By Bro. Gbile Akanni.
So many years ago, I was invited to preach at Idda Polytechnic. As I was on my way (I went by road and I drove my self) I discovered that the road was too bad and the journey was stressful. Deep in my heart, I cried out to God, "Oh God! Is this how I will be going about preaching? What will be the result of all these suffering? All the time I go from place to place preaching, preaching preaching.... What will all these amount to?"
I cried and said; "Lord, is it possible that I can preach a single message and people will not recover from that message for ten years?"
God quickly answered me; "Yes!"
He asked me; "Do you bwant your life to be my message?"
He told me; "It takes about 20mins to prepare a sermon but it takes 20 years to prepare a message. Preaching is not all about talking but pushing.
It is all about pushing out life and not sweet words. Preaching is not all about bringing out rhema but pushing out the life of God that have been embedded in you at the quarry site".
I broke down and said "God make my life your message".
That was how God began a fresh labour over my life.
After being in ministry for more than 50 years now, i testify that I have seen men who attended my programs just once and till today the fire they caught is still burning. Some people that were in meetings where I was invited to preach just once, I have met many of them still standing strong for the Lord.
I then discovered that ministry is not all about talking but it is first of all, life.
This experience I had with God gave my life and ministry, a paradigm shift. I no longer struggle to preach because I know that once I open my mouth, it is God flowing and not rhemas that I memorized.
I have seen many ministers, when they handle the mic, utterances will be gushing out, but when I weigh them with my spiritual antenna, there is no life flowing. I will just sit down there and be crying, "Oh! God help our generation". Revival will not come until God raise men that carry God.
How I wish that ministers will not be encumbered by programs but to allow God to breathe on them and make their lives a message to the whole world.
Brethren, ministry is not about shouting but shining.
Light does not shout, it shines. Do you need this kind of ministry? It is possible.
