A few years ago I was in a shopping area and my car would not start. Fortunately there was of those “rare” to find service stations right in the area. The mechanic came over and declared, “Lady, you have no power because your gas tank is empty. You are out of fuel.”
We, as believers in Christ, have fuel that powers our spirits. It is referred to as zeal in Scripture. Of course, our power source is the indwelling Holy Spirit but one of our responses to that Spirit is zeal.
Numbers 25:10-13 records that Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, the priest, had a zeal for the Lord. The wrath of God did not come down on the children of Israel because he was zealous for his God. He and his descendants received a covenant of peace. His spiritual tank was full of zeal.
What steps can we take to be sure our spiritual tank is not empty and powerless when we have a chance to speak a word of the Lord or when we face the multitude of challenges that arise in our lives?
1. Praise and worship Him. “Through Him, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name.” Hebrews 13:15
2. Calm our fears. “Do not be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God.” Philippians 4:6
3. Make a high priority of spending time with Him daily both in prayer, listening, and studying His Word and hiding it in our hearts, “Thy word have I hide in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11 Also by studying we prepare to “Always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within.” I Peter 3:15
4. Sit under anointed teaching both in person as well as teaching CDs.
5. Have a trusted prayer partner or a spiritually mature person we can trust to share our lives with and who will hold us to Godly attitudes and behavior. My prayer partner and I have adopted the attitude that we listen to each other in our pain and frustrations, then we point each other back to the Scriptural way to react.
Following these steps we have fuel, that is zeal, in our spiritual tanks so we are prepared to seize every chance to speak for Him in the market place and to minister His life to others as the opportunities present themselves. We will be zealous for the Lord and that will influence the ones to come after us in our generational line.
© Peggy Park
