Have you ever noticed that when Christians get together to do anything they tend to start off by praying? This time of prayer can be handled by one person in the group acting as the spokes person for the group, or it can be a time where every voice has a chance to be heard. Whatever the occasion it should and often times does start with prayer.
I remember weekly prayer meetings leading up to a short term missions trip (now don't get me wrong we also prayed during....but that is for another time). Praying with the ministry team before an evening service or outreach. It was not uncommon to ask people to start praying before a period of ministry was to begin. However, in looking at the life of Jesus I noticed something that He modeled that at first glance could be missed.
Jesus was a man of prayer and ministry, He prayed and taught, prayed and healed, prayed and cast out demons, prayed and fed people...then I noticed something in the order. There are a few places in the Gospels that highlight certain times that He prayed. We know from the New Testament that Jesus often made time to be alone with God and talk with Him. He did it so much that it was only natural for his follower to see this behavior modeled and ask Him to teach them to do the same thing! You never ask the couch potato to show you how to lift weights...you ask the guy who has the body of one who lifts weights to show you how to do it. Jesus knew prayer.
The thing that caught my eye one day and then began to stand out in other places was that Jesus, after doing some amazing healing, teaching, or demon casting...would spend some time in prayer. He would either do it immediately or if His time of ministering got to be to late He would wake up early. He didn't go on to the next thing without finishing what He was doing with a time of conversing with Father. Another thing to note, is that whenever the crowds that followed Him got to large...He would go off alone to pray.
Read (in context) Mark 1:35, 6:46; Luke 5:16 to see this side of Jesus' prayer life in action.
Now am I saying that prayer before hand is wrong...no! I am a big fan of praying before things start (as well as during) and I love inviting others to begin praying before things get going. Scripture is clear that we are to be a people that boldly go before God's throne with our requests. I think Jesus is modeling something that is helpful for us, and something that I have not incorporated into my times of ministry. Even though we are doing God's work and being used by Him in amazing ways...we are still sinful! We struggle with pride and ego and we love to read our own press clippings (or may be this is just me)! We have the ability to think that we are God's gift to the people He has called us to serve. Prayer immediately after any time of ministry centers us. Because prayer, in its rightful posture, brings with it humility. It is hard for us to think of how great we are in the presence of a holy, righteous, and just God...who is good. Who, despite our short comings and failures, still chooses to give us a part to play in His ministry to His fallen creation. It is a time for us to empty out ourselves onto the alter as a Living Sacrifice, and after we have died to self can receive our next set of marching orders. Because, as followers of Jesus, we want to say, as He has said, "I only do the things I see the Father doing". To God be the glory; great things He has done!
No comments:
Post a Comment