Spiritual Dependency

About three years into full-time ministry, I remember standing in my kitchen and doing the dishes while looking out the window and watching the sun set over the desert. It felt somehow metaphorical for the season of my life—the sun setting over the desert. 

When I started with the organization I was working for, I was sure that God would do great things and that all my lofty dreams would come true because, “with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26). However, things hadn’t worked out the way I had assumed. My support was yet again too low, and my ministry didn’t seem to be bearing fruit. I was in the desert, figuratively speaking, wondering when the sun would set on my ministry and I would be released. 

In my despair, God brought John 15:5 to mind. While I believe God would do great things, was I abiding in Him? Was I trying to accomplish my goals with God or apart from Him? As I stood there washing dishes I realized that it was the latter. While I may have been doing all the right things, was I doing it from an attitude of dependence on God in unity with Him? In that moment, I realized that I might not need to change what I’m doing, but the way I’m going about it. 

John 15:5 is urging us to make sure we approach our mission properly. Your first job as a missionary is to abide in Christ, to treasure Christ, to hold Him near in prayer and the Word, and to depend on Him day by day. 

Therefore, the best thing you can do to prepare for your mission trip is to cultivate a spiritual dependency on God that is sustained through daily time with Him. No matter how much money you raise, how perfect your logistics, or how well prepared you are for your ministry tasks, your mission will yield no fruit if it is apart from God. Stated another way, if you only have five minutes to prepare, prepare spiritually before making other preparations. 

As you walk through your mission, you will know if you are spiritually dependent on God by the way you live. Spend some time in reflection asking yourself these questions:

1. Is my first reaction to adversity prayer or my own solution?

2. Do I find myself drifting to prayer throughout the day or only during my scheduled time?

3. Is prayer a time for bearing my soul to God that often leads to a feeling of peacefulness or is it the recitation of a laundry list of items that leaves you feeling dry and unmotivated to pray again.

Pray and Journal—No matter how you answered the questions above, ask the Lord to refresh and renew your relationship with Him. Pray that God would become your treasure, your rock, and your firm foundation, and that He would do all things in you and through you.