Power for Life: Keys to a life marked by the presence of God

by Matt Sorger

  When I look at my own brother’s life, it amazes me. We came into relationship with God when I was fourteen and my brother was fifteen. About a year later, my brother backslid away from God. For twenty years my mom prayed for him. Then, when he was in one of my meetings, the Lord powerfully encountered him; he turned back to God and was ignited in his relationship with God. Right after he came into relationship with God, something supernatural happened in him. I brought my brother, Rick, to a ministry event so he could be further exposed to the anointing of the Holy Spirit. During the offering time I was amazed when he pulled out his checkbook and wrote out a thousand-dollar check! He instantly received a heart to give. The more he gave, the happier he became! He loved to give.

  He shared with me privately what God was doing in him. “Matt, I am so thankful and appreciative to God for what He has done for me I just want to give back. I love Him so much.” I realized my brother was giving solely out of a thankful heart of love and gratitude. What happened next shocked us all.

  My brother owned his own heating and air conditioning business in New Hampshire. As things began to slow down with the economy, businesses were going down all around him. He called me to say, “Matt, I don’t know where my next job is going to come from. I have no work.” Yet he was sowing a thousand dollars into an offering! Many people would think that was crazy. If they see possible lack ahead of them, they hold on to what they have; they don’t give it away. Not my brother! He gave and gave and gave. He had stumbled right into God’s law of generosity.

  As he gave even during a time of great need, suddenly he started to get phone calls for new jobs. While other businesses were collapsing, my brother’s soared and prospered. The more he gave, the more jobs came to him. Since then he has sowed in the thousands, and thousands have come back to him. His harvest has come through divine opportunities set before him, favor with contractors, and favor with customers. He has favor with God and with man.

  But his motive is very important. He learned to sow seeds of gratitude and thankfulness. He sows out of love for God, and he sows back into people who have been a blessing to him. This gratitude has opened even more doors and brought more kingdom wealth to him.

  One of Rick’s builders was producing a costly TV show to promote their business. Because my brother was thankful for the work this builder had provided for him, he felt a peace to sow $7,500 into his TV show. He sowed a seed of gratitude. That month not only did the $7,500 come back to him in work, but much, much more. As a result of my brother’s act of appreciation, he gained even more favor from that builder. Now he does predominantly all this builder’s work. This builder has given Rick 90 percent of his homes and more recommendations for business in the community, which has resulted in even more work. As I said earlier, you can’t out-give God! Generosity, thankfulness, and appreciation attract blessings like a magnet. It’s important that we cultivate the same heart that was in the one leper who came back to Jesus to thank Him for healing him. Ten were healed, but only one was thankful. (See Luke 17:17–18.)

  Discerning Your Harvest

  You can believe for and expect a harvest. I remember a popular minister once shared how Dr. Oral Roberts rebuked him for how he received his offerings. Dr. Roberts said to the evangelist, “You teach people to sow a seed, but you don’t tell them about the harvest.” He went on to explain that it is important for people to believe there is a harvest in order for them to access it by faith.

  Scripture teaches in Luke 6:38, “Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.”

  It’s important that we learn to discern our harvest. Many times when we sow finances, we think somehow money is going to fall out of the air into our laps. While God most definitely can provide you with miracle finances by having money appear in your bank account, it doesn’t always happen that way. Many times our harvest can come in different forms of blessings and provision.

  Deuteronomy 8:18 says that God gives us “power to get wealth.” Sometimes our harvest can come in the form of a creative idea that will produce kingdom finances in our lives. It may also come in the form of an open door or by God giving you a relationship with someone who will end up being a super blessing in your life. Look for divine opportunities that God puts before you. God may open up a new job opportunity for you or give you such wisdom in your job that you end up getting a raise. One thing I have learned about favor: when you solve a problem for someone else, there is a favor released on you with that person that can come in the form of a raise, bonus, or promotion on the job. This is what happened to Joseph. He solved Pharaoh’s problem by interpreting his dream. As a result, God’s favor promoted him over the entire nation.

  If you just want to maintain where you are and not excel or go beyond the status quo, you will probably not move forward or experience any extra blessings on your job. It’s part of being a good steward. When we look for ways to go beyond the norm and even do things that are beyond what is required of us to do, God sees it all, and He is the rewarder. He can easily speak to the heart of your boss to give you an increase. But that probably won’t happen if you are being lazy and just getting by. Here are some things to think about. Do you arrive to work early? Do you ever leave late? Do you ever do things that are not required of you just because you see that it needs to be done? Do you ever pray for God to give you creative ideas that will be a blessing to your work place and bring increase to those you may work for? These are all things we can do to sow into our land of inheritance. Reaping the harvest God has for you can take place in your everyday life Monday through Friday. As you sow seeds of excellence, character, integrity, hard work, diligence, honor, and a good attitude, you will surely reap a harvest of blessing. Sowing good seeds releases God’s favor on your life.

  Power in Partnership

  Paul taught a powerful principle concerning partnership. Regarding those who sowed into Paul’s ministry, he made this statement in Philippians 4:17–19: “Not that I seek or am eager for [your] gift, but I do seek and am eager for the fruit which increases to your credit [the harvest of blessing that is accumulating to your account]. But I have [your full payment] and more; I have everything I need and am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. [They are the] fragrant odor of an offering and sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights. And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

  Paul taught that as people partnered with him in the work of the gospel by sowing into his ministry, they would have increased fruit and have every one of their needs met out of God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I firmly believe this for every person who partners with us in the work of the gospel. As we touch and transform lives together, we can confidently trust God that He will more than take care of us.

  It’s More Than Just Money

  Sowing into your land of inheritance is not just sowing money. Everything you do is an act of sowing! When you show love to someone, say a kind word, encourage them, pray for their breakthrough, live with integrity, go beyond what’s expected of you, pick up the lunch bill, support an orphan in India, or sow into an offering received at church—all of these things are sowing. Do for others what you want to see happen in your own life. If you want more open doors, help to open a door for someone else. If you need finances, give finances to someone else. If you want to have friends, be a friendly person. If you want to receive love from others, start giving love to others. Leo Buscaglia said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”8 Never underestimate the smallest seed you sow into another person�
�s life. Many times the smallest seeds turn into the biggest trees.

  Mother Teresa couldn’t have said it better: “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.”9

  Living a life filled with power will be reflected in the legacy our lives leave behind. The more giving of a person we are, the greater the impact our lives will have on others and the greater the legacy we will leave behind. Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”10

  “There are three kinds of givers—the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint you must hammer it. And then you get only chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you must squeeze it, and the more you use pressure, the more you will get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its own sweetness. Which kind of giver are you?”11 Let’s be the kind of person whose life overflows with the sweetness of giving God’s love, leaving a trail of transformed lives behind us all the way to eternity.

  Activate and Release Your Generosity

  Giving will create a legacy that will far outlive your time here on earth—this is the way of the hero.

  Let’s start a movement, change the world, and leave a legacy for generations to come through the power of generosity. Pay it forward. When you do an act of generosity for someone, ask them to “pay it forward” by doing something nice for three other people. Here’s some ways how:

  1. Buy a homeless person dinner.

  2. Buy someone’s groceries who is struggling financially.

  3. Donate some of your good clothes to the poor.

  4. Participate in a food outreach at a homeless shelter or ministry.

  5. Give a charitable donation and financially partner with a ministry that is impacting lives.

  Make this a daily commitment, and not only will you see transformation in someone else’s life, but you will also see it in your own as well!

  CHAPTER 14

  The Power of Love

  Let’s Start a Revolution

  IN EVERY MOVIE there is a protagonist and there is an antagonist, a good guy and a bad guy. The key elements that differentiate the good guy from the bad guy are issues of the heart. The hero wants to save the world but must go through a process of self-discovery. The villain is usually just after power from the start. Just like Superman and Lex Luthor, Batman and the Joker, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, the villain’s intention is to rule the world without love. What makes a hero great is his desire to serve the world through his sacrifice of love. Faith without love is power without fruit. God wants His power to flow through the fruit, not apart from it. Love is the most powerful force in the world. It has the power and ability to pull people out of the darkest pit of pain and despair. To live a life filled with power means living a life filled with love. Usually when we think of living in the power of God, we automatically equate power with faith. For sure, faith is an important ingredient in experiencing God’s power in your life. Jesus often said to people, “Trust Me; by your faith you are healed.” The release of God’s power in people’s lives was often connected to faith. We have faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13)!

  The Demonstration Power of Love

  Many people refer to my mom as “Mama Sorger.” She is truly a spiritual mother to many. Whenever my mom travels with me on the road as part of our team, I see faces light up wherever she goes. It’s true. From airport attendees, to store clerks, to hotel workers, to those who attend our meetings—just one hug, kind word, or smile from my mom can heal and soften the hardest of hearts. She has a way of bringing the pure light of God with her wherever she goes. It’s who she is. She doesn’t have to act loving; she is loving. The love of God exudes from her wherever she is. When we are home and visit the local diner for dinner, all the waitresses run over to her to hug her when she walks through the door. It’s amazing to see. People aren’t drawn to her because of her charismatic personality or because of some natural thing. They are drawn by the love. I have seen women totally healed on the inside and out as my mom wraps her arms around them. I’ve seen women sob in her arms as God’s love heals them of years of emotional hurt and pain.

  I was in a service praying for the sick. Both my parents were with me that night. As I was praying for people at the altar, I noticed a woman who literally looked like a skeleton. She was so weak she couldn’t even stand. She sat in the front row, patiently waiting for me to notice and pray for her. I asked my mom to come and agree with me for this woman’s healing. We found out that she was suffering from bone cancer. She was just skin and bones. I grabbed her hands and prayed the prayer of faith. After I prayed for her, my mom proceeded to wrap her arms around this woman and just simply speak the Word of God over her. The love of God exuded from my mom right into this woman. As God’s love surged into her, suddenly I heard a commotion in the room. I looked up to see this woman, who could not even stand on her own, jumping, leaping, and dancing around the altar. She was yelling out, “I’m healed! I’m healed! The pain is gone!” She exclaimed, “I have to go tell my family Jesus healed me!” She ran out of the service to her son who was waiting in the car for the meeting to be over. What a night of rejoicing that family had.

  I saw it right there in front of me. Love had healed this woman. The more I saw God’s love in operation, the more I realized its power to bring healing, restoration, and freedom in people’s lives. Then God brought me to Galatians 5:6, which says, “For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.”

  It was there in Scripture the whole time. It’s not just faith that releases power. It’s faith working through love. The Amplified Bible explains that love causes faith to be activated, energized, and expressed. Love puts faith into motion and action. Faith is like the battery cylinder, and love is the power within the battery. Love will propel our faith into motion, releasing the unlimited power of God! Love removes all the limits!

  Mother Teresa said, “Open your hearts to the love God instills. God loves you tenderly. What He gives you is not to be kept under lock and key but to be shared.”1 God’s love releases His power to be shared with others.

  A Father’s Heart

  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.

  —MALACHI 4:6, KJV

  As a child I remember that my dad was always working. He made the choice to work six to seven days a week and sometimes sixty to seventy hours a week just to make ends meet. It was important to my parents that my mom have the ability to stay home and raise my brother and me. Because of my dad’s sacrifice of love, I was able to grow up in a safe and loving environment where all my needs were met.

  My father’s love was shown very differently than my mother’s. While she showed a lot of physical affection, his love was shown through acts of service. Due to old age, my grandparents on my mother’s side both needed to come live with us for the last ten years of their lives. My dad made the choice to sacrifice and help my mom care for them twenty-four hours a day. I remember how he used to bathe my grandfather and give him haircuts. It would be a fight the whole way, but in the end my grandpa couldn’t stop thanking my dad. It left a lasting impression on me.

  One of my mom’s brothers faced some serious mental health issues. He lived in a boarding house in extremely unsanitary conditions. My dad would take a bucket of hot water and soap and get down on his hands and knees and scrub the room from top to bottom until it sparkled. My dad made it the cleanest room in the building. Whenever my “Blue Bomb” or any other car my family had would have mechanical difficulties, my dad would lie under the car for hours fixing it. One time my car broke down at college, and my dad drove four hours in the rain to get to me so he could fix the engine in the pouring rain. That’s love in action. Ev
en though I didn’t see my dad a lot as a kid due to his sacrificial work schedule, God has more than made up for it, as now he is my full-time travel partner in ministry around the world.

  Love Looks Like Your Family

  A lot of people want to have ministries of power or successful careers; meanwhile they have family members at home in pain. Ministry starts with your family. If you save the whole world, but lose your family, what are you left with in the end? Nothing. Love looks like your family. At one of our conferences we host in New York, a dear friend of ours, Heidi Baker, shared a moving testimony on how God dealt with her heart concerning her family. In sincere vulnerability and humility, Heidi opened up and shared that there had been a dysfunctional mind-set finding its way into the Baker household. “We put the lost before each other,” she truthfully admitted.

  Heidi then shared how the mercy of God shook her family, causing her and Rolland to truly understand the love of the Father. God “broke in” on them in a deeper way through a sudden breakdown that hit Heidi’s husband, Rolland. He was diagnosed with dementia, cerebral malaria, and a series of mini-strokes that left him totally helpless with a few weeks to live. But God had a redeeming plan for the Baker family. He showed them what His love looked like through selflessly loving each other and the importance of putting your family first. Heidi continued to share “that God’s plan is that we will have victory and flow with such radical love that the world will run to the church.”2

  Heidi was driven to a point where she was willing to give up everything for Rolland, and when she held and loved on her husband as she would her African children, God ultimately blessed the Bakers by saving fifty thousand souls in two years through their ministry and then totally and completely healing Rolland. We learn firsthand through these experiences and testimonies shared by Heidi Baker that God’s love clearly looks like your family! As God commissions you to love the world, remember it starts in your own home. When you pass this test, it will position you to break a generation through.