Great Grace

“And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:31-33 (NKJV)“

Most often, as Christians we are taught that God’s grace is unmerited, undeserved favour; delivers us from sin; makes us righteous; rescues us from the burning hell. All is good and not incorrect but is incomplete! The experience of salvation is the highest expression of the grace of God but it is not the only manifestation of grace that we are to experience. It is just the beginning of a lifetime of the operations of God’s graces in our lives.  The fact that you are saved or have given your life to Christ does not necessarily mean that you will walk in Great Grace. There is a grace that makes you a successful person; grace for strong family; grace for longevity; grace for wealth; grace for spiritual power and many more. These are the dimensions of graces that the bible refers to as Great Grace! 

The Apostle Paul tells us that “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 (KJV). That is GREAT GRACE!  Great grace is when a person flows in the entirety of God’s graces. It is God’s blessings in all its forms; be it spiritual, material, physical, emotional, and mental blessings.  Operating at a deeper level of grace is not automatic!  It must be earned. Therefore, you must strive to access Great Grace: You must make God your number one priority, build closeness to the character of Christ and offer a spiritual sacrifice of prayer each day.

1. Make God your first priority

One of the keys to obtaining Great Grace is learning to make God your first priority.  In your daily life, you need to make God your number one priority.  This is putting God above everything else in your life, whether it is your friends, your relationships, school, career etc, no matter how hard it may seem. It is so important that you get to know God deeply.  Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…” (NIV). Take a moment and ask yourself, “What am I seeking? What do I spend most of my time thinking or talking about? How do I invest most of my energy?” These are important questions you need to answer from your heart.  You need to prioritise God to obtain Great Grace so that you can access all the dimensions of God’s blessings! 

2. Build closeness to the character of Christ 

This is living your life in a way to demonstrate that Christ is in you.  Your character must be a demonstration of the character of Christ, even how people perceive you.  The bible says, Jesus went everywhere doing good.  He was patient, compassionate, gentle, forgiving, wise and good. When the spirit of God is at work within you, it produces the wonderful fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. These qualities are called virtues. Jesus was always finding ways to help people all the time.  Are you helpful?  Are you good? Are you patient, compassionate, gentle, forgiving and disciplined.  Desire these godly virtues with the help of the enabling power of God’s grace so that you can be positioned to experience great grace.

3. Offer a spiritual sacrifice of prayer each day

Prayer is God’s authorised system for communion and fellowship with God.  Even Jesus spent time all night communing with God.  Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke (6:12). It is the ultimate sacrifice of a believer and the highest measure of your spirituality. It is more than the opportunity to ask the heavens for help. You will never be able to walk in great grace when you do not have a track record of prayer. Prayer creates the legal platform for God and angels in the spirit realm to gain entrance to intervene in the affairs of men.  God needs men to pray to effect the world. It is how power is transferred from God to a believer.  It is where divinity meets humanity.  Prayer is the ultimate expression of your humility.  Prayerlessness is pride because it pre-supposes that you are self-sufficient. Your prayer is proof of acknowledgement that apart from God you can do nothing. You must pray as proof of humility. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 2 Corinthians 3:5 (KJV). Your prayer makes the possibilities in heaven become real to you here on earth. In the place of prayer, you can create possibilities. You can coordinate desired outcomes in the prayer room and create a path for you to obtain great grace.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the thro ne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Access great grace by making God your number one priority, building closeness to the character of Christ and offering a spiritual sacrifice of prayer each day.