Submitting Ourselves to God

In the days of the early church, some of the Greeks started complaining about how the Jewish believers weren’t helping Greek widows the same as their own. The apostles gathered and made arrangements for how the church would care for the widows. They clearly stated, though, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’” (Acts 6:1-4, ESV). They knew an important truth that we need to grasp.

If I don't spend time with God, how will God use me? You don't have to have elaborate notes or studies; you just have to be with God. There is no instant anointing.

If we want to see God move today, we need to say to him, “We want to build your church, your way, through your means. Your power is for your glory. It's your church.” Why don't we take our hands off our churches? We should have the courage to say, “Jesus, they belong to you. You build the church. Just show me what the tools are I should use and what goal I should have.”

Father God, we give you our churches today. We give you our ministries and work. We humble ourselves as we read in your word, which says, ‘humble yourselves under the presence of God, and he will exalt you.’ He will lift you. Forgive us for building our church instead of yours. Forgive us for building a church with different models and goals than what you laid out in your Word. Forgive us for ignoring your Word. Forgive us for following the spirit of this world rather than the Spirit of Christ. Forgive us for using fleshly methods instead of those that are tried and true through the centuries.

God, we want to be Christians who give you honor and glory by the way we live. It's getting darker around us, but your light is still shining brightest of all. In this darkness, God, bring out a remnant of people who really know and love you. Use us, whether it's for a month or a year. We don't know when you're coming; but God, from now to the finish line, let abundant grace be upon us all. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen.

^{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}