4 suggestions from Jim Cymbala (Brooklyn Tabernacle) to build prayer in your ministry

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I am a little late to the game but when Jim Cymbala’s office sent me a copy of their 2007 DVD series I sat down and watched it all in one setting. I recommend it to you as a good series to take your ministry through. Even if you don’t purchase it his advice at the end of pastors is great advice to leaders to trying to build a culture of prayer in their ministry. Here are 4 things I took away:

Personalize what happens to you and your church.

He used the idea of grades in school. Understanding if your church is in first grade or high school in relationship to prayer will make a difference in what you do with prayer. I always encourage leaders to understand their personality and preferences before adding things with prayer.

Is your church in first grade or high school in prayer? Lead them accordingly!

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Strategically model prayer

Of course if you want to have a ministry of prayer you must be a person of prayer. But it is also important to model and mentor it to the leaders specifically and the ministry generally. Think of ways to build into your messages things like, “When I was in prayer the other day…” or “One of the things that I am praying for our group…”

Creatively teach on prayer

He talked about pastors who get excited about prayer and then come back and start a service that the church is not ready. Then they are, “double discouraged”. You may need to teach for a while before they are ready. He offered a great piece of advice to not only teach on the how of prayer but the power that prayer has to make a difference. This will get people ready for more prayer.

Give space for prayer in the service

We may think we need to launch 24-7 prayer or a weekly prayer service but the ministry is not ready. A place to start is during your regular service. Find ways to extend prayer into the life of the service. Maybe it will be to extend prayer for a couple minutes after the singing but before the message or maybe it will be extending your prayer time at the end of your message as a model of prayer.

With these four things hopefully you can think of one practical step you could use this week to help your ministry go to the next level.

(Note this was originally sent as part of our leaders Building A Culture Of Prayer Email. If you want to be part of this growing group you can sign up here)

2 minutes that could create hours of conversation with God

Praying without ceasing may seem like an impossible task. I have written about a 10 step nerd approach to praying without ceasing, but here is a short video that could open up hours of conversation with God. Enjoy!

You will never have all that you want in Jesus without this

Working in my ministry for the last 10 years has been mostly a one person thing. Don’t get me wrong at some point I would love to have a part time administrative assistant. I actually started researching five years ago. I have put together job descriptions. I have even had people prophecy over me the importance of this position to the ministry.

Then a few days ago I came across this website that allowed you to outsource 25 tasks to an assistant overseas for US $79 a month. I figured it was a low cost experiment and signed up for a month. After only a few days I have learned a lot. I learned things I like and don’t like that I never would have figured out in 5 years of research. Whether I use this service again or not again after the first month I am further ahead than those five years of research.

It got me thinking about how this true in our spiritual life as well. Sometimes it is easier to adjust a moving vehicle than one that is in park. Maybe this is why Jesus called his disciples to follow Him and then explained it as they went along. As Henry Blackaby said Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, He didn’t give them a map. Some things can only be learned in the doing.

Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, He didn’t give them a map.-Henry Blackaby

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There are so many applications of this to our spiritual journey. Maybe you need some mentors in your life. Rather than worry about finding the perfect mentor who is someone you could email or call today with a specific question you are struggling with right now? After a few emails, phone calls and lunch meetings you will know a little more of what you are looking for in a group of mentors (note I say group rather than just one mentor).

We want to start a Bible study plan. Start with reading a few verses every day. It is later on down the road that you can figure out if you should add Bible memorization or word studies or something else. A prayer life will grow, but it is easier to see areas to that need growth after the conversation has started. Then you can buy a book on prayer. Okay you can do that now. Has God put in your heart to start a ministry or write a book? Action is important. As I shared in a video it is important to start somewhere. The little actions make all of the difference.

As I mentioned at the top about my assistant I am still in the process of learning. I may get a month in and need to take a step back to start over. But going back at this point is still progress because I will have learned a path I don’t want to go down again. What action will you take today?