Some believers get the mistaken idea that because God’s grace and not our own willpower is what changes us, they can just sit around waiting for God to do everything. They think that since their transformation is His responsibility, they have no part to play.
But that’s the furthest thing from the truth.
We do have a very important part to play. Our part is to get on the potter’s wheel again… and again… and again.
How do we do that?
We do it primarily through spiritual disciplines such as prayer, worship, fasting, and studying and meditating on the Word. Those things in themselves don’t change us. And we certainly don’t use
them to earn God’s grace. (Grace, by its very nature, cannot be earned. It’s a gift freely given.) They do, however, help us receive that grace. They help us place ourselves before God so that He can change us.
You might say they are our transportation to transformation.
Take Bible study, for example. As wonderful as it is, just studying the Bible doesn’t transform us. Many people have studied the Bible and even taught it without their lives being changed at all. Yet, if we study the Bible by faith for the purpose of accessing God’s transforming revelation and grace, our studying becomes a means by which that grace is received, and we are most
certainly changed.
Such change doesn’t come as a reward for the time we spent reading the Word. It comes because God loves us and because Jesus has paid the price for us to receive God’s transforming power. Yet, if we don’t study the Word, God won’t be able to get that power to us. As a result, our defects and flaws will remain and stop us from experiencing God’s abundant life. We’ll miss out on our transportation to transformation, and instead of being a golden vessel of honor, we’ll get stuck looking like a scruffy clay pot.
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 4:1–14
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!”