With Life and Power
Sharing God’s word without ministering the power of God is like giving your guests a cake and not letting them eat it. We need to share God’s word in a bold and powerful way that changes people’s lives. Their lives will be touched and lifted, as they taste the word of God and experience the power of prayer.
The Importance of God’s Word
From the following scriptures list what role God’s word has in people’s lives.
(12) For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
(13) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
(16) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
(17) so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2) Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
(9) He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Paul’s Example
The following examples show how Paul ministered the word to people.
– God’s word should bring encouragement and lift.
(11) Command and teach these things.
(12) Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
(13) Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
– Be led by the Holy Spirit.
(4) My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
(5) so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Why did Paul value simplicity?
– Don’t be afraid to call sin “sin.”
(1) It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.
What did Paul call sin?
– Don’t feel you need to deal with every detail. Focus on the main issue.
(1) If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?
What was the main issue in this example?
– Don’t sympathize with negative attitudes, self-pity, or wrong thinking.
(1) By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away!
(2) I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.
(3) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
(4) The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
(5) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Prayer
From the following scriptures list what role prayer has in people’s lives?
(7) There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days.
(8) His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.
(9) When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.
(18) And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
(15) And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
(16) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Ask a Friend
- Can you share a story of ministering God’s word to someone?
- How do you know what to share from God’s word and pray in any situation?
Application
- How can you prepare to minister God’s word and prayer?
- What opportunities can you take this week?
Prayer
Lord, help me to be a good minister of your word and prayer. Thank you for Paul’s example of love, faithfulness and power in the Holy Spirit. I desire your word and prayer to be at work in me as you intend it to be.
Key Verse
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our inner-most thoughts and desires.”
