You’ve made all the preparations to assemble the furniture. You have set aside time in your schedule and laid out all the tools you need. Your spouse can’t wait to see how it will look in the living room. You snap the battery into the cordless drill, and you’re ready to begin.

But when you pull the trigger — nothing. A sinking realization hits — you never charged the battery.

It is incredibly frustrating to have everything ready, except the power.

God has given each of us a job in His kingdom, and we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it. As I step into my new ministry assignment as general secretary, I am keenly aware the role is bigger than me. To be fair, I have felt this way about every assignment in my ministry.

I imagine you feel the same — and that’s a good thing.

God is always faithful to empower us with the Spirit for ministry. Scripture is full of examples of God empowering His servants, from the Old Testament to the New.

Although Spirit empowerment would eventually become available for all believers, God anointed specific individuals in the Old Testament — usually kings or prophets — with His Spirit for particular moments.

Gideon is one such example. His story illustrates this clearly. Gideon was preparing to face the vast armies of the Midianites and Amalekites. Through a series of tests, the Lord reduced Gideon’s troops until only 300 men remained. Though this defied all conventional wisdom, the Lord explained His purpose:

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’” (Judges 7:2).

From a human perspective, this left Gideon severely short-handed, but God already had a plan:

Then the Spirit of the LORD came on [literally, “clothed”] Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him (Judges 6:34).

Here we see the key: The Holy Spirit put himself on Gideon like armor. With the Spirit, Gideon could do what he couldn’t do without Him. Empowered by the Spirit, Gideon led the 300 men to victory, and God received all the glory. Whenever God chooses to advance His mission on earth, He clothes people with himself.

Many other Old Testament examples reveal this pattern of Spirit empowerment. David is another case:

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David (1 Samuel 16:13).

Empowerment for service in the Old Testament was selective and occasional, but God always intended that His Spirit would one day be available to all believers. Joel prophesied that in the last days, God would pour out His Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28–29). Moses longed for the same when he said, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29).

In the New Testament, that desire was fulfilled. Jesus modeled a Spirit-filled life and ministry:

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and … he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him (Acts 10:38).

God has given each of us a job in His kingdom, and we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it.

Before His ascension, Jesus gave His disciples a critical command:

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–5).

On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues. The crowds were drawn to the scene. Peter, empowered by the Spirit, preached — and approximately 3,000 people received salvation. The Book of Acts tells the story of a Spirit-empowered Church taking the gospel to the Jews, to the Gentiles, and to the ends of the earth.

Another example appears in Acts 4. The believers were facing persecution, with Peter and John being released from prison. Instead of praying for comfort, the believers asked for boldness. God answered their prayer:

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (verse 31).

There are two things to notice here. First, most if not all of these disciples had already been filled with the Spirit. This shows that we can be repeatedly filled and empowered for service. In truth, we need that continual filling.

Second, the result of being filled with the Spirit was boldness to speak God’s Word. This confirms Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses.”

The pattern throughout Scripture is clear: God involves His people in accomplishing His work, empowered by His Spirit. Time and again, it is made evident that God’s work is not accomplished by human strength, wisdom, or ability.

To overcome the challenges faced in ministry, we desperately need a fresh infilling of the Spirit. I wholeheartedly support improving our abilities and becoming the best tools possible in the hands of the Master. Pursue further education, sharpen your ministry skills, and attend conferences. The churches and ministries we serve deserve nothing less than our very best.

I recall Dr. Renea Braithwaite at General Council saying, “A sharper axe makes a deeper cut.” I fully agree. Let us sharpen our axes but also recognize that we need the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill the ministry to which He has called us.

The New Year is an ideal time to reflect on our lives and ministries. Here are a few practical steps we can take:

1. Recognize our need. The danger arises when we stop asking for the empowerment of the Spirit. In the early days of our ministry, skills and experience are limited, making it easy to see our need for God’s help.

When we grow in our gifts — as expected — we may become increasingly reliant on our own abilities. Over time, if we are not careful, our desire for Spirit empowerment can diminish. I encourage you to read through the Book of Acts this month and meditate on our ongoing need for the Spirit’s filling.

2. Ask and pray. Make it part of your daily prayer to seek the empowerment of the Spirit. Set aside extended times to pray for a fresh filling of the Spirit, just as the early believers did in Acts 4. Lead the people you serve in pursuing the same goal. As we do, we will see great fruit:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

3. Be on mission. The purpose of Spirit baptism is empowerment for mission.

As we serve in the ministries to which God has called us, our need for the Spirit’s help grows. Without engaging in ministry, there would be no need for His empowerment.

I sincerely believe that God has great plans for the churches, ministries, and missions work of the Assemblies of God. Yet these plans will only come to fruition as we yield ourselves to the Lord and seek the empowerment of the Spirit, following the pattern of Scripture and the example of our early AG church leaders. This must become a priority for each of us.

Let us never attempt to accomplish a task without relying on the power God provides!

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

This article appears in the Winter 2026 issue of Called to Serve.