Bible in One Year:
Sunday, November 8, 2009
(Prov 12 - Prov 14)

Memorise: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matt 6:6)

Read: Matthew 6:3-4
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

The fellow who will receive anointing from above is diligent in his business. As a pastor, he will not be content with pastoring the flock of others, but would ensure his personal converts are among his congregation. Similarly, the one for Heaven's recommendation is the fellow who loves working behind the scene. David was in the jungle looking after sheep. He was not bothered that nobody was seeing him doing what he was doing. He was satisfied with the realization that God was seeing him. There are some brethren who will not work in any department or handle any assignment where they will not be seen. There will be lots of surprises in Heaven. 

We attended a world Pentecostal Renewal Conference in Kenya in 1977. Delegates came from around the world. Just before we left, the chairman of the organizing committee announced: "Brethren, there is someone we want to honour; someone who had done the greatest job during this period". We all expected him to bring one of the great preachers from America or London, but we were taken aback when he brought forward a girl of about 16 or 17 years. He said the girl came to him just before the programme started and asked what she could do. He told her all the assignments had been distributed with nothing left to be done. Then she asked if she could go and post letters, but he told her all the letters had been posted. Refusing to give up, she insisted that there must be something for her to do. Eventually, she offered to be the one to shine the shoes of the preachers through out the programme. Do you love to do your assignments in order to be seen by men? There is a private ministry and there is a public ministry. The former gives birth to the latter. Every believer must combine both like Jesus did. Every public ministry must be backed up by an efficient and powerful private ministry. If you fail in the private ministry, you have failed in all. For instance, irrespective of the area God has called you to serve Him, you must compliment this with a strong and virile prayer life. This must be in secret but the reward will be made public. What guarantees success in the public ministry is dedication to the private ministry. Those who strive to be seen may get to Heaven and find that they have already received their reward on earth, and there is therefore nothing for them in Heaven.

ACTION POINT:
Serving God without a solid prayer backing makes you take your harvest in a basket with holes. Stop wasting your efforts today!