We continue our message series on prayer this morning. Someone tells about a new trainee in a large company. To befriend his colleagues, he offered to buy a pizza lunch for everyone in his group. He picked up the phone and called a pizzeria.
When the person at the other end answered, the trainee asked, “How soon can you deliver three large pizzas?”
To which he heard, “You fool, you have to dial “9” to get an outside line.”
The trainee replied, “Don’t talk to me like that, Jerk.”
By this time, the other person was furious, “Do you know who I am, Dumbo? I’m the president of this company”
And the trainee replied, “And do you know who you’re talking to, Dumbo?”
The president answered, “No.”
“Good,” said the trainee, and he hung up the phone.
In prayer, it is important that we know the One to whom we speak, because that will dictate how we approach Him and what we can ask of Him. That’s why we’ve studied the Bible to get to know the God who loves us and who wants to show us His great love, if we would only ask.
This morning, we continue by looking at how prayer meets the demands of ministry. The demands of ministry include the necessary abilities and the proper attitudes. We will see why prayer is absolutely necessary, if we want to bear fruit in our service to God.
We can look at ministry in terms of the service we render through God’s church or the jobs we have in the marketplace or at home. We can serve God by leading someone to Christ, showing the love of God to our neighbor, helping a fellow believer to be obedient to God, being faithful in raising our family or being fair as an employer. Because we are called to do all things for the glory of God, we can bear fruit for God in any setting.
Our text is Colossians 1:1-14.
You need to know Paul did not plant or serve in the Colossian Church, to which he wrote. Yet, in his prayer for the Colossians, Paul describes the kind of accomplishment and attitudes in ministry that cannot be achieved by mere human effort. Let’s look together at why prayer is needed in ministry.
First, prayer is needed in ministry, because ministry requires that we serve people we don’t know well. Verses 2-4
Paul had not met the people to whom he is writing, but he wrote to teach and encourage them to be faithful to God. Ministry often happens within the church. But ministry also happens in the workplace, on the street, by mail, on the phone, and with people we don’t know.
As Chuck Swindoll noted, “The Church is the only organization that exists to serve non-members.” Two thousand years ago Jesus commissioned His followers to make disciples of all people. With more than 2 billion Christians in the world today, we can conclude that ministry involved Christians serving people they didn’t know well.
And that’s scary for some. And that’s uncomfortable for others. And that’s inconvenient for all. And that’s why prayer is absolutely necessary.
Ministry is a costly endeavor. Whether missionaries going to undeveloped countries or you and I serving new people from our community, there is the danger of getting hurt or cheated. We must pray for discernment, so that in serving those we don’t know well, we are as Jesus taught, “innocent as doves and wise as serpents.”
Whatever is keeping us from reaching out and serving those we don’t know well is a subject for prayer. If fear keeps us from reaching out and serving others, we need to pray for courage. If apathy keeps us from reaching out and serving others, we need to pray for love. If selfishness keeps us from reaching out and serving others, we need to pray for generosity.
In addition to praying for ourselves, we must pray for those we don’t know well. We must pray for God’s mercy in their lives. We must pray that their hearts are receptive to the things of God. The old cliché is true: “We must talk to God about people before we talk to people about God.” Otherwise, we are introducing God as a concept rather than God as a Friend to others.
Second, prayer is needed in ministry, because ministry requires that we share gifts we don’t inventory. Verses 5-8
Paul points to the gifts we share with others as we minister to them: “… the faith and love that springs from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven.” Unfortunately, we do not have faith, hope and love in of ourselves. They are gifts from Heaven. And only prayer and knowledge of God’s Word may unlock these gifts to be shared with others.
Many Christians are ineffective in ministry usually because they don’t have sufficient faith, hope and love. They have doubt, despair or bitterness. Sharing doubt, despair or bitterness with other people does not point them to God. But faking faith, hope and love, also does not produce fruitful ministry.
The solution is prayer, two-way communication with God. Tell God you have doubt, despair or bitterness. Don’t tell Him you trust Him when you think your way is better than His way. Don’t tell Him about your hope when all you visualize are what you dread. Don’t tell Him you love Him or others, when all you feel is resentment. The God you can hide your true feelings from is not the true God. The true God can handle the truth.
After you’ve told God about your doubt, despair or bitterness, listen to what He has to say. This is two-way communication. Read His Word. A good place to start is Hebrews 11. As you read, listen to His Spirit apply His Word to your doubt, despair or bitterness. You will believe again. You will hope again. You will love again. Then you will be able to share these gifts with others.
Third, prayer is needed in ministry, because ministry requires that we seek wisdom we don’t have. Verse 9
Fred Smith used to say, “Those who think they know everything are quite irritating to those of us who do.” No one knows everything, and we don’t need to know everything before we can point people to God. Don’t wait until you know everything about God before you follow God, but also, don’t wait until you know everything about God before you point others to follow God.
Pointing people to God requires asking God to fill them with the knowledge of God’s will. We do not need to pretend we know God’s will for other people or to play God in order to be credible. Sometimes, we are more successful in pointing others to God with an honest, “I don’t know. Let’s find out together in God’s Word, the Bible.” Or, “Let’s pray about this together.”
We need to go to God’s Word and to prayer, because ministry requires spiritual wisdom and understanding. Worldly wisdom and understanding may be helpful, but they do not get to the core of what God wants to do in people. Worldly wisdom and understanding might make life easier, but they do not mature people into the image of Christ, which is the will of God.
Mart De Haan pointed out, “Like the MyDoom virus that did billions of dollars of damage by clogging information systems with unwanted e-mails, so the pursuit of [worldly] knowledge without [spiritual] wisdom can overload our minds and drown us in data.” Only by asking God in prayer, can we be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding rather than human knowledge.
Fourth, prayer is needed in ministry, because ministry requires that we strive for what we can’t do. Verses 10-14
Paul is praying for the Colossians so that they can live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: (READ vs. 10-12).
Nobody can live this way on his or her own effort. Nobody can help others to live this way. The Bible calls us to do what is humanly impossible. And that’s why prayer is absolutely necessary for those who strive to “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way.” While prayer does not prevent all failure, prayer can bring forgiveness to even the place of failure.
Over the last seventeen years as a Christian, I’ve prayed before attempting what I thought were God-size goals. And I accomplished some, but not always as well as I had hoped. God-size goals are things I could not or would not have done with my own ability and motivation.
Over the last twelve years, I found that praying before and during my attempt at the God-size goals helped me to accomplish them more frequently and successfully. But I didn’t always have the right attitude or motivation that pleased God. Sometimes, after accomplishing these goals, I would even give into the temptation of pride, lust or depression.
But from my recent reading of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I discovered that Jesus prayed before, during and after his ministries. When I also prayed before, during and after tackling God-size goals, I found I could more often accomplished them well and with the right attitudes and motivations. I often times even fought off temptations afterward and pleased God with my life. The prayer I pray afterward ministry could be a simple repeated prayer, “I’m humbled that You would use me.” Or, “You were great, God! And you chose to do it through me. Wow.”
Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Only when we are consistently connected to God through prayer will our ministries always bear fruit.
