Editor: Al Vesper
Are You Qualified For Ministry?
"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1Cor. 6:11).
Scripture teaches that the ministry of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is for all believers (1Cor. 12:7).
At what point do we become qualified to be ministers of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in particular, the gift of prophecy? What level of maturity should we attain to before considering ourselves fit to minister? What measure of faithfulness in our walk with the Lord should we exhibit, before stepping out into ministry? What depth of healing and wholeness should be attested to in our lives, before we begin to minister healing and wholeness to others?
As always, we can look to Jesus, and the pattern He established in choosing those whom He would send out, to do the work of the ministry. Let's begin our study by considering the faithfulness, wholeness and maturity of the disciples whom Jesus chose to send in His name.
- They were lacking in faith and weak in prayer, but rather than feeling condemned and disqualified, they asked Jesus to increase their faith and teach them to pray. We can do the same! (Matt.17:19-21; Luke 17:5; Mark 9:28-29; Luke 11:1)
- They lacked understanding of some of the basic teachings of Jesus, yet they drew near to Him, seeking, questioning, receiving and learning of Him (Matt. 15:15-16; Matt. 16:6-12; Matt. 16:20-23; Matt. 18:21-22).
- They were stingy, judgmental and mean-spirited. In both of the following passages of scripture, Jesus not only rebukes his disciples for being stingy, but he also has to tell them to be nice to Mary (Matt.26:6-10; John 12:3-7).
- They were motivated by selfish ambition and revenge. Mk. 9:33-34 and Lk.22:23-24 reveal the arguing, plotting and scheming going on among the disciples as they dispute individual place and position in this new "ministry" that Jesus has been discussing with them. When Jesus sends them into an area to make preparations for His arrival to minister, the disciples want to call fire down on the heads of those who reject the ministry (Lk.9:54)!
- They went through times of doubting, disloyalty and unfaithfulness to Jesus and to His purposes in and through their lives (Matt. 26:31; Matt. 26:70-74; Mark 14:50).
It is strikingly obvious that the disciples of Jesus were not 100% loyal. They were not healed and whole emotionally. THEY WERE NOT FULLY MATURE! Yet, these are the people to whom Jesus GAVE His power and authority. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In this week's lesson so far, we've been considering the "qualifications" of those who were chosen both to do and to teach the things of Jesus. These are the same people who "turned the world upside down", yet they are people with whom any believer can easily identify. There is one other qualification we must not overlook! Fully recognizing that all promises, purposes and provisions are made possible in and through the glorious man Christ Jesus, we are enabled to fulfill the one qualification attainable by us all:
- Mk. 4:19:
- "Then He (Jesus) said to them, `Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men'"
And as Eugene Peterson writes in The Message, verse 20, "They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed".
Surely, one of the sweetest sounds that never ceases to bring joy and delight to our Savior, is the sound of dropping nets, closely followed by the sound of purposeful, surrendered footsteps.
In short, what stops God from using you for ministry?
- Are you lacking in faith? Then confess this to the Lord and ask Him to increase your faith. He will.
- Do you feel you are not knowledgeable enough of scripture and understanding of doctrine? If so, then ask the Lord to teach you and give you wisdom. Continue to read and study God's word. There is a certain basic level of scriptural understanding that is necessary to be able to effectively minister God's truth, but you do not have to hold an M.Div degree to be usable. Continue to learn scripture and study to show yourself approved (2 Tim 2:15), but do not discount the Lord's ability to use you because you are not a Bible theologian.
- Do you need more maturity in your character development? I.E., are there areas of your character that are not perfected yet? This is true for almost everyone who God uses. He will continue to develop and shape your character. His indwelling Holy Spirit will continue to transform your nature into conformity with the nature of Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.") Choose to cooperate with Him instead of resisting Him. Allow Him to mold and transform your character. (Romans 12:2 NIV "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.") But do not assume you have to be perfect before God starts to use you. Just be willing to be "in process" with God and allow Him to further refine you as He uses you. That is what He did with His disciples and He will do the same for you.
- Do you go through times of doubting, disloyalty and unfaithfulness to Jesus and to His purposes in and through your life? Then allow Him to restore you, as He restored Peter when Peter denied Him (John 21:15-19).
Jesus did not disqualify His disciples for any of the above reasons, and He will not disqualify you, either. If you have a willing heart and a sincere desire to be obedient and available to Him, God will use you.
MATURITY AND PROPHETIC MINISTRY
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Eph. 4:11-13
In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote: "It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird; it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs, at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must hatch or go bad". Much of the church today looks like a hatchery! The hatching process is messy and awkward, but it is essential for transition and it is essential for flying. The Apostle Paul, like an old, mother hen, knew well the cost involved in the hatching process.
It is within the context of the messiness and the awkwardness of the church at Corinth, that Paul, by the Holy Spirit, brings forth much of the scriptural instruction concerning prophecy. In First Corinthians we find answers to some of the basic questions about prophecy: Who, What and Why? Who may prophesy and who is prophecy for? What is prophecy? Why prophesy?
Upon considering these 3 W's, we'll find that the answers are quite simple and direct.
- Who may prophesy?
- ALL believers. (1Cor. 14:1, and 31)
- Who is prophecy for?
- Prophecy is for the church and for unbelievers. (1Cor. 14:4, 24)
- What is prophecy?
- Prophecy is that which brings edification, exhortation and comfort to people. (1Cor. 14:3)
- Why prophesy?
- Prophecy edifies the church, is a sign to unbelievers and brings glory to Jesus (1Cor. 14:3, 4 and 24, 28; Rev. 19:10)
When considering some of the instructions concerning prophecy and other gifts of the Holy Spirit related in First Corinthians 12-14, one needs to be mindful of the people to whom these instructions were given. The church at Corinth was dealing with major problems, such as divisions and quarreling (1Cor. 1:10-11), immaturity and carnality (1Cor. 3:1-3), arrogance and presumption against an apostle (1Cor. 4), sexual immorality (1Cor. 8,6 and 7), issues related to idolatry (1Cor. 8,9 and 10), and drunkenness at meetings (1Cor. 11:21). These are serious issues that Paul addresses, but does he tell the church to stop meeting? Does he instruct them to stop listening to the Spirit? Does he warn them to stop praying for one another and to stop ministering to one another? No, he says there are even more things he needs to talk to them about, but that he will set them in order when he gets there (1Cor. 11:34). Then, like a good father, he begins to instruct them in the correct way to receive and to do the work of the ministry. How can he do this? He can do this because he trusts the height, width and depth of the love and grace of God (1Cor. 1:4-9). He can do this because he knows and trusts the person of the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 12:11). He can do this because he trusts the redemptive power of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 6:11).
We are partakers of the divine nature, each time we release and receive the ministry of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We draw others, unbelievers and believers alike, near to the presence of the Lord, each time we offer ourselves as vessels for His service. God longs to speak to mankind. We must come to understand that we are co-laborers with God and have been given the holy privilege of revealing His love to mankind. The redemptive power of the cross is released into the world, the church and individual lives, each time we trust God to speak through us by the Holy Spirit. "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10).
We stated in a previous paragraph that much of the church today resembles a hatchery, so we can pose the age-old question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Putting the question in context with our study, let us pose the question of which comes first - ministry or maturity? The verses of Ephesians 4:11-12 have been trumpeted loudly and clearly throughout the Body of Christ in recent years, as the understanding has unfolded that there are those given to the church (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers), whose privilege and purpose is to "equip the saints for the work of the ministry". Along with this, there has been an emphasis on developing "Body Ministry", and rightly so. Reading further through verse 16, we find that doing of the "work of the ministry" is a VITAL part of the maturing process for the saints.
What are some of the purposes accomplished through Body Ministry? Several are listed in Eph. 4:11-16:
- The Body of Christ is built-up (vs. 12)
- We are brought more fully into the unity of the faith (vs. 13)
- We are led into a deeper knowledge of the Son of God (vs. 13)
- We mature in Christ (vs. 13b-14)
- We mature in love (vs. 15)
- We take our part in the process by which the entire Body of Christ is joined together (vs. 16)
- As each one grows, we all grow (vs. 16)
It is interesting to note that the process that begins with the ministries given to the Body for the equipping and edifying of the Body (vs. 11), comes full circle to the Body of Believers itself, knowing how to grow in love and edification by receiving that which "every joint supplies".
We asked: which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Ministry or maturity? The answer really is simple. If you're an egg, it's time to hatch! If you're a chicken, it's time to reproduce and encourage others to hatch! We are all called to spiritual maturity - to growing up "in all things into Him who is the head - Christ" (vs.15), but we should not let the awareness of our immaturity cause us to draw back from the very process by which we are brought to maturity. There are depths of edification and maturity that we can come to know only as we are willing to step-out to do the work of the ministry. God's grace IS sufficient. We bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His immeasurable gift of the Holy Spirit, each time we take up the cross of our self-conscious unworthiness, deny our fear and lack, and trust His ability to work through us, until we all come "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ".
Week 1 Activation Exercise: Prophetic Prayer
Each week of this course will begin with a particular teaching designed to help build the faith for the activation which will follow. Now that we have covered the qualifications to minister and have seen that as saved, redeemed, Blood washed saints, we are all qualified to be ministers of Christ, we will now move on to the Activation for Week 1.
Before we begin, we need to take a moment and lay some groundwork for the activation process since we will repeat this general approach in the activation exercise each week. The exercise will be different each week but the approach will remain much the same.
Some of you may be asking - what exactly is an activation? An activation is a process whereby we challenge ourselves with some truth from scripture to be able to receive the grace to then do what the Bible says we can do. Grace is God's divine unmerited enablement. Another way of saying this is that God gives us His ability as a gift even when we don't deserve it. It is not something we work for but is a free gift that we lay hold of by releasing our FAITH. WE DON'T HAVE TO FEEL IT, GET GOOSE BUMPS, OR STIR UP OUR FLESH in order to be used in the Gifts of the Spirit. It only takes scriptural truth, God's grace and a releasing of our faith.
Now, this "truth-grace-faith" process is a very important principle that occurs all through scripture. Here is an example of how it works in receiving the Gift of Eternal Life:
- Someone ministers truth regarding eternal life from the scripture
- The Holy Spirit comes and overshadows and illuminates the truth in the heart and mind of the hearer
- God's grace comes and gives the hearer the divine unmerited ability to be saved
- The hearer not only hears the truth but their faith rises and they are given the opportunity to respond
- The end result is that the hearer manifests the gift of eternal life
In this course, the above process will likewise hold true except that we are dealing primarily with 3 of the gifts - prophecy, the word of knowledge, and the word of wisdom, the gifts that are primarily in use when someone prophesies. And while we are discussing the Gifts of the Spirit, activating the gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits, faith, healing and miracles are all done in like manner. The gifts are different but the process is the same. Once this process is understood, much will open up in the use of the Gifts.
The purpose of each activation is to bring about a stretching and "flexing" of your spiritual gifts in a safe, practice mode and to demonstrate that God is faithful to His word and that He has indeed given us divine unmerited ability to operate in the Gifts of the Spirit.
Now that we have begun to lay our foundation, there are several scriptures that will provide our "truths" for this week.
1 Cor. 12:1 (NIV) "Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant" We see that God wants us to learn and grow in our use of the Gifts of the Spirit.
1 Cor. 14:40 (NIV) "Let all things be done decently and in order" The church has for so long concentrated on the "decently and in order" part that we have, in some cases, ceased the doing part. Something has to be DONE before it can ever be DONE DECENTLY AND IN ORDER! Do not be afraid of making mistakes because this forum is for practice, learning, and growth. Do not be so cautious about "wildfire" that we wind up with "no fire". We want the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 5:14 (KJV) "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil". We grow in our proficiency in the Gifts as we use them, so let's use them.
1 Cor. 12 (NIV)
The above scripture is the revealed will of god that we have a manifestation (gift in operation) of the Holy Spirit for the common good of the Body of Christ. The only thing each of us needs to know is how much and what portion of these gifts is for us to individually receive and manifest. All born again, Spirit filled believers have been given the Gifts of the Holy Spirit but some will manifest special divine enablements more than others. Jesus has willed the Gifts to the Body of Christ but the Holy Spirit still divides and distributes to individuals as He wills based upon the Christians desire and ability to receive and manifest.
Now, as we move to the "doing" phase, please keep the above truths in mind and allow your faith to be stirred up by them.
This Weeks Activation - Prophetic Praying
It is interesting to note that Cindy Jacobs discovered her prophetic abilities in this type of activation. She describes her initial experiences prophetically praying for people in her church in her book entitled "The Voice Of God" (ISBN 0-8307-1773-0) and how this led to her recognizing her unique prophetic gifting. Some of you will also discover your giftings and callings as a result of these exercises over the following weeks.
Prophetic prayer is simply allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in what we pray over someone as He gives us the thoughts and information in our spirit for and about that person. As sons (and daughters) of God, this should be our goal anyway according to Romans 8:13-14.
You will address your partner, join hands (or whatever and however your electronic vehicle allows) and then pray for your partner with no parameters on what type of prayer. The person praying is asked to simply be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to bless their partner in the prayer.
Purpose: To allow the participant the opportunity to develop a sensitivity to the "voice" of the Holy Spirit while practicing in a format that should be familiar to most Christians - that of prayer. The goal is to develop a relaxed attitude and a confidence in perceiving the "leading" of the Holy Spirit in prayer for another person.
Step By Step Process Of This Activation: WE WILL SHARE CHRIST WITHIN US Since we are all saved, we have Christ living within us. Let's allow him to minister to us, through us, and to and through our brother or sister in Christ. 1 Peter 4:10 says,
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms". We want to be good stewards of God's grace so let's be willing to share Christ within us with our brother or sister. SPIRIT LED PRAYING How many of you believe the Holy Spirit knows what your individual needs are? We are not going to prophesy but we are going to extend our faith to believe that the Holy Spirit will lead us according to Romans 8:26-27 as we pray for each other.
STIR YOURSELF UP SPIRITUALLY How do we stir ourselves up?
- First, be convinced that it is the Lord's will for every believer to
move in the Gifts of the Spirit. Next, be persuaded that you have at
least 1 of the 9 gifts. Eph. 4:7-8 tells us:
"But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."
- Realize that no believer is perfect and it is OK to make a mistake. Another look at Jesus' disciples will prove this fact as we saw in our teaching material.
- Just know that we all learn by doing.
- Praying in the Spirit acts as a catalyst to receive the mind of Christ so that our human spirit can receive thoughts, impressions, pictures, etc. from the Holy Spirit
- We activate the gifts by faith and grace, therefore it is our responsibility.
SANCTIFICATION - ACTIVATION PRAYER Pray this prayer with your partner as you begin:
Father, In Jesus name, I am cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and therefore I am righteous before You and the Holy Spirit dwells within me. He is in my thought patterns because I present my whole body as a living sacrifice, alive, holy and acceptable to God. I bring every thought of my mind and my soul into captivity to the mind of Christ. I will be open to be led by Christ living within me as I pray. I will be bold to speak those things which You wish to have me pray and I will not doubt or question but rather just pray. I am a believer in You Lord Jesus. I have prayed in faith and now I will expect to receive. Amen. This prayer releases people from any guilt, fear, condemnation and sense of unworthiness. Since fear and feeling unworthy are the two most hindering factors to people moving in the mind of Christ, this brings a release.
PRAYER OF COVERING AND PROTECTION The purpose of this short and specific prayer is to bind any hindering or religious spirits and to release faith and anointing. Feel free to use whatever words you choose for this but it does not have to be long and involved.
GO SILENT AND LISTEN, LOOK AND FEEL One of the partners should agree to be the lead off person and go first. Now relax because this is going to be fun and it will begin to show you how to "tune in" to the Spirit. Once you go silent, give yourself about 45 - 60 seconds and during this time, look and see what pictures form in your minds eye (the eyes of your heart), listen to what you may "hear" in your Spirit and pay attention to what sense you may have in your "knower". Now let's try to briefly explain these different modes.
If you are a "seer", you will see pictures in your mind readily. These pictures may require interpretation but you are to give exactly what you see in your mind for now. We will deal with interpretations later.
If you are a "hearer", you will "hear" what the Spirit says. This will not usually be an audible voice but for some of you it could be - on rare occasion. Normally, you just feel like you are hearing something. In actuality, you are not hearing anything audible but you still feel as if you are hearing what you receive. To an unbelieving bystander, they would hear nothing. They would think you are just hearing things - except that you really would be. On certain occasion, some have felt they were hearing voices (plural) rather than THE Voice of the Spirit. If you experience voices as a rule, you will need to get with your pastor and deal with this situation since this is not the Voice we are looking for here. This merits mention here simply because we are listening to the realm of the Spirit and the enemy can try to interfere here. This is the reason we pray the prayer of covering and protection before "tuning in". Moving on, once you hear, you simply pray what you hear the Spirit saying to you for your partner.
If you are a "knower / feeler", you just seem to know something and it feels right but you could not explain to anyone how you know, you just know! It is like a built in sense of "what is". If you are a knower, you will recognize this pattern. If you are a feeler, you may actually feel something or a sensation in your body which, for instance, might lead you to pray for healing in the area of your partners body where you feel the sensation.
PRAY FOR YOUR PARTNER ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT'S LEADING This is the doing part we for which we have prepared ourselves. Now is the time to, one partner at a time, pray for your partner and remember to pray ONLY what you feel you are being led to pray by the Holy Spirit. Remember, we are not trying to prophesy in this exercise but simply pray a focused prayer. As the content of the prayer begins to "connect" with the realities in the life of your partner, he or she will know. This is a most encouraging thing to see that the Holy Spirit will lead all of us this way.
FOLLOW-UP It is very useful to have your partner help you know what you prayed that brought to them the benefits of the prophetic - specifically strengthening, encouraging and comfort according to 1 Cor. 14:3 (NIV). This feedback will encourage both the "pray-er and the pray-ee" to see how God will honor His word and minister to both people involved.
REPETITION (If you are in a Live Activation Group or an AOL Chatroom or IRC group) This exercise is best done with multiple partners. Switch partners and repeat steps 6-8 with the new partner. When you have completed with the new partner (if there are enough people in your group), switch partners again and repeat steps 6-8 with this new partner.
APPLICATION Can you see how this Spirit led prayer will renovate your prayer life and the prayers you pray for others?
End of Week 1