Prayer Element –

Teaching #1:

Element for Successful Ministry

 

Posted by BishopCoulter at 11/9/2007 12:11 PM and filed under ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY

 

 1. PRAYER: Your success in ministry is directly related to the amount of prayer you put into it.

A. Oswald Chambers:  People pray for a greater work; prayer is the greater work. Nothing is won in the physical realm, until it is won in the spiritual realm

 

B. Keep your spirituality up: Spend time with the head of the Church: Jesus Christ. We must find a quiet place to pray, meditate and study the word of God. We encourage journaling.
 

As leaders, it is our responsibility to get the mind of Christ for the church. Christ is the head of the church. How can you get direction for the church if you do not spend time with the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ? The most important relationship you have here on earth is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Keep it fresh daily.
 
Too often as leaders, we are attempting to do the work of the church without consulting the head of the Church, Jesus Christ. I know this would not happen to you, but I have gotten a vision from God and start out to do it and end up with lots of problems. I shout, “God, you told me to do this, what the problem?” His reply to my spirit was, “That’s right, son, but come back for the instructions” It must be God’s way, not our way or even our church people’s way.  Church is not a democracy, but a theocracy.  The last time I read my Bible I found that when a group voted on what to do; they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
 
As leaders, we must get a vision from God for the church. Share that vision with the people and lead them into fulfilling it. It is not that we are not concerned for our people; on the contrary, it is our responsibility to pray for them and equip them for ministry. I will talk more in depth about vision in a future teaching.
 

C. Prayer of Jabez: I would encourage you to pray this prayer for yourself and your church. The interesting thing about this prayer is Jabez did not know and did not ask when the blessing would come, what the blessing would be, or how it would be given to him. He trusted God completely.  We at The Missionary Church International pray this prayer every morning during our devotional time. God has blessed us with more than seventy ministries that joined us last year. He has increased the number of our missionaries living in foreign lands from eight two years ago to twenty-six today. 1

 

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

 

 

 

D. We must teach our people to pray:
 

1. Sometime new converts do not know that they have the privilege to pray. They may have been taught that someone else had to pray for them. Teach them and encourage them to pray. One time my wife and I were teaching new converts at a Bible study. The first night we prayed for them. The second night we gathered, a person had a bad leg and wanted prayer. We sat her in the middle of the prayer circle and had the new converts pray for her healing. The reaction from the new converts was: WHO ME?  I assured them that it was the same Holy Spirit living in them that was in me. They prayed and God healed the leg! That surely energized the group for prayer.  Your people need to know God will answer their prayers.
 

• The best way to teach your people to pray is to model it yourself. Now, I know this would never happen to you. But in the past I have had people come up and ask me to pray for them. I said I would. But the cares of the world entered in and I forgot to hold them up in prayer that week.

 

• So what I do and I what I encourage you to do is to ask them to step aside with me and I pray for them right there. It could be in the church and I have them step aside in a quiet place or it may be in a store.  I pray for them immediately.  It tells them two things. One, that you believe in prayer and two, that they are important to you.

 

• Then the important thing is tell them is this.  When the Holy Spirit brings you to my remembrance, I will pray for you. With whom does that leave the responsibility? The Holy Spirit! But when He brings that person to your remembrance, you better pray!

 

• When you gather your people together for special events, I encourage you to have a time of prayer.

 

2. Raise a prayer team in your church. Every leader needs Intercessory prayer warriors and prayer partners. For example The Missionary Church International has a prayer team of over 45 people .These people are ready to pray for your needs. Just forward your requests to us by Email.

 

3. The number one thing that encourages people to pray is answered prayer. That is why it is extremely important that you give your people a chance to testify to answered prayer during your church service. Once when I was younger, my pastors asked me to lead prayer in church that morning. We had a bulletin with prayer requests from last week. I started to name the requests. Praise God! We had five testimonies to answered prayer. That encouraged the people to pray more.   

            
E. Prayer as an evangelistic tool:

 

 Prayer can be a very effective evangelistic tool. Here is how it works: Send your people into the neighborhood and go to the unchurched people for prayer requests. It is best to send them out two by two. When they get to the neighborhood,  have them tell the neighbor that your church believes in the power of prayer and that you will be praying a certain night (for example perhaps Thursday night), Ask them if they have a prayer request. Then pray for that request. Go back within two weeks. Ask those you prayed for if their prayer was answered. If no, tell them you will continue to pray for the need. If yes ask if they have another prayer request. Then pray for that new need. Repeat this process. Eventually people will start to respond as they see God working through your church.

 
I pray that this teaching was a blessing to you and I leave you with this quote from Oswald Chamber:  Every Time we pray, our horizon is altered, our attitude to things is altered, not sometimes but every time, and the amazing thing is that we do not pray more
 
Be Blessed,
 
Bishop Robert Coulter
Sr. Bishop of the Church