Too often, Christians wait for some extraordinary move of the Spirit to correct all their spiritual ills.

Although such a revival is possible, it is not the way God ordinarily grows His church.

In The Essential Means of Grace , Paul Washer considers the three prominent gifts God provided for growth in godliness: the Scriptures, prayer, and participation in the life and ministry of the local church. Our desire for the extraordinary should never lead us to neglect the ordinary. Rather, let us devote ourselves to these ordinary means of grace in dependence upon the Spirit for an extraordinary conformity and usefulness to Christ.