Most of us are more than familiar with the verse in Zechariah 4:6 which says:

Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.

Perhaps, in fact, we are too familiar with it. No doubt most of us would agree with the essence of this verse and give our assent to its truth. But how well do we actually live out the reality of this verse in practice? We are living in a period of time where the church seems to be inundated with new ideas, techniques, principles, steps, and models that will – we are told – cause the kingdom to really start to grow. Without questioning the integrity of the people behind many of these though, I wonder if we are not entering dangerous ground.

Can we really limit out understanding of the kingdom of God to five purposes, seven steps, or ten principles? Is God really going to fit into these boxes? Again, I do not doubt the usefulness of many of these resources and the truths that they often help bring to the surface. I have personally benefited hugely from people like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels and appreciate their awesome contribution to the body of Christ. But let’s not limit ourselves to trying to replicate what they – or anyone else – are doing. Each local church is unique and we must never forget that. Not only that, every local church has its own unique calling and focus and too often churches are losing this because they want to copy something that is working somewhere else in a totally different context. Let’s not pin our hopes for success and fruitfulness on models and techniques but prayerfully utilise those which will aid our specific calling and context whilst placing our dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

I am very keen that we take our focus off models and techniques for church growth and back onto the Holy Spirit. Churches have been growing and flourishing for centuries without being G12 or Purpose Driven because it is the Holy Spirit that is the One who causes genuine growth and fruitfulness. It is my belief that we have more than enough of the practical principles, steps and models for church growth. What we need now is a renewed dependence upon the Holy Spirit. We need the power of God. Our might and our power isn’t going to be enough to reach this generation. Our techniques and our models aren’t going to bring multitudes to placing their trust in King Jesus. It will be the Holy Spirit flowing through the church that will lead to genuine fruitfulness.

But how do we get to the place where we are depending on the Holy Spirit and not on our own resources or models? I believe that it starts in the prayer closet. A church that knows how to pray will be a growing church. Prayerfulness expresses a dependence upon God; prayerlessness effectively says, “We can make it on our own�. We need to be throwing ourselves onto God for His help, His power, and His direction. It is after all His church that we are helping to build. How dare we not consult the Master Architect and just go about things our own way? Psalm 127:1 reminds us that:

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

Let’s not get caught up creating our own plans but rather constantly consulting the Master Architect who we work for. We are His servants and we must not allow our agendas to usurp His plans for our local churches. That is why we must constantly be in prayer, seeking His will and praying that His kingdom would come.

Of course it is not just in the sense of quantity that we want to see our churches growing. As leaders we want to see every member growing and maturing in their own walk with God. I have been struck afresh recently when going through Paul’s letters by his passion for those under his care. The way he was constantly praying for them is both a challenge and an inspiration. I wonder how much time we spend as leaders really praying for those God has put under our care. Of course we need to need to be providing good teaching and solid Bible instruction, but without that being backed up by prayer I do not believe we will see the kind of maturity that we are looking for. Again, it is not our might or power which will lead to believers becoming mature and growing as followers of King Jesus; it is the Holy Spirit that we need to be flowing in and through their lives. He is the master teacher let’s not forget either. Let us not neglect the duty we have as leader to labour in prayer for those we are discipling.

Ultimately, in every aspect of our lives, let us not settle for human might and power. We desperately need the churches in this country to be filled with the power of God and moving in the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray for our churches that we would put into practice the message from Zechariah 4:6. Let’s pray that our churches would be truly Spirit-led and not man-led. Let’s pray that the Master Architect would have His way in our churches. And as we do this, let’s look forward to an increase in the genuine fruitfulness of the church.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.