The Greenhouse for Spiritual Growth

Much like flowers blossom and flourish in a greenhouse, your spiritual life flourishes in the greenhouse of prayer. It’s a safe place for you to grow spiritually and produce fruit.

I saw my grandmother develop in the secret place of prayer when no one was around. Later, when she began to teach Bible studies and minister to groups of people, God would show up and miracles happened! She didn’t talk much about it, but I heard accounts from many who were there.

One of my favorites was about a young man who was troubled by his height. He was quite short for his age, and he asked Nonnie to pray for him that he would grow. She told us later that her first thought was, Oh, dear God, how do I pray for that? But she didn’t let her question stop her.

“All right, we’ll pray for you to grow.” She told him to stand next to the wall, and she put a mark on it to record how tall he was that day. Then she prayed for the young man. The following week when he came back to Bible class, his pants were several inches too short! He kept growing until he was the height he wanted to be!

Miracles didn’t happen because she was a world-famous preacher. (She wasn’t that at all!) They were the fruit of her prayer life. She knew God from her own private prayer times. What she eventually did in public was simply an extension of what she’d been doing for years in the secret place of prayer.

No matter how far we have (or haven’t) progressed in our walk with God, we want to spiritually grow more. We want to know more. We want to see more. We want to be more like Him. And as we keep encountering Him, we will find ourselves changing over time just like a plant in a greenhouse.

The more we practice acknowledging God in prayer, the more we recognize His leadings all the time, everywhere!

Today, practice following the Lord in your safe place of prayer. Watch and listen for Him on the inside. You’re developing yourself spiritually and privately in God’s “greenhouse.” So what if you make a mistake? You’re becoming increasingly more familiar with His promptings and will eventually be able to respond to them in every situation!