How to Relate to a Man God Can Shape - Praying for Workers

One of my favorite memories as a young boy while visiting my grandparents on their farm in Northern Indiana was flying kites with my siblings. My grandparents had a large field just beyond their chicken houses providing plenty of open space to get a kite up high up in the air, and I remember our excitement when the kites were at their highest point using every inch possible on the ball of string. Of course, there were times we wanted to fly our kites and there was very little if no breeze and we would run as fast as we could thinking we could catch an updraft, yet without the wind the kites wouldn’t fly and only fall to the ground. How many times do we as Christians seek God trying to do things in our own power, and all the sudden whatever it is, just doesn’t seem to work, and like the kite we are grounded. There is no wind to power our prayer request whatever it may be. Flying a kite without wind is a great analogy as we consider praying for workers for the harvest field. As we meet with men and women of all ages who have an interest in ministry work, one of the obvious requirements is the need for the power of a fresh wind from the Holy Spirit. The way we connect with the Holy Spirit is to get on our knees and seek God in prayer.

As twenty-first century Christians, we can take our cue from E.M. Bounds, who felt called to ministry in his early twenties during the Third Great Awakening, and preached in the late 1800’s. He wrote in his book, Power Through Prayer: “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organization or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.” Clearly, we seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit to anoint our efforts, and especially those with whom we pray to share the gospel message. It is prayer that always has been paramount since the days of Old Testament heroes, and is now the key for us as modern day believers to seek the power of Holy Spirit to raise up emerging leaders for the work of the church.

A good first step as we prepare to pray is to make sure our thoughts are in step with Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 Christian Standard Bible). In today’s age there appears no way to escape the world in the advent of a phone in our pocket, 24/7 news, social media, and all the other electronic mediums to keep us connected to the world. When we view social media our minds are inundated with information and images which may not always be so godly. Staying connected to the world is our quandary. Perhaps we spend too much time connected to the world, rather we should use every resource possible to be connected to God. Prayer provides that connection. As we renew our minds and consider what is good in the eyes of God, what is pleasing in his sight and seek to live out his perfect will, we realize all the sudden we are not to be part of this world. You see, the world only wants to take us places where man can be glorified rather than our Lord, Jesus Christ. That is why as we prepare to pray for men to be raised up as pastors, we need to cleanse our thoughts, turn away from the world and choose to be 100% in his presence.

Please pray for God to affect the hearts of men and women to call them to do his work in ministry to advance his kingdom. We pray especially for young men to raised up into this high calling, we pray for those who are older to consider the direction of their lives and how God can use their experiences, knowledge and insight to impact the world with his Word. In the same mindset as that of apostle Paul, we pray for men to do the work of ministry so the church may be unified and we grow into maturity in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus and proclaim his word to the ends of the earth.