Time, I need more time, I never seem to have enough of it. Too many things to do, and too little time to do them. So what we do? Well we set up our schedule, we draw up how we will manage our time, we plan our day, each task having its appointed slot and time. When we do this we are typically asking ourselves what is the most important task I have to do today, is it my sermon prep, visiting the sick, Bible Study prep or having a elders meeting? That which is most important to us, to our job and our day gets the prime slot and the largest amount of time, the rest is placed here and there around that which we perceive to be the most important.
I believe, sadly because I know it is true of myself, that we often neglect the most important disciplines and tasks of our calling as pastors, and that is the reading of the Scriptures and prayer. It is this second discipline that I wish to discuss with you today.
When we plan our week and our day, are we planning and putting time aside for prayer? How do we regard that time, as a time and practice that can be moved around, possibly neglected for a day or two due to other pressing demands. Where does prayer rank on our list of pastoral priorities?
It appears that we don't hold prayer in very high regard, due to the fact that many of us are so ill-disciplined in regards to prayer. We seldom feel guilty for neglecting it, and few us regard it as a task of primary importance, occupying the best time of the day, and giving it more than just 5 to 10 minutes of our time.
The reality should be that we have such a high regard and desire for prayer that we count it not only as of primary importance, but should ensure that every day we engage in prayer, at an appointed time which is never moved, shortened, or neglected.
You reaction may be, your being legalistic, why must it be so strict, so black and white?
Surely prayer should be something prompted by the Holy Spirit, spontaneous, never fixed?
Yes prayer should be prompted by the Holy Spirit, but the truth of the matter is that the Holy Spirit is prompting us to pray throughout the day, every waking moment. But we have become experts at neglecting, turning a deaf ear and ignoring that prompting.
The reason why we need to be so strict on ourselves, why we should not allow ourselves any room for leniency in area is for the following reason. If up until now we have been simply saying to ourselves, I will pray later, I am busy now, or I will wake up early tomorrow and start then, I haven't time to pray, so I will pray double tomorrow. If all these false promises, and in some cases good intentions have failed to motivate us to pray, then we mustn't fool ourselves into thinking that in a sudden moment one day the discipline and desire for prayer will come and we shall struggle no more. No, prayer is a discipline that needs to practiced and nurtured until it becomes a natural part of our day, as natural and necessary to us as breathing.
The only way we shall become men that pray is if we start to discipline ourselves now, and so I challenge both you and myself to make every concerted effort to have a scheduled time for prayer every day, that is not moved or shortened under any circumstances. Surely if we plan our time well and wisely, we shall know when the best slot for that time in our day is. But let us no longer allow ourselves to make pithy and pathetic excuses.
Prayer is the lifeline and lifeblood of our calling, to neglect it will leave us in poor spiritual health and our hearers in worse health. Let us become men of prayer, men who love prayer, who live by prayer, and who are able to stand in the pulpit knowing we have spent much time on our knees before God, pleading with Him to grant us the salvation of souls and the sanctifying of believers.
May the Lord be gracious to us for have neglected prayer for so long, and may He, through the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, grant us the resolve, determination, desire and strength to make prayer a priority and a passion for us all.
I have been reading through Charles Spurgeon's "Lectures to My Students", and in his chapter on prayer I was particularly convicted, below are some quotes from that chapter, and I would whole-heartedly recommend the book, a must read for every pastor in the ministry.
"Prayer will singularly assist you in the delivery of your sermon: in fact nothing can so gloriously fit you to preach as descending fresh from the mount of communion with God to speak with men. None are so able to plead with men as those who have been wrestling with God on their behalf." Pg 50
"But how dare we pray in the battle if we never cried to the Lord while buckling on the harness! The remembrance of his wrestlings at home comforts the fettered preacher when in the pulpit: God will not desert us unless we have deserted him. You, brethren, will find that prayer will ensure you strength equal to your day." Pg 51
"My brethren, let me beseech you to be men of prayer. Great talents you may never have, but you will do well enough without them if you abound in intercession. If you do not pray over what you have sown, God's sovereignty may possibly determine to give a blessing, but you have no right to expect it, and if it comes it will bring no comfort to your own heart." Pg 52
"The minister who does not earnestly pray over his work must surely be a vain and conceited man. He acts as if he thought himself sufficient of himself, and therefore needed not to appeal to God. Yet what baseless pride to conceive that our preaching can ever be in itself so powerful that it can turn men from their sins, and bring them to God without the working of the Holy Ghost. If we are truly humble-minded we shall not venture down to the fight until the Lord of hosts has clothed us with all power, and said to us, 'Go in this thy might.' 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 the pulpit because of 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 will surely become a mere superficial talker, best approved where grace is least valued and a vain show most admired. He cannot be one of those who plough deep and reap abundant harvets. 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 the Proverbs, whose legs were not, for his praying is shorter than his preaching." Pg 54
(All quotes taken from Lectures to My Students, by Charles Spurgeon. Pbulished by Christian Focus Publications. 2008)
Please feel free to share ways and means that you have of ensuring that you remain disciplined in your prayer life.
