Top Up I

TEXT: Matt.14:15-23, MORE LESSONS: Prov. 4:23-26

Anything that is in constant use needs to be topped up or else it will finish; this includes, but not A limited to, the anointing of God upon a person. In Luke 8:46 when the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus' garment, Jesus immediately noticed and commented. That was a proof that each time Jesus ministered, there was a drop in the anointing, though the anointing upon Him was without measure. It is commendable that Jesus was sensitive enough to know that something left Him; but the absence of such sensitivity has caused many church workers and ministers disastrous losses. Some work and have no sense that the anointing in them is reducing with every service until weakness begins to manifest, occasioned by emptiness. This is more with ministers without spiritual back-up in form of prayer supporters.

Several times Paul repeatedly solicits for prayer, Brethren, pray for us 1 Thess. 5:25, Finally, brethren, pray for us…. 2Thess.3:1, Pray for us: for…. Heb13:18. Jesus, though God, never flowed in the anointing without refilling and topping up. In our reading, after the miracle of multiplying bread and fish, He refused to go into celebration but rather withdrew to top up the anointing with hours of prayer (v23). In fact, He was there until about 3am in the morning (v25).

We all must learn from Jesus’ example. We must learn to pray not only before service/programme but after. The prayer after must be as serious as the one before the programme. Praying after a service helps you first to give the glory back to God, renew your strength and to begin the preparation for the next one.

A constant refilling after a programme is the secret of a greater tomorrow. This is as important for the ministers/leaders of a programme as well as the co-workers. If you want your leader to last and do more, whether he asks you for prayer or not, pray for him, back him up. It is easier to pray before the programme than after. Often brethren savour the joy of victory and the sense of fulfilment. But Jesus overcame all this and topped up after a miracle. I wish just a quarter of women who celebrated David after the killing of Goliath went back to raise an altar of prayer for David and his battle with Saul occasioned by that victory might have been tempered. Learn to refill, and start the preparation for the next assignment immediately after the last one.

PRAYER/ACTION

* Give thanks to God for being ever there to renew your strength.

* Ask God to help you be more sensitive to the state of your spirit.

* Proclaim that you will not dry up and you will not be a spiritual disaster.

* Put your hands on your head and for the next five minutes concentrate your thoughts on God and begin to say “Lord refill me now with Your Spirit”.

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