Your experience doesn't replace trusting God
Pastor Martín Manchego warns that knowing how to preach or counsel can become the reason to pray less.
At first you prayed about everything; today you already "know how." That's the risk Martín Manchego describes in Don't let experience replace your dependence on God, an article from Coalición por el Evangelio.
Manchego serves as a pastor in Lima and doesn't dismiss experience. He calls it an excellent tool and makes three points: growth is also a gift from God; experience must not take the place of trusting Him; and our sufficiency still comes from Christ.
He ends with a line worth repeating: "May the day never come when we learn to do standing what we once only knew how to do on our knees." I agree with him, and I want to push the idea a little further.
«No stage graduates you from the vine.»
A generation looking for the shortcut
We grew up with fifteen-second tutorials, three-step recipes, and instant answers. That's not bad in itself. The problem appears when we bring that logic into God's presence and believe that prayer is a technique we've already mastered.
I worry that we stop praying right when we start serving. At first we asked for help to speak; later we already have the outline ready. Preparation becomes a silent substitute for prayer. Manchego puts it clearly: when we already know the way, we stop asking for direction.
I'd add a nuance. Depending on God is not an excuse not to study. Some confuse faith with improvisation and step into the pulpit without having opened the text. What changes isn't how much you prepare, but whom you trust while you prepare.
Maturity doesn't graduate you from the vine
Manchego quotes John Owen to remind us that branches need continuous influences of grace. Jesus left no room for doubt: "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, ESV).
No stage graduates you from the vine. You can spend twenty years teaching and still need Christ for this Sunday's class. It doesn't matter if you serve in Guadalajara or Dallas: the risk is the same, and so is the way out.
Paul wrote something similar: "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5, ESV). If our sufficiency comes from Him, experience doesn't make me less dependent; it makes me more aware of how much I need Him.
What your experience can't produce
You can put together a flawless study, but you can't make someone love the truth. You can walk with a person for months, but you can't produce repentance. In a culture that measures everything by results, we're tempted to believe we're the engine.
See 1 Corinthians 3:7: planting and watering is our part; growth comes from God. That takes away pressure and also arrogance. You don't sink when you don't see fruit, and you don't get puffed up when you do.
This week, before your next class or rehearsal, take five minutes to ask God for what only He can do. Don't look for a better technique; seek the One who holds everything together. When was the last time you depended on God without a safety net, without a plan B, and without feeling you already knew how?
