Increase

Call to Prayer

Title: Increase

Date: 08.03.2023

By: Daniel Peter

So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:7 NKJV

After the birth of Jesus Christ and all the events that happened, the Bible recorded something about Him, it said “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men Luke 2:52)”. All Jesus did before the time of His manifestation was to increase in relevant areas of His life. Like Jesus, God expects each one of His children to experience increase.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, addressing issues related to spiritual maturity in the congregation, he compared the efforts of himself and Apollos in ministering the word to the congregation to farmers planting and watering seeds. Then he went further to make an important mention in verse 7 of 1 Corinthians 3. He said, “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase“. The word increase as used in this part of scriptures is from the Greek word “auxanō”, which means to grow. So, when Paul said “but God who gives the increase”, he was revealing that growth is simply an act of God’s grace.

Therefore, to access growth in any area of the Kingdom, we need to know how to access grace. Apart from it being what qualifies us, grace is also what empowers us “to do” and “to become” (1Cor. 15:10). We grow in grace as we grow in our knowledge of God (2Peter 3:18). Which means, the more we know Him, the more grace is given to us to manifest in the area of our knowledge of Him. Again, when we give sacrificially and joyfully, God causes all grace to abound towards us (2Cor. 9:7-8).

Finally, just as a tree needs to maintain contact with the soil for it to grow, the more time we spend fellowshipping with God through His word and in prayer, the more grace is available to us to experience increase (growth).

Prayer Point:

Let’s thank God for His word today. Let’s also ask Him to help us to grow in grace so we can experience increase in our lives and ministry.