Holy Communion

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. [John 6 :48 - 51]

This is going to be an interesting one for me. I say interesting because as I’m penning this post, I have asked the Holy spirit to take over and fill me with revelation, I have asked that He may open the eyes of my understanding that He may convey through me the teaching He wishes us to understand in the context of Holy Communion. It’s not that I don’t always ask God to take control whenever I write, but for the more … complex bits of writing, I ask for His re-enforcement like a hundred times: before, during and even after writing as I finalise the editing. This is one of those posts.

Recently, the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me a lot about prayer and ministering to me in this area. Going by His amazing syllabus, we have covered the importance of prayer, how to cultivate a strong prayer life and the immeasurable value in having a dedicated prayer closet. God has also taught me about altars (who knew!) I felt like we were winding down on the prayer series for now - not that this topic can ever be exhausted - but there are still a few areas to address, it seems.

By now I must have banged on enough about the New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations (NSPPD) altar of fire on which my family and I pray every morning. I will be the first to confess, although I have been on this prayer platform for a while now, there are certain prayer points the man of God will raise that I don’t always understand. Let me just clarify that this has never stopped me shouting a resounding Amen anyway! After all, just because I don’t understand it fully does not mean I will miss out on my blessing for lack of coming into agreement! There is one aspect of the prayers which as I consider it now, strikes me as odd that I had never given much thought. Sandwiched right in between an hour of fire prayers and shouting (not speaking) in tongues and incredible testimonies from people who have partaken of the goodness of our God, pastor Jerry Eze will always without fail issue a call for Holy communion. For months upon months I followed the instruction, sometimes taking the communion dutifully and at other times skipping it. Sometimes I just sat by and watched everyone else take the bread and wine. Yet it never once crossed my mind to investigate the deeper context of the Holy communion. I mean, why is this singular act so important?

The matter became more pronounced recently when I hosted a friend from church at my house. A staunch Catholic lady, Cathy herself also prays daily on NSPPD. One evening as we did our grocery shop, I saw her hunting down a massive box of shortbread biscuits. “This is for my communion, “ she declared happily. “What do you take for yours each morning?” I stammered slightly, explaining that I sometimes skip the communion and at other times I don’t eat anything, just drink water. It did give me pause for thought but I quickly brushed the matter aside. I guess God was trying to communicate something to me. That Sunday , serving at the welcome and reception table in my local church, one of the volunteers randomly began speaking about communion. As I asked questions, she explained it as she understands it. “Maria, Holy communion works,” said Alice. “On my bedside table, I have a special bottle of wine and some crackers specifically set aside as communion. If I should ever feel even a slight headache coming on, I take it and it disappears! “ She went on to narrate the story of how her younger brother who is not a particularly staunch believer was once rushed to the ICU. She considered asking his girlfriend to administer Holy communion to him but quickly realised that the barrier of unbelief meant the act would have no effect. So in a moment of faith, Alice herself took the communion on his behalf. Hours later, the young man was discharged from hospital with no signs of the ailment that sent him there in the first place. “The Bible says , do this as often in remembrance of me …” she concluded. At that point, my interest was piqued and my curious mind went off on a search to understand two questions : is there power in holy communion and how often should we take it?

I asked the Holy spirit to fill me with enlightenment as I looked up the scriptures. Ladies, there are so many Bible verses that talk about Holy communion. By my count right now, I see about 18, perhaps there are more. That alone should tell us how important this matter is. Jesus declares in John 6 : 35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never go thirsty.” Many scriptures speak of Jesus taking and breaking the bread, giving thanks and passing it to his disciples saying, “Take it; this is my body.” In the same way, Jesus takes a cup, gives thanks and gives it to the disciples. “This is my blood which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many,” he said to them. (Please see Mark 14 : 22 - 25, John 6 : 53 - 58 and Matthew 26 : 26 -28).

The bit that clinches it for me is Jesus’ declaration that this is His blood of the new covenant., poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. So does Holy communion have power? Going by the numerous testimonies I have heard where immediately after prayers, people have taken the communion, rubbed it on ailing parts of their bodies and received healing, I would answer that in the affirmative. In one hilarious case, I heard of a man who rubbed his holy communion water on his car engine in frustration as the car kept breaking down. To put it into a bit of context, the man was a taxi driver and this car was his livelihood so he can be forgiven for taking what some might see as extreme measures! As he later testified, said car has been running smoothly ever since! 1 Corinthians 11 : 28 - 32 cautions us, advising us to examine ourselves before we take communion. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

I believe that it is the act of faith behind taking the communion that backs up the testimonies that follow. In taking the communion, we are coming into agreement with God that this is indeed the body of Christ, the bread of life given that we may inherit the Kingdom. We are saying that whilst our ancestors ate manna and died, we acknowledge that under the new covenant we shall feed on this bread and live forever. John 6 : 53 to 58 summarises this promise succinctly. Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” In taking communion, we are engaging in an act of worship and remembrance and giving God room to move in our lives.

As to the question of how often we should take communion, in 1 Corinthians 11 : 23 - 26, scripture says "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

Armed then with this information, what does it mean for us in practical terms? For some of us, it means first off shaking off the false perception that communion is a Catholic or Anglican rite. Jesus did not reserve the act of remembrance for one specific denomination. For me and perhaps for you as well, it means making it practical to fit around my life : realising that communion can be taken anywhere. It means placing a packet of biscuits and some water or a drink by my altar (read on my bedside table). It means taking the communion faithfully every day after morning prayers, and doing it in the knowledge and faith that there is power in this seemingly insignificant act. It means acknowledging that unlike manna, communion is spiritual nourishment, that it equips me with powerful spiritual weapons that ward off attacks from the enemy.

Sisters in Christ, if you are not already taking communion daily as a habit, I encourage you to read all the scriptures concerning this area. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and if you are convicted - which you will be, please go out and grab some nice biscuits/crackers and juice/wine and place it by your bedside table or wherever it is you pray. Kindly resist the urge to scoff down those crackers and/or get yourself thoroughly intoxicated on the wine! [Sidebar: who else has heard the tale of these naughty priests who imbibe alcohol on the pretext of administering communion?! Wonders shall never cease!] Do this by faith and watch God fortify you and move mightily in your life!

I pray this blesses you today!