Skill or Spirit?

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"Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit..." (Zech 4:6)

In these days when so much of Christian activity is carried out by mere human strength and skill, we need to have a fresh look at Jesus to learn how He ministered.

Luke, a doctor as well as a historian, explains the secret of Christ's ministry: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). Jesus emptied Himself of all His own power and strength and received the power of the Spirit, thus giving us a pattern.

The Word of the Lord to one of God's servants of old was, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts" (Zech 4:6). The sooner we learn this truth the better.

Christ's dependence on the Holy Spirit was manifested by the fact that prayer was His top priority. He spent 40 days in fasting and prayer before His 40 months of public ministry. He came out from the wilderness "in the power of the Spirit" (Lk 4:14). Today this wilderness experience is substituted by an academic degree. No wonder we accomplish little. Even when He became popular and great multitudes came to hear and to be healed by Him, Jesus "often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed" (Lk 5:15,16). When the battery runs down, the car becomes a push model. An hour a day alone with God is but a minimum.

Jesus commenced His ministry in prayer. He carried it on by prayer. He consummated it in prayer (In Gethsemane and at Golgotha). He now continues praying ("He ever lives to make intercession"— Heb 7:25). Do we attempt to fulfil our ministry any other way? Prayer is an acknowledgment of our insufficiency. Prayer tells God we need Him and the power of His Spirit.

Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994) writes, "The self-sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray! There is no field more unexplored in Christian experience and possibility than this limitless field of prayer. Prayer means pain. Prayers means privacy."

Spirit Divine, attend our prayers; make a lost world Thy home;
Descend with all Thy gracious powers, oh, come, Great Spirit, come!
Come as the Fire, and purge our hearts like sacrificial flame;
Let our whole soul an offering be to our Redeemer's Name!
(Dr. Andrew Reed, 1787-1862)


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