in fact, Prayer.
Check this out:
- Prayer is our identity! (Mark 11:17 – Jesus said we’d be known as a House of Prayer. Are our churches, our youth ministries, our services,our families, our lives, known to be one of prayer?)
- Prayer is our lifestyle! (Luke 11:1 – after years of watching Jesus’ life, the disciples didn’t ask for anything else, but they asked Him to teach them how pray!)
- Prayer is our position! (Ephesians 2:6 says that we are seated in Heavenly places with Jesus, how on earth do we get there, except by prayer?)
- Prayer is our solution! (James 4:2 says that we don’t have because we don’t pray.)
- Prayer is our authorisation! (John 1:6 describes a man, sent by God. We are also sent by God, with the full weight and authority of Heaven behind us, resting on our prayer life.)
Whatever happened to our power? Well, it’s directly proportional to our prayer. No power = No prayer. Big power = Big prayer.
Simple, but not easy.
Perhaps we should pray about it…