Up with the Father


Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

There's a famous strategy Mike Breen talks about in his book building a discipling culture called the up-in-out that Jesus and the apostles used when they were about the mission of spreading the gospel on the earth. 

Jesus depended on God entirely for the success of his ministry. His up was prayer. The Bible records times when he spent all night in prayer to God. The disciples also did the same. 

We need the corporate times as well as the individual times of prayer to get Strengthened and receive direction from our heavenly Father. It is normally said that as long as the power lines are connected to the source of electricity, power will always flow. 

Our power source is God, a daily communion with Him as a group as well us on the individual basis is essential to the success of growing a big family of Jesus followers. 

Other forms of up include individual and group Bible studies, quiet times, going for conferences, it may be watching sermons, listening to podcasts, going for trainings,  attending church services, overnights etc. As much as you can endeavour to have these things done together so that there's spiritual growth among all. If you happen to be a leader, shepherd etc advocate for more times to meet to do these up sessions. The more the meetings, the more strong spiritually the members of the group become. I had a phrase I normally used, "there is no overdose of spiritual activity,"  you just cannot have too much of it. 


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