Our Dependence on God
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast - where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace Churches with our executive director.
Mark, this podcast is not only for pastors, it's for everyone in Sovereign Grace Churches. But oftentimes we specifically talk about topics that more relate to pastoral ministry because we do want to serve the pastors in Sovereign Grace. Something obvious is that a pastor is called fundamentally - it's in our calling - to be men who give themselves to ministry of the Word and prayer (Acts 6). I think it’s safe to say every Sovereign Grace pastor is going to get the answer on the test correct on whether or not a pastor should be a man of prayer. But on this episode, you actually wanted to actually go a level deeper into thinking about why we pray as pastors, the importance of prioritizing prayer in our ministries.
Mark Prater:
In answering that question, I'm actually going to give some quotes that have affected me for years and I've put those in categories and as I read these quotes, I believe they're actually written by pastors for pastors. But if there's a member of a Sovereign Grace Church listening to this or someone outside of Sovereign Grace, I think you'll benefit from these quotes as well.
So why should a pastor pray regularly? Here's the first answer to that question - the lingering aroma of prayer should mark our ministry. And a quote from John Piper's book, Brothers, We're Not Professionals, he's got a wonderful chapter dedicated to prayer.
He writes this “Are not our people really learning to be around a man who's been around God? Is it not the lingering aroma of prayer that gives a sense of eternity to all our work?”
A wonderful quote - that lingering aroma of prayer - should mark our lives in our ministry. Second reason - why pastor should pray regularly: we should be known as dependent men. That's sort of an obvious answer, but a couple of quotes. First one from John Piper, Brothers, We're Not Professionals – “A pastor who feels competent in himself to produce eternal fruit, which is the only kind that matters, knows neither God nor himself. A pastor who does not know the rhythm of desperation and deliverance must have his sights only on what man can achieve.”
So, desperation, dependence, deliverance, meaning God helps you by answering your prayers because you prayed out of your desperation. A wonderful quote! And then a quote from just a timeless resource, The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges. He's got a section in that book on prayer. He says this “Prayer implies the renunciation of all our dependence upon our best preparations, ministerial gifts or spiritual habits. An acknowledgement of their insufficiency to qualify us for the discharge of our commission and a simple dependence upon our glorious head for his present influence.”
That's what prayer is! It's a renunciation of our dependence or self-dependence in all the ways that God has made us and gifted us. Those are good things - we must use them - but ultimately, we are dependent upon the giver of those gifts and the giver of our calling. A third reason - why pastors should pray regularly: we should be known as praying men who respond to every impulse for prayer. I love this quote by D. Martin Lloyd Jones from the book Preaching and Preachers.
He says this, “Always respond to every impulse to pray. I would make an absolute law of this – always obey such an impulse. Where does it come from? It is the work of the Holy Spirit; it is a part of the meaning of “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13). This often leads to some of the most remarkable experiences in the life of the minister. So never resist it, never postpone it, never push it aside because you are busy. Give yourself to it, yield to it; and you will find not only that you have not been wasting time with respect to the matter with which you are dealing but that actually it has helped you greatly in that respect … Such a call to prayer must never be regarded as a distraction; always respond to it immediately, and thank God if it happens to you frequently.” Isn't that wonderful?
Benjamin Kreps:
Yes, it is!
Mark Prater:
It's just how he relates to that - don't let busyness, don't let your to-do list, don't think that prayer is a distraction to those things. Respond to it immediately is what he says. One other reason why pastors should pray: we must be known as pastors who pray for their people.
I think our pastors in Sovereign Grace do this really well. This is more of a reminder from Charles Spurgeon from Lectures to My Students that talks about prayer in the pastor's life. He says this, “Never can you be short of themes for prayer even if no one should suggest them to you. Look at your congregation. There are always sick folk among them and many more who are soul sick. Some are unsaved, others are seeking and cannot find. Many are desponding and not a few believers are backsliding or mourning. There are widows’ tears and orphan sized to be put into our bottle and poured out before the Lord. If you are a genuine minister of God, you will stand as a priest before the Lord pleading for them.”
Just so well said. Just a few reasons and to answers the question - why a pastor should pray regularly. I hope these quotes serve our brothers that are listening to this episode.
Benjamin Kreps:
Wonderful, wonderful quotes. Thanks for reminding me how inarticulate I am in my preaching. I think this is helpful for prayerful men - faithful pastors of which Sovereign Grace is full of faithful prayerful pastors - to think about regularly and be reminded of. I think there can be even blind spots when it comes to areas that need prayer. I've had this nagging issue, a physical issue that's been lingering for a very long time and is disruptive to my daily life, but something I've learned to live with.
And my wife just asked me this “Have you gone to get prayed for about this?”
We have prayer every fourth Sunday for physical healing. A lot of Sovereign Grace churches do. Every fourth Sunday we've got pastors who will anoint with oil, we pray, for physical healing once a month.
And I said, “No.” And we've been doing this for a long time.
She said, “Why not?”
And I thought, “I have no idea.”
So just in all of the activities and caring for people in ministry and prayer, we can even develop blind spots about ourselves. I know I regularly need to be reminded of the wonderful privilege and opportunity we have in prayer and there are things in the mystery of prayer. There are things that God will only do if we pray. And there are so much we need God to do in our churches. You gave us a number of helpful encouraging quotes, but you also have some resources to help us and strengthen us as we think about this area of prayer.
Mark Prater:
I was actually recently asked, “What are the resources your sort of go-to resources in cultivate prayer in your life?” And I really appreciate the question. I had to think about it and then I had to limit my list. There's a lot I could put on here. For me, I think that you're talking about blind spots just a minute ago.
I think this is a blind spot in my life. I think there are times I can be tempted to view prayer as this duty, this duty to be fulfilled. So I tend to look for resources and books that counter that. I tend to read books or authors that inspire me to pray. Prayer is duty and it's part of our calling, so I'm not dismissing that. But when I'm inspired to pray, that duty becomes a delight. So that's kind of some of the books I have on this list, especially the first one that I want to mention.
Prayer and the Knowledge of God by Graham Goldsworthy
This book is essentially a biblical theology on prayer that I found just inspiring. It gave me the big picture in how God works in the world today and has decided to incorporate the prayers of men and women into how he sovereignly rules. I just love that book.
The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life - Charles Spurgeon
This book is an excellent resource and it's one I go back to again and again.
Prayer - Andrew Murray
A Call to Spiritual Reformation - D.A. Carson.
Carson writes about each of Paul's prayers that are found in his letters. It's just outstanding.
Brothers. We're Not Professionals - John Piper
Chapter 10 – ‘Brothers, Let Us Pray’ is what I quoted from and it’s a go-to chapter for me.
Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church
I'm currently reading through this book and it's a collection of edited prayers into modern language from the early saints in the church. Augustine’s prayers are in there for example. And just to read those prayers and to read how the early saints and even some of the church fathers prayed, it just inspires me. And I can't quite pray like that. But they're rich in content, they're humbling to read and they are inspiring for me. So that's a book that wasn't published not too long ago.
22 Life Lessons on Prayer - Tim Kerr
Tim Kerr is a pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Toronto, Canada. A wonderful example of a praying pastor in our denomination. So those are a few resources I'd recommend.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent. Well thank you for the recommendations and the encouragement. And if those who are checking the podcast are unaware, we actually had an episode with Joel Shorey - our director of church planting - where we talked about the prayer initiative that Joel developed that creates space regularly for Sovereign Grace pastors together on Zoom calls to pray. So if you haven't seen that podcast, you're not aware of that, go back and check it out. You can find it on markkprater.com or wherever you listen to this podcast. So thank you, Mark for your encouragement. And thank you all for checking out the podcast. May God make us prayerful men in Sovereign Grace for his glory. We'll see you here next time, lord willing. Bye for now.