Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Prime the pump
Prior to the invention of electric pumps, people had to pump water by hand. Hand pumps work well unless the water in the pump runs dry and the pump gets air in it. Once the pump gets air in it, no amount of pumping can bring the water up from the well unless you add water to the pump and displace the air. This process is called "priming the pump". The phrase "prime the pump" has become a metaphor for taking a sluggish or ineffective process and pushing it to its full potential. In the case of a hand pump, water is added through a hole in the top of the pump. The pump is then able to create the vacuum needed to draw the water up from the well. Sometimes we need to have our pump primed. God has given us tremendous potential. We have been created in the image of God and have been endowed with God-given intellect and the capacity for compassion, empathy, love, kindness, and other virtues. Although we are "damaged goods" having been corrupted by sin as a result of Adam's disobedience, we still retain a good measure of these god-like qualities. But our lives may not reflect compassion, empathy, love, and kindness. No matter how hard we try, these qualities may remain hidden in our soul and don't come to the surface of our everyday relationships. The problem is not that we don't possess these qualities. The problem is that other less desirable attitudes are keeping the best qualities from coming out. We need to displace the less desirable attitudes by priming the pump. We need to add prayer. Prayer is the catalyst needed to activate our God-given qualities. Prayer will unleash the power of God in our lives as never before. Prayer is also an essential part of walking in the Spirit of God. Many Christians live in the flesh and not in the Spirit because they seldom pray. The Bible tells about the vital link between prayer and being filled with the Spirit: "And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31)."1 And we need to pray earnestly. We must spend much time in prayer, if we are to experience the full "flow" of God's power. If you have worked very much with pumps, then you know that adding a little water to the pump will get the pump working, but if any air is still in the pump then it will not work to full capacity. When you prime a pump you want to add enough water to fill the pump completely, then the pump will be able to work to its full potential. How much prayer do we need to be able to live to our full potential? How much prayer is necessary before we can be filled with the Spirit? I can't answer that question, but I would guess that most of us have yet to experience what life can be like when we prime it with a full measure of prayer. Praying for you, Pastor Steve August 17, 2007Footnotes1 Acts 4:31, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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