PRAYER FOCUS

Pastoral Staff

What does serving in ministry look like? Since Jesus is the model for us to follow, we need to look at what his actions and practices in ministry reveal. The Gospels are full of many accounts of him teaching, healing, and ministering during the days. But before he began his ministry, what did he do? He spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and praying. And after his ministry began there are many references, tucked within all his activity, with phrases like “after he had dismissed them, he went up on the mountainside by himself to pray” (Matt.14:23) and “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

So, as our example, what did ministry for Jesus look like? He is active in ministry to those around him throughout every day, but it all starts and flows out of his strong prayer life. So it must be for us. It is easy to focus on all the activities and events and preparation that go into ministry, but we have to be very intentional to spend each day getting filled by the Spirit and his power before we embark on any ministry to those we encounter throughout our days.

The well-known story in Luke 10 of Mary and Martha also stresses the importance of prayer in our ministry endeavors. Martha welcomes Jesus into her home. Likewise, view your time with the Lord each day as you welcoming His Spirit to be a part of your day! Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said”, while Martha was “distracted by all the preparations that had to be done”. There are preparations and planning and time that go into our ministry opportunities, but we can’t let those come first. Jesus clearly says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.” And what was Mary doing? She was sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said. This has to be our model in ministry also. Every day, siting at the Lord’s feet. Mary had to be looking up at him from the floor, not focused on all the things of ministry that were around her. And she was listening to him. Many times our prayer time is just us talking, with very little time to be quiet and hear what the Lord is saying to us.

Is the “doing” part of ministry important? Certainly! The Bible clearly teaches us that we are all to be daily doing the Great Commission of proclaiming and discipling. But we must start our days (and continue our day) focusing on Him, and listening to His voice, following the example of Jesus!

PRAYER PROMPTS