“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
A pastor can exhort with all the passion of an NFL coach running a two-minute drill, but it probably won’t matter much if that exhorting is not met with practicing. Let me explain.
Yesterday, I preached from Matthew 9:35-38.
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew is sharing with us what Jesus shared with him, namely pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Do you want Kingdom Breakthrough?
Do you want to see a fresh outpouring of God’s power in your home, your church, and your community?
“Pray earnestly for more kingdom workers!”
Earnest prayer is “pleading with God.” If fact, “begging” is not too strong a synonym.
Earnest prayer looks like the persistent widow of Luke 18, faithfully coming to God again and again. It looks like the group of believers gathered for an all-nighter on their knees, pleading with God for the imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:1-5). King Herod had tossed Peter in the slammer. No doubt Herod intended to execute him. Peter was going to lose his head (literally) — and the church knew it — so they begged God to deliver him with an earnestness that matched the severity of the crisis.
How earnestly are you praying for kingdom workers?
When was the last time you begged God to raise up pastors, church planters, and student workers? When was the last time you pleaded with God to tap the shoulders of women and men to do the oh-so-important work of guiding children into a deeper understanding of who God is? When was the last time you called to God with a holy urgency to “light a fire” under people in your circle of influence to find their kingdom platform to witness and serve?
Or look at it this way. Where would you put your “X” on the “Earnest Prayer Scale”? This is the continuum that goes from 1 (“I’m not praying earnestly at all”) to 10 (“I’m on it! I am earnestly pleading with God!”).
What’s your number?
If you, like me, needed to do a little repenting after you placed your X on that continuum, there is good news. Looking at Jesus we see how we can become more passionate pray-ers.
How do I become more passionate pray-er?
Walk your city — “Jesus went throughout all the cities” Matthew tells us. He engaged people. Until we walk with people, talk with people, and get to know people, we won’t pray much for people — or for the help we need to reach them. Getting to know our neighbors can help jump start our prayer engine.
Stand on your kingdom platform — Jesus was “teaching . . . proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing.” That’s what he was here to do! What are you here to do? What is your kingdom platform? Serving helps us see needs that drives us to our knees. Click here to find out more about how to discover your Kingdom Platform.
See your city — “When he saw the crowds he had compassion for them.” Jesus saw (Matthew is emphasizing perception not simple observation here) the hurt and anguish people were experiencing. He felt their emptiness in his gut. When we see the loneliness, heartache and emptiness around us, it awakens in us the need to pray for kingdom workers to meet those needs.
The secret sauce . . .
So that’s where I was in my message, exhorting our church to “pray earnestly.” But I was missing the secret sauce! James (James 1:22), Jim Belcher, and David Smith helped me to taste it.
I was reading David Smith’s On Christian Teaching. Smith was writing about the difference between exhortation and practice. Jim Belcher was a church planter who — like me — was exhorting his congregation.
As a church planter and pastor who struggled for years to facilitate community in the church, I attempted over and over again to inspire the vision for community by the big narrative of the gospel. This was a key first step. What I did not understand was that it needed to be reinforced with a new ritual, a counter liturgy that encompassed the entire community. (page 101)
Commenting on Belcher’s efforts, Smith said this, which was for me an AHA! Moment.
He sought the transformation of his congregation through exhortation but not through the institution of new practices. (page 101)
Hang with me. What Smith is pointing out is this, we can get fired up (exhorted) to begin to pray earnestly, but if we don’t have a plan for when we are going to pray earnestly IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!
“Exhortation, and the enthusiasm that often follows it, must be met with a “ritual” to practice it.”
We must decide when and how we will pray earnestly. We must build into our lives a praying practice. So here are a few suggestions to jump start your thinking:
Early Bird Earnestness: Every morning — before you even get out of bed — you silently thank God for the day and then plead with him for more kingdom workers.
Meal Time Messaging: Turn your pray before eating into a moment of pleading with God for more kingdom workers. Pick a meal, make it your everyday practice to send up a message.
Small Group Supplication: Wherever you gather with a small group, determine to make the first thing you do or the last thing you do an earnest prayer for God to raise up more kingdom workers.
Stop Light Petition: Instead of picking up that phone when the light turns red, turn your heart toward God and plead with him for more kingdom workers.
I hope you get the picture. It is not enough to get fired up to pray, there must be a plan, a specific practice to follow. Exhortation must be met with action. A specific practice is the secret sauce to becoming a more passionate pray-er. And practicing prayer (not talking about prayer) is what James meant when he said
“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”