One of the practices that helped shape my Christian journey was that of listening to messages. Those days, I would go around with a cassette player (we call it Walkman those days). I would listen again and again to messages. I often sleep with messages playing all night in the background. I have sustained that practice to date. I realise that I cannot give more than I am receiving.
Friend, stop giving more than you are receiving. One of the recipes for failure and disaster is to constantly give out more than you are receiving. One dear man of God calls it blessing others while you are bleeding. God wants you to bless others out of your overflow, not out of your dryness (Psalms 23:5).
Ministry is not a performance of one hour. It is the outflow of life. A minister must, therefore, prioritise his life above his message or ministry (Acts 1:1). When you make others your focus, you have lost the divine arrangement for a wholesome ministry (1 Timothy 4:16). Notice how and why Paul told Timothy to take heed to himself before the message or the people, and you would see the need to prioritise receiving.
You cannot give what you have not received (1 Corinthians 11:23). When you try to give what you have not received, you would turn out to be fake and frivolous. I have noticed that once I take care of my walk with the Lord, ministry will take care of itself (Exodus 24:12, Luke 5:16-17). People struggle in ministry when they miss this arrangement.
The days that we are in require everyone to be intentional about their word intake (Acts 6:4). We have a lot of things that are drawing from us; from legitimate demands to life pressures and attacks of the devil. If you are not intentional about your growth and walk with the Lord, you would end up as a living corpse (Revelation 3:1-3). Don’t be carried away with the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of you (Mark 6:31).
You need to maximize every avenue to feed. Your personal prayer/study time is non-negotiable (Mark 1:35, Luke 10:38-42). Church attendance is not another religious time you have to endure. It is your opportunity to feed. If you feed well in church, you are already equipped with what it takes to do life all through the week (Psalms 84:7). It also equips you to be a blessing to your world. Stop giving more than you are receiving. Is this helpful?
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria