Skip to main content

24/7/365




Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil (I Thessalonians 5:16-22) 

Minister:
A member of the clergy, especially in Protestant churches
(in certain countries) a head of a government department
(archaic) a person or thing use to achieve or convey something

          Who is your minister? Who are your ministers? How many of them do you have? Are they all professionals? When you hear the word, do you think in terms of members of the clergy or heads of government departments, or do you think in the archaic sense: a person who serves you and helps you to achieve or convey something? Or, are the perhaps the buddy who makes you laugh and feel good about yourself once a week?
          What does your minister have to do with today’s passage?  These are just a brief list of things we’re supposed to be doing:
Rejoicing always (24/7/365)
Praying without ceasing (24/7/365)
Giving thanks in everything (24/7/365)
Not quenching the Spirit (24/7/365)
Not despising prophetic utterances, but examining everything carefully and holding on to what is good (24/7/365)
Abstaining from every form of evil (24/7/365)
          These are all things that we tend to expect from our ministers. They’re supposed to spend all their time doing these things plus studying Scripture, preparing sermons, counseling just about everyone, visiting patients in hospitals and nursing homes, evangelizing every home in a hundred-mile radius, leading the church….  That’s the hygienic system that lets us separate from the action: clean, neat, distant, convenient. But it’s not what Scripture tells us to do. We’re supposed to be doing those things ourselves, being helped to do those things by others, and helping others do those things. We are ministers to everyone around us. They are ministers to us. I’m not suggesting that we get rid of paid ministers, just that we don’t delegate our responsibilities to them.
         Two winters ago, God suggested to me that it wasn’t really right to just pray for someone to be blessed when I had the means of blessing them at my fingertips. Yesterday, as I made myself a little more at home at the Y, I discovered a notebook of prayer requests. I thought about adding “wisdom, direction and attitude” to the list, but didn’t. Instead, I took the four that were listed yesterday to the throne of grace – even the one I really couldn’t read. It only took a moment, but it could it, by grace, count toward their 24/7/365? I like to think so.
          We are all ministers to God and to one another. The ministry of prayer is not just a responsibility, it’s also an honor. Prayer is more than just giving God a to do list. It’s an act of loving service and a duty. How is your ministry today? 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more