No farmer who is serious about increase will rejoice at the sight of rain and stop there. 

When the rain falls, the soil is drenched, and the seed receives what it needs to awaken, but if after the rain stops, the farmer walks away and never returns to the field to deal with weeds or tend to the crop, then he isn’t serious.

If weeks later he comes back for harvest, he should not be surprised to see that nothing grew.

This analogy is used to paint a picture of your life to you. We just finished the Catalyst Camp Windsor. It was a glory experience. We were drenched in glory. The lord fulfilled his word. He graced us with an outpouring. This is the rain the farmer saw, and for there to be bountiful harvest, there is what to do after the rain.

What should you do after this encounter?

After such a season, many are often excited at the move of God, excited about all that you have received but make no effort to sustain what you have received. Let this not be you!

God is just getting started with you. First, He has deposited so much in you, but the question is, are you sustaining what you have received? 

What are you doing about what He has given to you?

Are you going to fold your arms and go back to sleep again like you did the last time?

The Last special meeting you attended, you received so much, you knew God touched you, God changed you, you were so excited, you had a sense of relief and refreshing, but a few days or weeks after it seemed like you never even attended that meeting. 

Will that be you again? 

Or will you do it differently to get a different result?

What are you doing differently this time around?

Many times, we are only on fire during camp and some weeks after, but that’s not God’s plan. God’s plan is consistent, sustained fire.

The Lord has set you on fire and you know. We prayed for it at camp, and you see, fire is not sustained by wishful thinking. 

In the natural, there is a strategic system behind it. Certain components must be in place for fire to be ignited: fuel, oxygen, and heat. But even more importantly, there are deliberate components that must be in place for that fire to be sustained. 

This isn’t just science. It is Scripture.

In Leviticus 6:12-13, God gave a specific instruction to the priests:

Leviticus 6:12-13
New King James Version
12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 

13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

We read this often but I want us to note that There was a system. A structure. Something the priest was to do every single day. The fire did not keep itself burning; it was their responsibility to tend it daily to add firewood, to clear ashes, to keep the flame alive. 

In the same way, dear believer, God has ignited you. You have received fire. But if you will remain burning, if you will sustain this fire, you must be intentional.

In the things of God, there is a diligence that sustains. There is a commitment that fuels the flame. There is a consistency that keeps what God has started from fading into memory. 

So yes, the fire has started but will you build the system to keep it burning?

Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:6

6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 

He says stir it up. Meaning, though you might have received something so powerful, it is still your responsibility to stir up that which you have received. You have a responsibility to ensure that what you received is sustained.

One way to sustain what you have received is through prayer. Do not fall for the lie that because it is from God and was received by favor, then it will automatically last. Yes, it came by grace, but what comes from God must be sustained by God’s principles, and one of the most powerful principles of sustenance in God is diligent, consistent, intentional prayer.

You see, encounters are not endpoints; they are divine beginnings. They are not the final stop; they are the spark, the ignition. And what was freely received can still be carelessly lost if it is not stewarded rightly. That’s why the first system of stewardship God gives the believer is prayer. Without prayer, what began in the Spirit can be lost in the flesh, or the fullness of it will not be experienced.

Throughout Scripture, we see how prayer sustained moves of God.

Acts 1:14
New King James Version
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

After Jesus had ascended and left the disciples with a promise, their first response was to gather in prayer; they did not rush off to be seen, instead they remained in the quiet place waiting and building themselves up. Jesus promised them, but they did not go to sleep. 

Even after Pentecost, the Bible says in Acts 2:42 that they continued in prayers!

Acts 13:2-3
New King James Version
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. 

Look at this text closely, the disciples had an experience, and they had received instructions for Saul and Barnabas, they didn’t just send them away. 

They spent time praying! 

There is precedent in the scriptures for continual prayer over everything you receive from God. This cannot be overemphasized! The things of God can only be sustained in the place of prayer.

So now is not the time to get too comfortable or feel You have prayed enough or received all that you have asked. Now is the time to build structures to sustain what you have, build structures, keep the fire burning. 

If you had a specific time you prayed but you missed out on it so many times that you decided to just ignore it all together, this is your sign to set those times of prayer again and keep to it, but even when you fail to, pick yourself back up and try over and over and over again.

Do not leave your prayer life to feelings; that is not how sustenance is built. Instead, it is with having a set structure and keeping to those structures even when you do not feel like it. 

So, don’t lose out because of indiscipline.  Do not let the awe of what God did become distant nostalgia. Sustain it in Prayer. God has just started with you, so keep praying. 

Prayer Point
Father, thank You for all I have received this season. I know you are just getting started with me, so I refuse to let what I have received fade. Help me to sustain the fire through consistent prayer, especially in times when I don’t feel like it.