When you spend time worshipping and loving the Lord, you minister to the Lord, not for the Lord. Your ministry to the Lord is the foundation of your ministry for the Lord. This is a compelling truth. Let it soak into your very being.
Your ministry to the Lord is the foundation of your ministry for the Lord.
Deuteronomy 10:8 (KJV) talks about God establishing the Levitical order:
— “At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.”
— God established a whole tribe assigned to do one thing only: minister to the Lord. They were to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him.
Our ministry to God comes before our ministry for God. You cannot minister to people if you have not ministered to Him first, because you can’t give away what you don’t have. If you’ve been in His presence, you can take people there. If you’ve been in His presence, you know exactly how to get in and take them with you. When you worship, He shows up.
The Scripture in 1 Samuel 3:1 says that Israel was going through spiritual dryness, a season of spiritual famine. The voice of the Lord was not heard: “And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” One can’t help but notice that this is the condition of America and the world now.
Samuel started ministering to the Lord when he was a child, which brought back the prophetic. When Samuel lay down, the Lord called his name. He did not even recognize the voice of the Lord the first, second or third time. Then, the fourth time, he realized it was the Lord speaking. But why did God speak to him? Because he was ministering to the Lord. When you start worshipping, God will talk to you. It’s quite simple. He even spoke to a little boy who had never heard His voice before.
In 1 Samuel 3 God visited Israel because of a little boy, and in 2 Chronicles 5:13 Solomon finished building the temple. God didn’t show up when they finished the building. He didn’t show up when they sacrificed all the animals. He showed up when all the people of Israel worshipped the Lord in one voice. The glory of God descended. In 2 Chronicles 7:1–3 the fire also fell on Israel because they ministered to the Lord.
In Acts 13 God called the apostle Paul while he ministered to the Lord. Verse 2 says, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul [who became known as Paul] for the work whereunto I have called them.” God did not call Paul on the road to Damascus. God didn’t call him when he went to Arabia either. Paul went to Arabia for 14 years and then came to Jerusalem to ensure that what he had heard and seen was true. He went back into tentmaking in his hometown.
Do you want God to call you into ministry? Do you want to be used of God? Today, begin to minister to God; make it your priority. The practice of your ministry to the Lord will be the foundation, the launching pad of your ministry for the Lord. {eoa}
The preceding was excerpted from chapter 13 of Benny Hinn’s book Mysteries of the Anointing (Charisma House, 2022). For more information or to order the book, please visit MyCharismaShop.com.
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