The Pastor in Prayer

“If you are a genuine minister of God you will stand as a priest before the Lord, spiritually wearing the ephod and the breast­plate whereon you bear the names of the children of Israel, pleading for them within the veil…. The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry. He can­not have comprehended his calling. He cannot have computed the value of a soul, or estimated the meaning of eternity. He must be a mere official, tempted into a pulpit because the piece of bread which belongs to the priest’s office is very necessary to him, or a detestable hypocrite who loves the praise of men, and cares not for the praise of God.... He cannot be one of those who plough deep and reap abundant harvests. He is a mere loiterer, not a labourer. As a preacher he has a name to live and is dead. He limps in his life like the lame man in the Proverbs, whose legs were not equal, for his praying is shorter than his preaching.”

- C. H. Spurgeon

Reflections from the "Batcave of Evangelicalism"

Recently, the 'band of brothers' that make up the heart and soul of the Together for the Gospel Conference got together and reflect on last year's conference and talk a little about the next one in 2008. Their chat was recorded and and be viewed online.

The video is helpful in that we get access to some of the behind the scenes planning and rationale for the way the conference was put-on. Some of the issues they talk about include the T4G affirmation and denials statement, the impact of the speakers' messages on each other, the recent release of the messages in book-form, and how these men have come together for the gospel.

This last point is significant because it has raised the most contraversy. Two Southern Baptists, a Presbyterian, and a Sovereign Grace guy go into a bookstore . . . . No, really, all of these men involved in pastoral ministry and other ministry organizations, all with differing convictions on issues ranging from baptism to church polity to spiritual gifts, coming to together in a significant way really speaks to modern evangelicalism. In fact, I think it is in many ways a model for how we can link arms in ministry, for the sake of the gospel, without losing our theological distinctiveness.

Finally, I think these men demonstrate the importance and joy of godly ministerial friendships. It is so obvious that these are not just speakers at the same conference. They are close friends. That not only give the conference a different dynamic, but it also helps other ministers see a vital component in current pastoral ministry - teamwork and friendship.

I look back at my own time at the T4G conference as a great blessing and look forward to going in 2008. Check out the video and you will be encouraged.

Prayer and Ministry (Part 2) - Praying for Yourself

If you have ever received an email from me, you will have noticed at the bottom is a quote from Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Writing to another pastor M’Cheyne told him, “what a man is on his knees before God, that he is and no more.”

This is not just true for the average Christian, but especially true for the pastor. Despite a very public form of ministry, all that ultimately matters is how the pastor stands before God. The pastor may be loved and adored for his preaching. He may be wealthy by the books he has written. But how is the condition of his heart before God? This ever-important question led M’Cheyne to write to a pastor:

“Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. Luther spent his best three hours in prayer.”

Thus, it is not only important for pastors to pray for their people, it is also of vital importance for the pastor to pray for himself.

Men occupy­ing positions of spiritual leadership must expect to be the recipients of violent attack in various forms. In 2 Cor 11:23-29, the apostle Paul autobiographically cites the unique trials he faced as a minister of the Gospel: [I have ministered] with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

On the evening of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gave the following exhortation to His slumbering disciples: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Mark 14:38). In an chapter of the book Reforming Pastoral Ministry, Art Azurdia says, “The implication inherent in His words is clear: To divorce themselves from the means of grace (in this case, vigilant prayer), either by outright disregard or passive neglect, would render these disciples more susceptible to the temptation of spiritual compromise, a fact borne out by their experience a short time later (cf. Mark 14:50).”

Azurdia goes on to show that ministers of the Gospel are vulnerable to trials and temptations distinct to his calling:
- jealousy (‘why are his gifts more esteemed than mine?’);
- bitterness (‘why does the congregation criti­cize everything I do?’);
- fear (‘will they leave the church if I teach par­ticular redemption?’);
- depression (‘will this church ever grow?’);
- grief (‘why have there been so few conversions?’);
- frustration (‘why does the board appear to distrust my motivations?’);
- doubt (‘why has God caused such suffering in the life of this family?’);
- anxiety (‘how will we ever afford to send our children to college?’);
- sexual indiscre­tion (‘why does it seem that my wife is not as responsive to me as other women in the church?’);
- despondency (‘why doesn't the con­gregation love Jesus with greater fervor?’);
- desperation (‘have I rightly discerned my call to ministry?’).

Given the unique nature of the pastor’s ministry, and the unique opportunities to fall to temptation, it is imperative that pastors work hard at carving out time to pray.

From experience, I can say the amount of my own prayerfulness affects my ability to pastor, especially preach. Because of this, when it is time to be in the Word and on my knees, I don’t answer the phone and often turn the computer off. I try to remove any and all distractions that may interrupt that time. I know this isn’t real popular among many pastors and congregations – the pastor is often seen as aloof or hard to find when needed. The truth is, much of the pastors time can be eaten up with non-essential things (the amount of telemarketing calls that come to the church is unbelievable!). But Edward Payson is surely right when he says, “It is in the closet that the battle is lost or won.”

E. M. Bounds says, "We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men."

The pastor must be a man of prayer. More than anything else, he must be in prayer for the state of his soul before God.