FIGHT THIS!
READ: Genesis 17:15-22
And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Genesis 17:15
Consider Sarah as a type of church. You could also consider her as a type of minister. Sarah could be likened to a pastor who is not bearing as much fruit because he is old. Many older churches are now barren. Perhaps they started out as fruitful ministries but as the years have gone by, the anointing and the river of the Holy Spirit is replaced by tradition, rituals and custom. Sarah could be likened to a kind of church in which there is no longer life because of old age.
You can fight old age barrenness by doing these things:
1. Do not transfer the duty of outreach and ministry to anyone else.
According to Genesis 16:1-2, Sarah shifted the responsibility of child-bearing to someone else. In an attempt to bear fruit, Sarah shifted her work to Hagar. This was a man-made effort to overcome barrenness. She tried to overcome barrenness in the wrong way. Do not try to delegate what you must do yourself. Pastors must rise up and become fruitful themselves. Pastors must pray themselves and preach the Word.
2. Do not reject the prophetic word.
Sarah laughed when she heard the prophecy about Isaac (Genesis 18:12). Receive the visitation of God for your life through revelations, dreams and the spoken Word. Older people are experienced in life and much more cynical and scornful about prophetic direction.
Prophetic messages can make a difference in your ministry (2 Chronicles 20:20). In 1980, I received a message from a prophet. He saw me carrying a flaming torch and leading many people. Years have gone by and this prophecy remains in my heart as a true vision. It encouraged me to do the work of God as a student. It encouraged me to persist in the ministry even after school.