And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
(Luke 12:42 – 44 KJV)
What do you think about when you hear the word stewardship?
If you’re like most believers, you think first about your responsibility to properly manage God’s money and God’s things. You think of stewardship in terms of stuff.
That’s how I used to think of it too. But some time ago, the Lord changed my perspective. He showed me that real, biblical stewardship is, above all, the management of me. It’s the stewarding of my own heart and spiritual development.
Since I began thinking of stewardship in that light, I’ve become more aware than ever that we will all stand before Jesus one day and give account of how we managed ourselves. When that time comes, I want Him to say to me, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” So I often ask myself this question:
“Am I being a good steward of myself in this season of life?”
That’s something all of us as believers should think about. If we want to be profitable servants of the Lord, we must make the most of every moment and every opportunity He has given us. If we want to receive the fullness of His blessings so that we can be a greater blessing to others, we must make a commitment to invest the time and energy it takes to expand and develop our inner man. We must put forth the effort to increase ourselves on the inside so we can be on the outside all God has called us to be.
To see how important expanding your inner capacity can be, consider this natural illustration. Imagine you had a 32-ounce pitcher of water and you wanted to pour it all into an eight-ounce glass. You wouldn’t be able to do it, would you? If you tried, most of the water would spill out and go to waste.
To transfer the full amount in the pitcher, you’d have to increase the size of the receiver. You’d have to get a bigger glass.
The same is true in the realm of the spirit. For God to transfer to us and through us all the wisdom, power, and blessing that is ours through Christ, He needs us to be bigger receivers. He needs us to expand our hearts. He needs us to feed on His Word and fellowship with Him until we grow to the point where we can contain “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23).
To do that, we must make a serious commitment to our own spiritual growth and development. We must become, above all, good stewards of our hearts.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:14 – 30
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!”