Will I Ever Be a Leader of Prayer? 4/5

"It may be put down as a spiritual axiom that in every truly successful ministry, prayer is an evident and controlling force . . . . A ministry may be a very thoughtful ministry without prayer; the preacher may secure fame and popularity without prayer; the whole machinery of the preacher's life and work may run without the oil of prayer or with scarely enough to grease one cog; but no ministry can be a spiritual one, securing holiness in the preacher and his people, without prayer . . . .

"The preacher that prays indeed puts God into the work. God does not come into the preacher's work as a matter of course on general principles. . . . A prayerful minister has passed beyond the man of mere affairs, of secularities, of pulpit attractiveness; passed beyond the organizer into the region of the spiritual. . . . God is with him.

"No ministry can succeed without much praying, and this praying must be fundamental, ever abiding, ever increasing. . . . God's true preachers have been distinguished by this one great feature: they were men of prayer. Differing often in many things, they have always had a common center. . . . These men prayed not occasionally . . . they so prayed that their prayers entered into and shaped their characters. They spent much time in prayer, not because they marked the shadow on the dial or the hands on the clock, but because it was to them so momentous and engaging a business that they could scarcely give over."

Adapted from E.M. Bounds, Power through Prayer.

Making it Personal:

I am often attracted to the "big" ministries, "big" churches, and "super" pastors -- I read their books and appreciate their input. But before I am starstruck by the "greatness" of their work, I must realize that their effectiveness is not solely a matter of methodology or clever ministry strategy -- people who truly affect the world for the kingdom of Christ are people whose ministries are borne out of lives of prayer.

Lord, whether or not my ministry is ever "big," I pray that I would be great in your eyes, great in prayer before You.