If you’ve ever ran out of gas while driving, you know how much it sucks! And being gas-less is indiscriminate. It does not matter if your car is an outdated, broke-down clunker or a brand new, fresh-off-the-line sports car… if you don’t have gas, your stuck.
Prayer is the gas in your ministry’s tank. Too many of us pastors get so busy in ministry that we neglect to fill it’s tank. It would be the equivalent of spending all your time under the hood, getting greasy working on the engine, changing the plugs, adding a booming stereo, or giving it chrome rims but forgetting to fill the tank. It doesn’t matter how good your ministry looks, or how mechanically sound it is, if you don’t have prayer your ministry won’t run far.
Of course you could push the car. But nobody willingly does this. It would be insane to exert the energy of pushing your car past the gas station, insisting that you’ve got everything under control. But doing ministry without consistent prayer is equally insane. Sure you can do it for a while, but why? It’s stupid, exhausting, and short-lived at best. Your ministry was never intended to run without prayer just like your car was never meant to run without fuel. Your strength to push a car is irrelevant compared to the power of gas. And your power to maintain ministry apart from a consistent prayer life is irrelevant and insulting to the God who called you.
If you’re getting burned-out because you’ve been bearing the responsibility of ministry without the resource of prayer, imagine how much faster, and how much farther you’ll get when you stop trying to “push” your ministry in your own strength, and pray for Jesus to do what He promised He would do – build His church. When we commit our ministries to the power of prayer, God rewards us with supernatural resources to deliver our message compellingly, gain influence, lead people, and overcome obstacles. It’s sounds so basic… it is. So is filling up your car. Don’t neglect the critical just because it’s basic. The growth of your youth ministry, small group, church plant, etc. depends more on your prayer than it does your next slick illustration or cool activity.
And this principle is true regardless of whether God has called you to preach or run a business. The fulfillment of your calling depends on prayer.
John Markum