Ministers spend much time at preaching and at pastoral care. But what about prayer? When the first deacons were installed, the purpose was that the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4); in that order. You start the day with the nourishment of the Word, you pray for yourself, for your family and for your church. But at the same time, you perhaps think about the upcoming sermon, about a Bible study, or an article you still have to write. And there are pastoral obligations that press upon you, all of them are important. Is prayer then being side-lined?

The minister as answer to prayer⤒🔗

The Lord saw the great needs of the world: “When he saw the crowds…, they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36). Then the Lord “had compassion for them”, and we ought to have that as well. He asked his disciples to go to the people, to feed and to heal them, to preach the Good News to them…, but first: “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest” and then: “to send out laborers into his harvest”. Therefore, when the disciples started out as preachers of the Word, it was in answer to prayer. Their own prayer, but also the prayers of Simeon and Anna for example, who thirty years ago prayed for the consolation of Israel, and who, together with other believers, “were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem”. Behind Moses at the deliverance from Egypt stood thousands of others, unknown and unobtrusive, but praying men and women. They were an indispensable part of God’s plan for the salvation of his people. Ministers, you are called to be leaders of Christ’s church. But how many of God’s children pray for the city where you work, for faithful preachers of the Word? And now you are standing there…, but in God’s plan you are no more important than those who have prayed much. What a call to humility and faithfulness.

The minister and the prayers for himself←⤒🔗

Prayers for Your Own Holiness←↰⤒🔗

To be holy means: to be as Christ. We are being called ambassadors of Christ, to represent him. We must not only speak of Christ with our mouth, also our lifestyle must witness of him. The Old Testament tells us that the priests, who carried the tools of the Lord, had to be holy. This also applies to us. Robert Murray Mc’Cheyne prayed that God would make him as holy as possible for a repentant sinner. That means that my life is to show more and more fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5). And yet, I know that all too often I am not like that. Would I then have the right to expect of people to whom I preach, to be what I myself am not?

One of my colleagues has been a seaman for some years, before his repentance and before his calling to the service of God. At that (earlier) time he used to smoke, and he still did when he was a minister. After several years he got a sore throat. That intensified to such an extent, that one Sunday he could not speak anymore, and another brother had to lead the service. There he sat, called to preach the Word, but due to a sinful habit he had to be silent. Then he confessed his guilt from the heart before God and prayed for renewal. God heard his prayer and he never smoked again.

Pray first for yourself, before you pray for your sermons, for the members of your church and for the world. Pray that you may live to God’s honour. And yet: during prayer, our thoughts are straying. We know that we ought to pray without ceasing. We want to pray more fervently and enjoy a more intimate communion with God. But all too often that is not the case. What can we do about that?

To start out, our thoughts are of myself; if I cannot control them when I pray, then that is my fault. I need to take the necessary steps: a stricter self-discipline, plenty of rest so that you do not fall asleep during prayer, more free time! The Lord said to his disciples: “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Then: be honest towards God. Present him with your dilemma of wandering thoughts. For John says in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Lord loves you, he will strengthen your soul when you come to him with your distracted prayer-life and place that at his feet.

Finally: Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones gives some practical tips in his book Preaching and Preachers: “I have learned a few things concerning personal prayer. One cannot pray on command. The most important thing that I have learned is the fact that you have to learn to begin with praying, and for this aspect self-knowledge is especially important. In general, I have discovered that to read something in the spiritual genre is highly worthwhile. This will help you in determining the starting point of the prayer. It is a little bit like using the choke to start an engine. You must learn to use the spiritual choke. Read something that lifts up your heart, that stimulates you, then you will be able to pray in a more relaxed manner.”

Your Prayers Before You Preach←↰⤒🔗

In our profession, good communication is vital. We must carefully take to heart those issues which contribute to a good communication: the use of simple language — though the teaching goes deep — short sentences, rhetorical questions, clear examples, relevant applications. We must be willing to learn from good preachers and communication experts. But…the best prepared sermon, the most efficient presentation is only blessed by prayer. Spurgeon said that he, each time when he climbed the pulpit, repeated to himself at every step he took: “I believe in the Holy Spirit. And God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask for it”.

Trust that when you surround your preaching with prayer, your (well prepared) sermons will be blessed by God. They become in the hands of God as “sharp arrows in the heart of the king's enemies” (Ps. 45:6). At some point someone will say to you that what you said one day was a blessing to them. Perhaps you do not even remember saying it, but it is an answer to your prayer at that moment.

The minister and his prayers for others←⤒🔗

Prayers For Your Congregation←↰⤒🔗

The high priest carried the names of Israel’s tribes on the breastplate on his heart. Paul says in Ephesians 1:16, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” And to the Philippians he says: “always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy” (Phil. 1:4). Think again about the priorities of your calling: “prayer and preaching the Word”. As minister you have been called to the special task of praying for God’s flock. However you may do this, do pray regularly for your sheep by mentioning them by name. It is good to pray each day for several of your congregation members personally and by name. And do not limit yourself then to those who stand out due to their talents or those who you often struggle with. You are also to pray for the unobtrusive people which you could easily forget in all the work that you do. Pray for all of them, in their joys and in their struggles, in their financial or health problems, in their studies and in their relationships. Especially, pray that everyone may know the Saviour and will ultimately be perfected in him.

Your Prayers For the Universal Church←↰⤒🔗

An important part of your work as minister consists in encouraging all believers in your church to (develop) a world view. Do know then that the call from God to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19) is not limited to those who cross borders, oceans, and cultures. It also applies to you. But how is this possible when you are ill-informed or have a limited world view? May the TV news broadcast or the newspapers assist to inspire and motivate you to prayer. Also: use what mission organizations publish.

The Minister and his Public Prayers←⤒🔗

We come to the moments that the minister leads the congregation in prayer during the worship services. His voice is the only one heard at that moment. Does this mean that no one else prays then? Not at all! At these moments, you are the representative of the people before God. When you pray, everyone prays along. It is therefore of the utmost importance that you pay much attention to your public prayers, to the content of them, and to the way you approach God! May I mention to you an excellent guideline for your public prayers? The Lord’s Prayer. It is a communal prayer, given to us as an example (in Matt. 6:9): “Pray then like this…” This prayer teaches us to approach God with deep respect, to search for his honour. The references to the kingdom and God’s will on earth call on us to publicly pray for the spreading of the gospel and for the well-being of Christ’s church. It asks us to pray for the material and spiritual needs of the whole church. It asks the minister to lead the people in confessing their sins and in searching for good relationships with others. It recognizes the necessity to battle against the world, the flesh and the evil one and it teaches the pastor to pray with compassion for all who are being confronted with temptations, sorrow, and pain. And as it is good that God’s people are encouraged and are looking forward to the final victory of God, the end of the Lord’s prayer reminds us of this part which is of the utmost importance in our public prayers.

There are also well-described tasks in the Bible, which we have to think about in our prayers. In our churches we shall pray “for kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Tim. 2:1-2), but also for children, the elderly, those who are sick, for people in their various occupations, for the believers who are being persecuted (Heb. 13:3), for preachers and missionaries, for the repentance of the Jews (Rom. 11 and Ps. 22). Pray for them in a varied way but do think a lot about this aspect of your prayers, so that not one group of people is forgotten in your public prayer.

The last point: praying out loud together and the use of form prayers. In the Reformed tradition to which I belong, there is much resistance against the form prayers. And yet there is the warning from the Lord (in Matt. 6:7) against the heaping up of “empty phrases” in prayer. I think we have reacted too negatively to the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus talks thus about prayer: “When you pray, say…” (Luke 11:2). It is not only an example of prayer; they are also words which may be used specifically. We enrich our prayers with worship when we pray the Lord’s prayer publicly in a fitting and not in an exaggerated manner.

I want to leave you the freedom to (not) use prayers which have been written out beforehand or which have been written by others, but someone was blessed once by a spoken prayer which was written 400 years ago by an archbishop of the Church of England!

The Minister as subject of the prayers of others←⤒🔗

In the beginning I said that no one of us would be here as minister with his own prayer life, without the prayers of other people. They have prayed to the Lord of the harvest and he has sent us as labourers in the harvest. This work must continue. They once asked Spurgeon, who has regularly preached to thousands of people, why his preaching was so fruitful. His answer was very simple: “My people pray for me”. Paul, after he had encouraged the Ephesians to pray for all the saints, said: “and also (pray) for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). He knew himself to be dependent on their prayers (Phil. 1:19).

Do you think that when you ask your congregation members to pray specifically for you, that you are placing yourself on a pedestal? If you have a proud character, if you fall for temptation such as Peter describes in 1 Peter 5:3 “domineering over those in your charge” then you have just reason to be afraid. But if you know that God has chosen you, and that, despite your weakness, you are no more than an earthen vessel, called to reveal the great treasure of God’s love, then you must beg all your friends to fervently pray for you. When your preaching bears fruit, then it is because they are praying. The same holds for when you are successful to give sound advice in difficult pastoral situations.

In my congregation in London, a short prayer-service was held just before the evening worship service, and it was led by one of the elders. The primary goal was to pray for the preaching of the Word and for the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all the listeners, also in the hearts of tourists, who sometimes accept an invitation from our young people in the street where our church is located. At times I entered quietly, and I heard the brothers and sisters who prayed for me, that I may bring the words of God, and that I would receive the power of the Holy Spirit. My task often weighed heavily upon me, but they prayed for me. And I myself had prayed too. Then we left it up to God, and he has never disappointed us!