May 2023 Newsletter

Acts 13:1-2 (Message) "The congregation at Antioch was blessed with a number of prophets-preachers and teachers ....... One day as they were worshiping God - they were also fasting, as they waited for guidance- the Holy Spirit spoke...". The King James translation of this same verse refers to this act of worshiping the Lord in prayer as ministering unto the Lord.

In Ephesians 6:18, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul said to pray with ALL (all types, all manners, all kinds) of prayer. And in his instructions in 1Timothy 2:1, he encourages Timothy, citing all these types of prayers, to give thanks for all men. Thus, we can surmise that thanksgiving is a type of prayer, or of ministering to the Lord.

Ministering to the Lord involves us giving thanks for who He is, showing Him honor, recognizing His greatness, and expressing respect or devotion to Him. Some great examples are seen in the book of Acts.

In Acts 4:23-31, the disciples were asked not to preach in the name of Jesus. That was certainly a difficult position to be in. But rather than being dismayed, they got together with others of the same conviction and trust in the Lord and began to worship Him with words of affirmation- declaring who He (God) is.

Likewise, in Acts 16:25-26, Paul and Silas were in a difficult situation, and thrown into jail for their troubles. The choice they made was to worship, to praise and give thanks in prayer out loudly to their God.

This is not just a New Testament practice. In II Chronicles 20, the nations of Moab and Ammon declared war against King Jehoshaphat. Well, what did he and his people do in response?
They went to the Lord in prayer, recalled who their God was (ministered to Him) and acknowledged His greatness and power.

What are some benefits of ministering unto the Lord? In all the scriptural examples above, we see that there is an atmosphere you create as you minister to the Lord. In this atmosphere, His presence, He speaks to you, to give guidance to you and offer you instructions about your life. This happened in II Chronicles, and we see that again in Acts 13.

Secondly, notice the obvious demonstrations of God's power that followed; “earth shaking” experiences that moved them out of the impossible situations. When I see people asking God for a breakthrough, I compare that to these examples. Why don't we just give thanks, minister to our Lord, and watch out for "prison-breaking, earth-shaking moves of God? Then, we don't even have to be involved in any of the battles, but we gather in the spoils and are the beneficiaries of the outcomes of God’s power working on our behalf.

Let us worship our Lord in prayer, ministering and giving thanks to Him, and we will see the goodness of God in our lives.