Hello People,

We made it thus far again to the Glory of God. Today is the last day of November and as we step into the last month of 2023, I pray for the continued grace of God to abide with us in all areas of our lives.

When I heard Apostle Selman say “many believers struggle with the subject of growth and stature in the spirit,” I knew I was in for a revelation. By the doing of the Holy Spirit, I will be reviewing a sermon by Apostle Selman from the Covenant Nation’s WAFBEC 2023. I was just saying to my friend that God is so intentional because this sermon aligns so well with this week’s #MeditationMonday. It not only aligns with it, it takes the topic way deeper with lessons and insights to achieving that growth we looked at on Monday. It couldn’t have been better discussed, a lot of powerful revelations that were missing from Monday’s post have been brought to light by the Holy Spirit through this sermon. Before I go into it, I want to quickly point out a bible verse that came to light through this sermon the drives home #MeditationMonday’s topic, Galatians 4:1.

Ok, let’s unpack the sermon. We have been on the topic of the importance of growth, however, in order to be spiritually mature and sound, there are patterns that we must master and follow. Apostle Selman referred to Jesus as The Pattern Man and he took us through the patterns from Jesus’ life that we must emulate. The Apostle identified two spiritual patterns responsible for growth and stature/maturity in the spirit:

1.     The Ministry of Prayer and,

2.     The Ministry of the Word

These are the principal patterns that have been given to Christians for growth. Apostle Selman made it clear that there is a misconception about these two ministries being observed in isolation and in recent times, believers have mastered the art of emphasizing the power of one ministry and downplaying the other which should not be so. To grow in stature spiritually, we must give ourselves continually to the ministries of prayer and the word. These are the spiritual patterns that will turn a timid person into a strong vision bearer.

The Balance Between the Ministries of Prayer and the Word

Using the life of Jesus as our pattern compass, the Apostle highlighted the balance that is required between these two ministries. From Luke 2:41-52 to Mark 1:21-35, and then Matthew 4:1-8, we saw how Jesus, with great commitment and passion, increased in his knowledge of the word, devoted to prayer, and gained power and authority.

Ministry of Prayer – Luke 18:1, 1Thes 5:17

Apostle Selman delved deeper into the two ministries. What is the assignment of prayer to Christians?

1.     Transformation, Luke 9:29 – The principal assignment of prayer is to help us to evolve to spiritual dimensions, not for petition. A timid you can become a powerful you when you pray.

2.     Obtaining requests and making petitions Mark 11:24, Matthew 7:7-8

3.     Warfare and intercession – If you don’t love people, you can’t be involved in warfare and petition.

4.     Spiritual legislation – To set the atmosphere because the union of the hovering of the spirit and the word births creation, not only confession Genesis 1:2.

Ministry of the Word

These are the assignment of the word in the lives of believers.

1.     To build the character of Christ in the believer – Character is not about resolution, it is something that comes from within.

2.     For the renewal of your mind – Phil 2:5, Rom 12:1-2

3.     The principal channel for accessing wisdom and understanding- 2 Tim 3:15

4.     It empowers us to walk in authority – Acts 2:37 Your authority is a measure of the word of God that resides within you.

We have to embrace the entire counsel of God to gain growth and stature spiritually. Therefore, I pray for the desire to well up inside of us and the grace to submit to the Ministries of Prayer and the Word in Jesus name, Amen.

We will be discussing this resource further at our next book club meet this Saturday at 7 pm WAT. So, I invite you to please watch the sermon and join us on Saturday, 2nd November for a powerful discussion.

God bless,

Dasola