12
Divine Empowerment
One summer day when Gary was a youngster growing up in Colorado, he discovered the power of a small magnifying glass. While outside, he found that by focusing the sun’s light through the magnifying glass he could intensify the light to the point that it would start small twigs and leaves on fire. Unfortunately, some wayward ants experienced the power of focused light too.
In a similar manner as focusing the sun’s light through a magnifying glass, fit churches use focused prayer to experience God’s divine empowerment. Divine empowerment for ministry happens as a church targets prayer toward growth barriers, difficult problems, and conflicts that threaten to undermine the unity of the congregation. While all churches no doubt pray to some degree, fit churches use a strategic prayer strategy that trains and empowers people of prayer.
Jesus’s Ministry
It is an interesting bit of Bible trivia that the twelve disciples only asked Jesus to teach them one thing—to pray. Luke recorded, “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1). They never asked him to teach them to preach or to plan or to do countless other things thought to be necessary for ministry.
The disciples asked about prayer because it was an integral part of Jesus’s life. The Bible records more than twenty-five prayers in Jesus’s ministry. Four occurred during his first two years of earthly ministry, five during the first half of his third year, three during the second half of his third year, and four during the last week of his life. And this does not even take into consideration his high priestly prayer, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, or his prayer while on the cross among others. The closer Jesus came to his crucifixion, the more he prayed.
Luke records that Jesus’s public ministry began in prayer after his baptism (see Luke 3:21–23), and he habitually slipped away throughout his time on earth to pray (see Luke 5:16). Jesus prayed intensely before making important decisions (see Luke 6:12). And he gave thanks in prayer quite often (see Luke 9:16). In fact, Jesus’s transfiguration took place while he was praying (see vv. 28–29), and he praised God spontaneously in prayer (see Luke 10:21). He also prayed at the Last Supper with the disciples (see Luke 22:17–19), for Peter (see v. 32), with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:30–32), and at his ascension (see vv. 50–51). Jesus prayed in the morning, afternoon, evening, and late at night. He prayed before major decisions, when giving thanks for nourishment, and during crises. He prayed privately while alone in seclusion, with small groups of people, and publicly with many watching. Jesus gave us an example that divine empowerment comes through prayer.
Power in Ministry
Ray Ellis, a former denominational executive, tells the story of meeting a pastor from Korea in California. Ellis invited the pastor to go to lunch, thinking he could share some ideas to help him see his church grow back in Korea. Ellis tells the story this way:
During our lunch conversation I asked [pastor] Kim how things were going at his church. He said that when he went to his church there were 175 in attendance. I said, “That’s a nice size church.” I asked how things were going at his church now. He said, “Before I flew to California we had over 8,000 in our multiple worship services.” I forgot about my growth strategies and pulled out a pad and pen and asked “How did you experience such incredible growth in your church?”
He said that when he arrived at [his] church he didn’t know much about being a pastor so he invited people to come to church every morning to pray from 5:00–6:00 a.m. Eventually about 300 came to pray on their way to work. So, I wrote down “pray at church.”
Then he pulled out a church program and brochure that listed 1,000 home groups. He said, “We gather in homes for prayer and Bible study and invite our friends and neighbors to pray and become followers of Jesus.” [So] I wrote down, “pray in homes.”
He said, “On Saturday night I go to my church study and pray all night long seeking God’s anointing and blessing on Sunday’s services.” [So] I wrote down, “Pastor prays at church all night.”
I asked what else [he did] for church growth. He answered, “That’s it.”1
That’s it! While we are not suggesting fit churches pray in exactly the same manner as the Korean church in Ellis’s story (there are cultural differences to take into consideration), praying at church, praying in homes, and having the pastor pray is a good start for any church that is serious about being fit.
Note how prayer and fruitfulness are tied together in Jesus’s words to his disciples: “I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you” (John 15:16).
In the context of the Gospel of John, fruitfulness appears to mean new converts. For example, earlier in his Gospel, John told the story of Jesus with the woman of Samaria (see 4:1–38). After she left Jesus to go back to her village, the disciples came and started talking with him. As Jesus spoke, he saw that the Samaritan woman was making her way back with a large crowd from the village. Jesus pointed to the crowd and said, “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal” (vv. 35–36, emphasis added). The fruit Jesus referred to was the new converts who came through the witness of the Samaritan woman. This is very clear from the following verses, which report, “From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified” (v. 39; see also Matt. 9:35–38). Fit churches stress the ministry of prayer as the way to divine empowerment of ministry.
Church fitness does not come solely by human action. God spoke about the importance of the Holy Spirit’s divine empowerment through the prophet Zechariah: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). God’s Word was for Zerubbabel in reference to the rebuilding of the temple following the Babylon captivity. Tradition says Zerubbabel placed great confidence in his own abilities, so God intervened with a message. “Not by might,” God told him. The word might (hayil) means “strength” and is regularly translated power or ability. It suggests that might comes from organizational strength. In this context, it has reference to methods or techniques. Thus, God was telling Zerubbabel the success of his ministry did not rest in organizational ability, specific methods, or creative techniques. “Nor by power,” God continues. The word power (koah) refers to personal prowess or potency, which “includes the idea of an individual’s strength of body, character, and personality.”2 “But by My Spirit,” God concludes. The word but indicates a major contrast between Zerubbabel’s organizational ability and his force of personality. God’s work was going to be accomplished by a different means—the Holy Spirit. It is not that organization is not important, nor that personality is somehow to be avoided (which clearly cannot be done). Rather, it means fit churches carry out ministry in dependence on the work of the Holy Spirit.
Developing a Healthy Prayer Climate
Fit churches tend to practice a good mixture of the following approaches to produce a healthy prayer climate.
Corporate Intercession
Spiritual energy is derived from corporate intercession. While prayer has always played an essential role in church life and ministry, little training has been given to developing prayer strategies, particularly corporate intercession. Think about your church. You may have a plan for the next few years, but does it include a specific strategy for corporate prayer? If your church is like most, it does not have such a plan in place. Fit churches effectively gather larger groups of people to pray. Some churches designate one specific night of prayer per month when several groups gather to pray. Other churches schedule forty days and nights of fasting and prayer.
Planning for Prayer
Longtime church consultant R. Daniel Reeves expresses the need for prayer as follows.
Churches arrange for people to take charge of many areas of church life, missions, Christian education, music, etc., but rarely is there someone whose primary task it is to ensure that the prayer life for the church is in order. Many times prayer is seen as an auxiliary, behind the scenes activity, and is not among the visible, articulated tasks and goals of the congregation.3
Fit churches are able to point to a specific plan they have put into action. Though beginner, novice, and intermediate churches overwhelmingly acknowledge the importance of such prayer, in too many situations it is not planned or practiced.
Prayer Training
Fit churches have an intentional plan for training and organizing both corporate and individual emphases on prayer. They make prayer training a line item in the church budget and regularly purchase materials, which they make available to encourage people to pray. Fit churches also schedule prayer training events at least quarterly to teach people how to pray, as well as to pray together.
Individuals with what some might call “the gift of intercession” are identified, organized, and assigned specific targets for focused prayer. “Whenever a congregation decides to shift the corporate focus away from themselves in order to reach the unchurched, spiritual warfare will occur.”4 The intercessory prayer team prays specifically to protect the church from spiritual attack and for the removal of barriers to the church’s growth and vitality.
Pastor of Prayer Ministry
Fit churches assign an individual with the gift of intercession to organize a significant prayer ministry in the life of the church. The person may be paid or a volunteer, but either way they aim to involve as many members of the congregation as possible in the church’s prayer ministry. The number of people praying each week or month determines the ministry’s success.
Staff Prayer Partners
Each pastor and key staff members recruit a prayer team to pray for them and their ministry in the church. Pastors in larger churches will sometimes have as many as 120 people on a prayer team. Pastor Max Lucado recalls:
I was so convicted about the importance of prayer partners that I asked God to grant me 120 members who would covenant to pray for me daily and pray with me fervently. Upon returning to the pulpit I announced my dream to the congregation. Within a month exactly 120 people had volunteered to form the team. We divided the volunteers into four groups and assigned each group one Sunday per month on which they would arrive early and pray for the congregation.5
Six months after establishing the prayer partners, Lucado’s church had broken Sunday attendance twice, finished the year over budget, added three new staff members and three new elders, witnessed several significant physical healings among church members, and experienced increased unity.
Five Types of Churches
Beginner Churches
Beginner churches talk about prayer but do little to practice it. The churches may distribute lists of prayer requests for members to take home, but no one monitors the members to see if they are actually praying. A few people gather to pray but never more than 5–10 percent of the total church. Prayer in meetings is perfunctory, offered with little passion.
PLAN OF ACTION IF YOU LEAD A BEGINNER CHURCH
- Make a comprehensive study of prayer in the Bible.
- Encourage the pastor to preach or teach a series on key people who prayed effectively, such as Daniel, Hannah, and of course, Jesus.
- Ask the pastor to begin recruiting a prayer team of two to twenty-four people.
- Start committing the church’s plans to the Lord.
Novice Churches
Novice churches have a basic prayer chain whereby they communicate prayer requests to a small group of people to pray. On some occasions, 10–20 percent of the church is gathered in prayer.
PLAN OF ACTION IF YOU LEAD A NOVICE CHURCH
- Ask the pastor to recruit a prayer team of twenty-five to forty-eight people.
- Organize a twenty-four-hour prayer time once during the year.
- Meet once a month as church leaders to pray at least one hour together.
- Start looking for gifted intercessors you can draw together into a prayer team.
Intermediate Churches
Intermediate churches routinely commit the church’s plans to the Lord. Generally, around 20–30 percent of the total attendees participate in prayer either privately or corporately.
PLAN OF ACTION IF YOU LEAD AN INTERMEDIATE CHURCH
- Ask the pastor to recruit a prayer team of forty-nine to seventy-two people.
- Ask all pastoral staff to recruit a personal prayer team of at least two or three people.
- Organize a twenty-four-hour prayer time twice during the year.
- Meet at least twice a month as leaders to pray together.
- Regularly pray for God to bless other churches in your community.
Advanced Churches
Advanced churches routinely commit their plans to the Lord to align with his purposes. When the leaders and congregations of advanced churches believe the Holy Spirit is working, they obediently and sacrificially seek to follow his leading. Worshipers are regularly encouraged to get involved in corporate prayer opportunities, and between 30 and 40 percent of people participate.
PLAN OF ACTION IF YOU LEAD AN ADVANCED CHURCH
- Ask the pastor to recruit a prayer team of seventy-three to ninety-six people.
- Organize a twenty-four-hour prayer time three times during the year.
- Hold a prayer retreat to train people in ways to pray and to actually pray.
- Train people in spiritual disciplines, such as fasting, private prayer, etc.
- Regularly give God the credit for your church’s blessings.
Elite Churches
Elite churches fervently pray for the Holy Spirit to draw lost people to Christ and regularly hear reports of people receiving Christ. They identify, organize, and give specific prayer requests to intercessors. Small groups and classes involve at least 50 percent of the entire congregation in some aspect of prayer.
PLAN OF ACTION IF YOU LEAD AN ELITE CHURCH
- Ask the pastor to recruit a prayer team of 97–120 people.
- Organize a twenty-four-hour prayer time four times during the year.
- Identify and organize a team of gifted intercessors who will commit to praying an hour a day for your church’s ministry and for specific requests from the leaders.
- Appoint a person to oversee the development of your church’s total prayer ministry.
- Fervently pray for God to bring lost people to your church.
Imagine what it would be like if your church doubled or tripled its focus on prayer. Imagine the impact such a focus might have on people inside and outside the church. Imagine the barriers that might be broken, the conflicts that could be resolved, or the morale that would increase. Divine empowerment through prayer is a key to making these things happen.