On My Back Porch – First Things First!
If you're in ministry, remember, God doesn't call you to be His business associate, He calls you to be His son or His daughter. It is still agonizing to me how many people are in the ministry and don't carve out a consistent time, even if it's 10 minutes in the Word and 10 minutes in prayer each day, with the Lord. For me, it's my back porch time, for my husband, it was his appointment with the Lord. I don't know that it ever happens unless you consistently have a certain time of day you do it. For me, it's the first thing in the morning. I have been in the middle of countless leaders in the last four decades who were huge names in the ministry who went down. But I have never, ever, been in the middle of one of those discussions with somebody who had a consistent quiet time with the Lord.
Life continues and our mind incessantly reels with thoughts, ideas, fears...it never stops. Prepare yourself to face the reality that the mind game battle is one you will face for the rest of your life. Like the old proverb says, "Yard by yard life is hard, but inch by inch life is a cinch." Ministers rarely find pride or lust or money to be their number one enemy, the one thing they just cannot shake. The permanent opposition will emerge from the person faced in the mirror each morning. You will fight your share of battles in the trenches, but the war you must first learn to win is the one in your mind that is strategically energized by hell. Consciously choose to combat the negative thoughts with the Word of God. Take them captive, and cast them down. As you plant the seeds of Scripture, right thoughts will grow and be energized by the Holy Spirit. You can unlock the victory with truth, but understand your victories may keep on coming until Jesus returns. Fight the battle, knowing I too fight it every day. As a woman or man of integrity who chooses to renew the mind, you will begin to conform into the very likeness of Jesus Christ and reach the ultimate destination.
If you're in ministry, remember, God doesn't call you to be His business associate, He calls you to be His son or His daughter. It is still agonizing to me how many people are in the ministry and don't carve out a consistent time, even if it's 10 minutes in the Word and 10 minutes in prayer each day, with the Lord. For me, it's my back porch time, for my husband, it was his appointment with the Lord. I don't know that it ever happens unless you consistently have a certain time of day you do it. For me, it's the first thing in the morning. I have been in the middle of countless leaders in the last four decades who were huge names in the ministry who went down. But I have never, ever, been in the middle of one of those discussions with somebody who had a consistent quiet time with the Lord.
Life continues and our mind incessantly reels with thoughts, ideas, fears...it never stops. Prepare yourself to face the reality that the mind game battle is one you will face for the rest of your life. Like the old proverb says, "Yard by yard life is hard, but inch by inch life is a cinch." Ministers rarely find pride or lust or money to be their number one enemy, the one thing they just cannot shake. The permanent opposition will emerge from the person faced in the mirror each morning. You will fight your share of battles in the trenches, but the war you must first learn to win is the one in your mind that is strategically energized by hell. Consciously choose to combat the negative thoughts with the Word of God. Take them captive, and cast them down. As you plant the seeds of Scripture, right thoughts will grow and be energized by the Holy Spirit. You can unlock the victory with truth, but understand your victories may keep on coming until Jesus returns. Fight the battle, knowing I too fight it every day. As a woman or man of integrity who chooses to renew the mind, you will begin to conform into the very likeness of Jesus Christ and reach the ultimate destination.
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In the church world, I think we "motivate" well toward growing closer to Christ, but sometimes don't "lead" well when we fail to give students pragmatic steps for success. Our continual "10 & 10" (10 minutes in the Word and 10 minutes in prayer) challenge is one of our attempts to do just that, but in this Youth Leader's Coach, "Stood Up Again," we take it a step further.
Through a simple but powerful drama, the reading of David's heart cry found in Psalm 42 and the sharing of a transferable illustration involving deer, we try to help students become more aware of and responsive to the Lord's constant presence. Specifically, drawing upon the wisdom of Brother Lawrence, we encourage them to transform their prayer lives by "Practicing The Presence Of God." And finally, in the giving of a 30-day challenge to have a secret, silent, running conversation with the Lord, our hearts' desire is to stir up a deep longing in them to be in His presence and submerged in Him daily, not just in times of trouble.
This message, however, is not just for students...it's for us too! In the chaos of life, I know too many leaders who are better at being youth pastors than they are at being Christ-followers. May this message serve as a reminder to be "Practicing The Presence" ourselves.
Lovingly,
There are a lot of different biblical forms of prayer (i.e. conversational prayer, praying back the Scriptures, personal confession, etc.). Yet, what I'm calling "DANGEROUS PRAYER" is one of the most important but forgotten weapons in our prayer arsenal. James 5:16 tells us, "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man does much good." Though most Christians "know" that verse, I often wonder how many truly "believe" it...and if they "believe" it, how much they are truly "practicing" it in their lives. Intuitively we all know prayer can only do "much good" to the extent it is "much practiced." And, our practice will always and forever be a choice we will have to continually choose to make.
We far too often shorten the power of prayer. We think that prayer is something that we can only do when we want something from God or when we’re in a tough or tight situation. The goal for this message is to "up to the bar" in our prayer lives. Journey with me as we look at our most dangerous and faithful weapon.
Experiencing "Soul Pains,"
Focus On The Family did a study of individuals in full-time ministry. They found that after 10 years, an average of only 2 out of 10 remain "in the trenches." But what's the "bottom line" reason for this tragic statistic? My answer is so simple that it is agonizingly easy to discount and gloss over: Few people in ministry leadership fight the necessary battles to PRIORITIZE CONSISTENCY in their own personal "quiet time."
In this month's Youth Leader's Coach, "Jeanne's Most Significant Key to Spiritual Survival," I parallel our quiet time with Moses' tent of meeting. So grab a cup of coffee and listen in as I share 6 potential dangers from neglecting our tent of meeting, plus some ways to keep our quiet times fresh. I think the greatest thing that could ever happen from our long-distance coaching time together is the prioritizing of a CONSISTENT PERSONAL QUIET TIME in your life.
Lovingly,
