Dear Small Church Pastor,
In the last letter, which covered the topic of Priorities, I dealt with looking at how we invest our time as one of the indicators of what we consider priorities. Allow me to continue approaching this topic of time and how we use it for a few minutes, with emphasis on one use of time.
We all know we only have twenty-four hours in a day. Part of that day must be invested in resting and part of it in eating and taking care of personal physical needs. The big question about time is, “How do we spend the rest of our time daily?”
We are exchanging our time for something; that’s why we say we are “spending time” doing that something. Well, what should we be doing, as compared with what we actually do? As pastors, how can we most efficiently use our time to fulfill our God-given call and to utilize our God-given talents?
We usually attempt to block out time for things like visits to congregational members, counseling, Bible study, sermon preparations, administrative duties, and a host of other responsibilities that go along with the written or perceived ministry of being a pastor. However, I sometimes wonder if there is an aspect of being a pastor that we overlook and simply do not put near the top of the list. That something is time spent in prayer.
While conducting a School of Christ International missions training at a Christian campground my wife and I used to manage, Bro. Bert Clendennen had a standing rule for each day of the training. The prospective missionaries/ministers were required to meet before breakfast daily at a set time and pray for an hour. The first day one of the ministers attending was about ten minutes late for prayer. He was reminded of the beginning time.
The second day that same individual was late again. Bro. Clendennen pulled him aside and indicated to him that he needed to pack his things and return home. Then that wise man of God told the late one that if he could not control himself enough to get up on time and pray for at least an hour before the day started while here in the states where there was no real pressure on him, he would never succeed in the field, because there he would need to pray for a much longer time daily in order to serve in complete dedication and submission to God just to be able to stay alive, depending on the country in which he would serve.
I’m reminded of how the original apostles had the large group of disciples choose out seven men to take care of the feeding ministry during the beginning days of the church. They said that would enable them to devote their time to prayer and the ministry of the word. I often wonder if that would work today. What if disciples in whom trust could be placed took care of the physical needs of a congregation and the pastors devoted themselves prayer and talking about Jesus?
My question is this–How much time do we pray daily? If the answer is a hour, is that enough time? If the answer is two hours, is that enough time?
How much is enough will probably depend on your schedule for the day. It may depend on how much you expect to be fighting opposition to the teaching of the word in your town. There are many other things that can influence how much time we spend in prayer. But the bottom line is, are we praying in proportion to how much we are ministering? Those original apostles decided to devote themselves to prayer and the word. I imagine that involved a great deal more prayer than is talked about today.
I read an article on prayer years ago that made an impression on me. The writer (whose name I cannot remember for this letter) told his secretary to hold all his calls for two hours because he felt that day deserved at least that much time in prayer before continuing. She looked at his schedule and saw he had one appointment for counselling that day. One appointment.
We know we are admonished in scriptures to pray constantly, in all things, with faith, through the powerful name of Jesus and His authority. We know Jesus set aside time to pray, sometimes all night. We know we are to pray with understanding and in the Spirit. We know prayer matters and that it gets results, and those results can be miraculous.
Knowing all these things, we still procrastinate when it comes to the actual activity of praying. When it comes to time, is prayer a priority for us?
I challenge you to look at your daily schedule and see if you can determine just how much prayer time you are putting in for the Kingdom of God. Then ask yourself if you think it is enough. Perhaps we all can do better in how much time we invest in our prayer life. I know I can.
Sincerely,
A Small Church Pastor