If you have read my page on "seeking God's face" you will recall that I believe humility precedes holiness and holiness precedes power. This is a process and there are no shortcuts. God is the source of the power and He gives it as He wills, just as He is the source of our holiness. However, we are called to seek after holiness, not power. Remember that Jesus lived 30 years of sinless purity and holiness before He did one work of power. His goal was not to do some great work but to please the Father with a holy life.

The seems to be an increasing lust for power, not only in the secular world, but increasingly more in the church. This should not surprise us. The church is following after the world in it's lust for power and money. The Bible says, "...everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world" (1 John 2:16). The lust for power stems from pride, the first example being the fall of lucifer (Ezekiel 28).

Our goal is not to become powerful but to become holy with Christ's presence. Once we have this, we can fulfill the will of God as written in John 14:12-14, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Just as Jesus' goal was to please His Father (and still is now through us according to this Scripture), it needs to be our goal to please our heavenly Father and this is through holiness and doing what Christ did (and even greater things) in His power. The way we ask is in His name and this is through prayer.

Click here to read the classic Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds.