|
Home | Church Info | Members | Doctrine | Studies | Missionaries | Youth | Articles |
|
Prayer is a form of ministry Christ desires from
every believer. We are saved to pray for others. Prayer is the basis for
whatever other ministry one has. Prayer can be the most important
ministry in most Christians’ lives. One of your greatest
responsibilities is to help your people become a praying people, and to
help them make their intercession effective for Christ. How much prayer
time does your average believer invest in Christ’s kingdom per day?
This preparation has two phases. You must prepare them to be personally
strong in prayer and intercession. You must also guide your people as
they develop their personal prayer plans. Nothing is more important than
a personal prayer plan.
Your people not only need your repeated clear
teaching on prayer, they need to see in you a beautiful example of a
life and ministry of prayer. A love for prayer needs to be taught,
caught, and practiced. All Christians believe in the duty of some prayer
each day. Too often, however, they have never realized the thrill and
excitement of communion with Jesus and prevailing in prayer for others. Don’t expect your people to hunger for what they
fail to see in you. They must sense your joy in the Lord, your intimacy
with God, your love for Jesus and for themselves. They must sense your
vibrant faith as you pray. Then they will begin to hunger to go deeper
in prayer themselves. But remember that your public praying reflects the
quality of your personal, private prayer life. God cannot mightily use
public prayers and prayers in homes when you are weak, lifeless, and
ineffective in your private prayer. You must be a person of God if you
expect your people to become people of God. Many Christian leaders’
prayer lives are inadequate for the work they are attempting to do. They
are inadequate to satisfy Jesus. Is that true of you? Learn to pray if
you want your people to pray. Prepare your heart as much for your public praying
as for your speaking and teaching. If your heart is not melted when you
pray, it will probably not be melted when you speak. If your heart is
not aflame for God when you pray, it will probably not be when you
preach. You should always pray longer in private than in public, but if
your heart is melted with God’s love or aflame with God’s fire, a
longer public prayer that really leads the people into God’s presence
often will be welcomed by your people. Some of God’s greatest
preachers have been great in prayer. Do people come to your services
specially to hear you pray? Your prayer must echo the concerns, the
heart cries, and the deep desires of your people. A “quickie” prayer
tends to suggest that prayer is unimportant. A perfunctory prayer that
is long on words, but short on a heart that hungers after God will be
void of life-changing power. Listeners will be relieved when it ends. So
live and pray that your public prayers are fragrant with God’s
presence and vibrant with God’s power. Include a brief prayer in all your personal
counseling, home or hospital visitation, bidding farewell, or committing
a task to a person or group. Prayer must be an ever-present part of your
entire ministry. Remember, prayer adds God’s benediction to anything
you say, God’s presence to anyone you contact, and God’s power to
answer any need you try to meet. As your people see you bring God into everything by
your prayers, they too will begin to bring prayer into everything they
do, as Paul urged (Eph. 6:18). Your people almost unconsciously begin to
become a praying people when they sense that prayer is an indispensable
part of your whole life. From Revival Congresses SA http://www.revivalcsa.co.za |