Another power packed chapter. Here Pastor Batterson talks about how vital it is for believers to share what God is doing in their lives with others. He says it’s like a stewardship issue! How else can the body of Christ be encouraged? How will people know that God is still working powerful change and wondrous miracles in these evil times – if we don’t share our testimonies?
As we said at the outset of this series on the 40 day prayer challenge, Bruce and I had been praying for the Lord to direct us in our family ministry. We had been praying before the start of 2014, seeking God’s wisdom, not wanting to lean to our own understanding. Then the Pastor at our church fellowship, Gary Wimbish, introduced this challenge to the congregation. He and his wife had already gone through the challenge and he invited everyone to join, starting January 1, 2014. There were a few weeks of prayerful preparation; each individual asking the Lord to show us what to even pray for during the next 40 days. It was a time of deep soul searching – and we could feel the power of the Holy Spirit moving among the people. Special prayer services were held, and people were beginning to testify of the amazing things God was working in them. And we were just getting started! This prayer challenge was an answer to our specific prayer for direction in our life ministry.
As believers, it is our duty to tell of the goodness of God towards us. There is no way we can keep this good news to ourselves. Revelation 12:10-11 says: “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Powerful!
We overcome by the blood of Christ and by the word of our testimonies! A testimony has to be personal; it has to be our own. Though we may be encouraged and motivated by another person’s testimony, we cannot get by on someone else’s relationship with Christ. We cannot be nourished or grow spiritually by simply hearing a great story. We must press into God’s presence, seek His face, become intimate with Him, get specific in our prayer life, and have first-hand experiences of His movement in our lives. We must get a testimony. Then, we absolutely have to share it.
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