Years ago, the Lord said a most interesting thing to me about how spiritual gifts and callings are enhanced when we work together in the spirit. I was in a season of praying for the prophets in the body of Christ and He said, “Like colors of the rainbow join and meet and flow together; like a stream with tributaries flowing and adding to a river, supplementing and complementing each other, when My prophets stack arms together, they too bring the fullness of revelation.”
That’s true not just about prophets but about all of us. When we assemble corporately, we supplement and complement one another. To complement means “to strengthen or add to something that already exists.” To supplement means “to bring elements together and create something new.”
The colors of the rainbow appearing side by side complement each other. The individual colors are more striking together than they would be alone. When the colors mesh, however, something even more wonderful happens. New colors become visible that are only made possible by the merging. When yellow and blue join together, they make green. Red and yellow make orange.
The same is true with the Church. Not only do our individual gifts complement each other, but when certain members come together, brand new spiritual supplies are created. And those supplies are crucial to the strengthening and building up of the body of Christ.
That’s why, for the Church to go onto the next level of maturity, we must start working together as never before. We must do what the apostle Paul said we should do and concentrate on striving to excel and abound in ways that will build up the corporate body. Instead of just tending to our own personal growth and focusing on developing our individual gifts, we must purposely cultivate the gifts and supernatural endowments that are released when we come together.
We must, as the Lord said to me, stack arms together to bring forth the fullness of the revelation of Christ.
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:8 – 27
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!”