Get Up and GO

Jesus taught Martha to look at her focus, not her actions. Mary teaches us that focus comes first, but that focus should lead us to action.

Mary put time with Jesus first, but could not stay there forever; she needed to start there every day. When Jesus finished His meal and fellowship, He got up and left, and Mary had to get up and go on as well. He to His world mission, she to the life she had. 

Many believers think that copying Mary equals a holy and virtuous life. Just sit in the presence of God, read your bible, pray, and attend church. Read, pray and wait in faith. This lifestyle in no way lives out the bible and can bring ruin to a family because it’s unbalanced and unscriptural and goes against God's kingdom laws.

God is dynamic, the kingdom is dynamic, the world is dynamic. If you want to experience the power of God, you can’t just sit and soak. This is a "bride" mentality: staring into the eyes of our lover and spending time together to the exclusion of everything else.

You are a bride for one day, and a wife forever. The honeymoon lasts a week or two, and the beauty of marriage should last a lifetime. It’s a wedding day, not a wedding life. When you walk out of the church as a married couple, you are faced with the reality of living together. The daily responsibilities of housekeeping, breadwinning, child rearing, budgeting, shopping, homework and walking the dog are the outworking of the vows we took to become one in our love. Putting Jesus first doesn’t mean living in your wedding dress.

Your soaking in God should be a time to fill you up to get up and go out. You’re in the world to live, grow, and experience life. You are also here to make a difference. Going out into the world fully soaked means you are taking God to every encounter and every action of your day. You are the conduit for God to pour through you all His goodness and love to touch, heal, deliver and love everyone you encounter.

Just like a sponge, you can only soak that much before you are fully saturated. Now, what are you going to do with all this soaked up saturation? Whose thirst will you quench? Whose wounds will you wash and heal? Who will feel your cooling touch on their fevered brow? Who will find comfort in your words and your embrace? How will the world around you be better because you took what you received in soaking and saturated the world with God’s love? 

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last…” John 15:16 NIV. 

You saturate before you initiate. 

Jesus lived what He taught daily. He stressed prayer and practised it because it works. He prayed much, sometimes for a whole night, and used that force to initiate His actions. He saturated before He initiated. You can too.  And this can happen through long or short prayers. It depends on just how well established you are in the habit of saturating before initiating. For example, Jesus used this very short prayer when he raised Lazarus from the dead: “I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this that they may believe that You sent Me.” John 11:42. Then, in one sentence, He commanded Lazarus to come forth.

You initiate the miraculous in moments because you’ve spent the time to saturate. If we follow this example, we take God’s presence with us, and we hear His voice and speak to Him constantly. That’s where not losing heart comes in. It’s constant communication and closeness that lead to a directed and successful life.

By spending time in prayer first, you become more sensitive to hearing God, responding and then taking effective action.  It’s that straightforward. If you spend time with someone, you get to understand what’s important to them, how they communicate and what they want. That time you set aside to be with God exclusively is precious. It’s a time when you can share your heart, your concerns, and your joys, and find comfort. It’s also a time to ask questions and receive responses. Because God loves one-on-one relating, you’ll find He listens, answers and speaks to you. 

As you pray, these times of saturating bring instruction, direction, leading and counsel. Approach Him therefore, knowing that He’s the source of unlimited wisdom, knowledge and understanding, and He’ll teach you how to prosper and the way you should go. This could be in the form of a major life-changing event or a small thing in your day. As you practise saturating in prayer and then taking action, you grow more skilful at doing this.

Here's a short prayer to end your time of soaking in God before you start your day: 'Dear God, I love my times of soaking, and now I’m taking all of You to the world. Create opportunities for me to give all of You to every person and every situation I am in today.'

Mary soaked up the presence of Jesus, got up and went on with her life, and so did Jesus. Our soaking time with God is there to equip us to live empowered kingdom lives. I have seen many miracles as a result of saturating, and my partner and I never embark on any venture without a good God-soaking. Time with God is where it all starts. I have co-authored a book in which we share the extraordinary ways God has used our saurating times to initiate amazing events. It's all in our book, 'Prayer Power: tapping into heaven for your Miracles and Transformation.' We’ve personally seen the power of prayer in every aspect of our lives and witnessed healings, miracles, provision and abundance. We’ve seen storms calmed by a prayer and watched a nation transformed through a day of prayer. Prayer Power contains the accumulated wisdom and experience on prayer and fasting gained over 35 years, which we taught internationally. It's packed with deep, biblical teaching and testimonies on prayer and fasting. Get your copy by clicking the button. Also, take advantage of our resources, eBooks and articles delivered to your inbox monthly by subscribing.

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