Do you know what often happens to us, as believers, that stops our progress in God?
Somewhere along the line we get off the potter’s wheel!
We may do so for seemingly good reasons. Perhaps we get so busy with the external works we do for the Lord that we don’t take time to sit quietly and let Him do the internal work we so desperately need. Perhaps we get interested in outward demonstrations of the Holy Spirit and forget that the first and most important demonstration of the Holy Spirit is the personal transformation He brings forth in our own lives.
But no matter how good our reasons, once we get off the potter’s wheel, things always begin to go bad. Why?
Because just like the first vessel Jeremiah saw, each one of us is marred. We all have flaws and defects in our own, personal selves.
If we’re to be vessels of “honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21), we must spend time letting God mold us and change us. We must fellowship with Him, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord so that we can be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
We must go daily to the potter’s wheel to be shaped by His tender hand.
Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:15–22
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”