Church Rituals Are Useless
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).
Brethren, we need to add
that there is no set formula to follow when one expects a breakthrough or God’s
move in our lives. Before the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself called us (my family
and I) into the ministry (see our article ‘How this ministry started’) we were
also, ordinary Church going members.
Generally, the way we do things in Church limits
the work of God. We have observed how often our pastor (s) would ask us to
repeat certain statements of faith or repeat certain portions of scripture as a
way of releasing God’s protection and blessings over us. May the Lord bless these men and women of God
they mean well! The Almighty God does not operate through human commands, He
acts and moves by His own free will (1 Corinthians 12:11). In other words,
there are no set rules that we are to follow in order to see the hand of the
Lord moving in our lives. In our experience, the Lord only requires sincere
and simple faith, obedience, and humility (Genesis 12:1-9; Romans 10:13; Matthew
16:24).
Let us consider how Samuel's mother received God's favor now when Hannah the
mother of the prophet Samuel humbled herself in the bitterness of her soul, she
sought the Lord in prayer and He moved in her life honoring her faith and
petition to Him and she received what she asked for (1 Samuel 1:10-20). It is
not our faithfulness to the Church or a leader in the Church that guarantees us
God’s move, but our faithfulness to Him.
The God Of The Broken-Hearted And Weary
Furthermore, let me relate
a testimony of a dear brother in the Lord. A few years ago, I (Brother Glenn)
visited a brother who lost his way in the Lord and he ended up living in the
streets. As it was, the precious brother lost his job and his faith in the Lord.
After we ministered to his needs, the brother humbled himself and accepted the
Lord and within a week the Lord blessed him with a job and he has since grown
from strength to strength. This is a demonstration that when we act by faith upon
the conviction of the Holy Spirit and humble ourselves the Lord hears and
answers our prayers and knowing God our lives should never be the same, God’s
move and touch never render our lives the same (John 6:35).
In conclusion, what we are
saying is this, no elaborate formula or ritual ‘activates’ God into action for
our cause, like Samuel’s mother the content of our hearts at the moment of our
pain is enough to lift us out of the situation (1 Samuel 30:6; 1:10-11; Psalm
51:17). Thus as Christians, we need to persevere and shun wilful sinning in
order for us to bring glory to the name of the Lord. Therefore not our
education, riches, or position in the Church wins God’s favor, however, what we
have learned is that God works through the things or people we consider simple
or ordinary (1 Corinthians 1:27). We encourage you, brethren, to continue to show a
heart for the poor, ordinary, or those of low standing in society that is where
the riches of God’s love and grace is being displayed (Romans 12:16).
Blessed Grace
Brother Glenn
