We who are in ministry must never allow ourselves to be overcome by jealous ambition. If you see the success of others as a threat, you need to purify your motives. If you secretly hope your fellow believer fails, you need to purify your motives. If you want to grow your ministry simply to up your status, you need to purify your motives.
Being victorious doesn’t mean that I don’t face difficulties. Being victorious means that even in difficulties, I continue to believe that God wins in the end. The victorious believer doesn’t allow exterior circumstances to diminish inner joy. The victorious believer doesn’t allow the actions of others to steal their peace.
Often, when you pray, God’s desire is to cause you to become an answer to prayer. More than it will change anyone or anything else, prayer will change the one who prays. Prayer is not about persuading God to change His will - no one can persuade God. Rather, prayer is about becoming an active participant in God’s will.
Unceasing prayer is spontaneous, in the moment, fluid. It is practiced during even the most mundane portions of your day. Unceasing prayer is carried out in the car, quietly within your heart, on the job, at school, and so forth. It can fill any gap of time, and can be practiced in any circumstance. But there is also a ceremony to prayer that must be regularly observed. Ceremony—that is, preparing the atmosphere—is necessary for intentional prayer. Intentional prayer takes place when I set the atmosphere to sharpen my focus on the Lord.
We were made for the glory of God. Since the beginning, God has sought a partnership with man. Man was made to steward what God started, to cultivate what God created, and to call into order what God has called into existence. We are called to be diligent partners of God. God has provided you with the substance of your life. You must exercise your free will to shape that and then give it back to God as an offering. Our purpose is to love and glorify God through whatever means we have been given.
When gold is under fire, the refiner will watch the process. He will patiently wait. It’s not until he can see his reflection in the gold that he knows it has been purified. Likewise, in every trial, as those flaws in our character and nature are burned and melted away, God sees that the trial has served its purpose when He can see Himself in you.
