Monthly Archives: February 2020

In the very beginning of his salvation, he is seen praying. He is seen by God. Immediate help is sent by God. God sends his servant Ananias to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying” (Acts 9:1). As apostle Paul grew in his new found faith, he became an expert in the life of prayer. He became a prayer-warrior. He prayed for others and he asked others to pray for him.

He prayed for others.

1. “…always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you” (Romans 1:0).
2. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (Romans 10:1).
3. “Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved…For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete” (2Corinthians 13:7,9).
4. “do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:16-19).
5. “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19).
6. “always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all…And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:4,9-11).
7. “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you…For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light” (Colossians 1:3, 9-11).
8. “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers” (1Thessalonians 1:2).
9. “as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints” (1Thessalonians 3:10-13).

10. “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2Thessalonians 1:11,12).

A. He asked other to pray for him.

1. “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company” (Romans 15:30-32).
2. “…you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many” (2Corinthians 1:11).
3. “…pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19,20).
4. “praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:3-4).
5. “Brethren, pray for us” (1Thessalonians 5:25).
6. “brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith” (2Thessalonians 3:1-2).
7. “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner” (Hebrews 13:18-19). (The authorship of Hebrews by Paul is debated).

How is our prayer life? Do we pray for ourselves? Do we pray for others? Do we raise prayer support, requesting people to pray for us? Let our life and ministry be saturated with personal, family and church prayers.

Introduction-

It says in Ecclesiastes “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). It also goes on to say, “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). So we can say in our words that there is time for everything, and everything is beautiful in its time. That means if we do anything when it’s not its time, it’s not suitable. We tell the children that they should play when it’s time to play and study when it’s time to study. We scold the child if he plays when it’s study time.

In the same way there is time for the ministry and time for the family. Some emphasise the importance of family, and neglect the ministry. Others emphasise the ministry, and neglect the family. Either of the extremes are wrong. The balancing act would be to say, ‘me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

I. Family:

A. We are responsible to manage our family well. If we don’t know how to manage or family, we will not know how to manage the church (1Timothy 3:4,5,12).
B. We are to show our piety at home first. Otherwise, we are worst than an unbeliever (1Timothy 5:8).
C. We are to see that our children are obedient and not given to mischief (1Timothy 3:4; Titus 1:6).
D. We have to understand that Satan is out to destroy Christian families, especially the family of Pastors (1Peter 5:8; Matthew 26:31; Zachariah 13:7).
E. We have to serve God not only individually but together as a family. Some Pastors and Preachers confine their wives to kitchen. They tell their wives that they should not ‘interfere’ in the ministry of their husbands (Cf. Joshua 24:15. ).
F. We should remember that our wives given to us as a suitable helpers. We should take their help in personal, family and ministry decisions and actions. When we go out for house visits we should take our wives. We should never visit a lonely woman alone. We should always take our wives with us (Genesis 2:18).
G. We need to take care that our wives are equally godly and God-fearing. So extra care is needed while selecting a life partner either for ourselves or our children.
H. We have to ensure that our family is an ideal family.
I. We should take care that there is no partiality and favouritism in dealing with our children. There shouldn’t be neglecting of our spouse either (Genesis 25:28; 37:3).

II. Ministry:

A. We should make much of our ministry, that is, have a very high view of our ministry (Romans 11:13).
B. We should never covet other people’s ministry. We shouldn’t compare or contrast our ministry with others’ ministry.
C. We should be willing even to lay down our life for our ministry (Acts 20:24).
D. Our ministry shouldn’t be a means of earning our bread and butter but a sacrificial serving. We shouldn’t be in the ministry for some filthy lucre (1Peter 5:2; 1Timothy 1:7; 3:8).
E. We should see to it that neither we are the offsprings of Gehaji in the Old Testament Test, nor the offspring of Demas in the New Testament (2Kings 5:26,27; 2Timothy 4:10).
F. We shouldn’t have neither the spirit of Eli’s sons in us who were covetous and adulteress, nor the spirits of Prophet Samuel ‘s sons who took bribe. We shouldn’t be like Judas Iscariot who sold his Lord for money (1Samuel 2:12-17,22; 1Samuel 8:3; Matthew 26:14-16).
G. We should have rather the spirit of Moses and Samuel in us (Numbers 16:15; 1Samuel 12:3).
H. We should fulfil our God given ministry (Colossians 4:17).
I. We should be faithful stewards of God’s manifold grace (1Corinthians 4:2; 1Peter 4:10).
J. We should be alert like those servants who are waiting for their Master to come. He may come at any time (Luke 12:36).

III. Balancing family and ministry:

A. Make a weekly schedule
B. In first column write your roles, such as-
1. Individual- Personal development.
2. Spouse/Parent.
3. Minister/Employee.
4. Church member.
C. In the second column write goals against each role.
D. In the third column write week of. Under it write weekly priorities.
E. Make seven columns – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
F. In each column write appointments/commitments.
G. Fill in the week days with plans and dates in the light of roles and goals.
H. Do it regularly on paper for in writing, neither the family nor the ministry will be neglected. We will be able to strike a right balance between family and ministry.
(Schedule making taken from- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People- by Stephen Covey).

(Rev. Richard Masih, New Delhi).