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Table of Contents
Ministry for a Lifetime:
Disciplines of a Healthy Pastor
By Thomas E. Trask
Years ago, when I started in the ministry, an old-time preacher gave me some advice: "Ask God to put you on a schedule," he said, "then keep that schedule." So for 44 years, I’ve had a schedule. I spend from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. in devotions and prayer. Of course, my schedule is interrupted at times, and that routine is broken. But the discipline comes in when I put myself back on that schedule.
STUDY OF THE WORD
Every minister must make time for devotion and study of God’s Word that is not just for sermon preparation. This is where our souls are fed. From that time of meditation and study comes revelation. I usually keep a notepad beside me, because the study of God’s Word brings revelation and births a subject or message in my spirit.
In recent months I’ve been reading the Epistles. I read one of them once or twice a day for a full week. It’s amazing the truths I’ve discovered that I had missed over the years. I thought I was acquainted with all the content, but out of that repetitious reading and study come revelation. And that’s where messages are born. That’s discovery of God’s truth.
There is a difference between illumination of the Word and quickening of the Word. When you’re in the Word and in prayer, the Spirit illumines truth to your mind. When the Word is quickened, we not only understand it, but it stirs us in a way that goes beyond illumination. Illumination is the unveiling of revelation; quickening becomes the application to a situation. We must not confuse these two. They must be distinct. It’s vital that we understand how the Spirit works in these two ways.
| Pentecostal pastors have such a great advantage in knowing and appreciating the person and work of the Holy Spirit, because out of this comes the gifts of the Spirit — the spirit of discernment, the word of knowledge, and other gifts. |
The version of the Bible you use is a personal choice. The important thing is to find the discipline to live in the Word of God. Then the Word of God begins to live in you. Scripture says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22*). As propagators of the Word, we must be doers of the Word ourselves. How can we preach something we’re not doing? There must be no dichotomy in this matter. We can’t preach one thing but live something else. That contradiction is never pleasing to God.
PRIVATE PRAYER
Another aspect of personal devotions is spending time alone with God in private prayer. We pray and then let God speak to us. In this essential time of prayer, we’re not involved merely in the mundane. We are involved in spiritual matters. We’re responsible for the spiritual life of the church. If pastors don’t maintain spiritual vitality, they won’t be sensitive to the needs of the church.
Each minister must decide how much time to spend alone with God. But I can tell you, 10 minutes in the Word and 10 minutes in prayer will not be sufficient to maintain the spiritual life needed to minister effectively.
There has never been a day in which leadership in the church needs to be endowed with God-given wisdom more than today. The complexities of people’s lives and the responsibilities of ministry are great. But when we have God-given wisdom, the Spirit can empower us. He knows the answers that we don’t. Prayer is making ourselves available to Him in His presence and saying, "Lord, I need Your help."
As Pentecostals, we are especially blessed in this aspect of prayer. Jude 20 says, "praying in the Holy Ghost" (KJV).
The apostle Paul wrote, "For anyone who speaks in a tongue . . . utters mysteries with his spirit" (1 Corinthians 14:2). We need times in our prayer lives when the Spirit comes upon us. Sometimes we’ll groan, or pray in tongues, or feel travail. That’s what we call "praying through." In prayer, the Spirit gives us enlightenment and insight. Pentecostal pastors have such a great advantage in knowing and appreciating the person and work of the Holy Spirit, because out of this comes the gifts of the Spirit—the spirit of discernment, the word of knowledge, and other gifts. These are for facilitating the work of the ministry, and we need the Holy Spirit’s enablement.
FASTING
Every minister ought to have a set time of fasting. I’ve practiced regular fasting throughout my ministry. A person can also fast things other than food. Fasting is the discipline of denial that brings us closer to God. The enemy will do everything in his power to keep us from fasting, praying, and studying the Word of God. It is easy to find an excuse or rationale for neglect: "I’m involved in the Lord’s work. I’m doing the work of the ministry." Yes, but where do you find your power for ministry? It comes from time alone with God. Our example is Jesus, who often withdrew from the crowds to be alone and pray.
We must have adequate rest so the spiritual man can remain alert and sensitized. Some people can get by with 5 or 6 hours of sleep at night; others need more. No one should come under condemnation because he or she needs more rest than someone else. When fatigue becomes a factor in your life, you will become irritable and impatient with people. You’ll lose your sensitivity to the voice of the Spirit. You won’t have the love you once had for God’s Word and His work.
WITNESSING
We must see people as the Lord sees them—lost and going into eternity. Our ministry springs from that consciousness of the lostness of humanity. Then there will come a passion to speak to men and women and warn them. Ministry becomes more than just a pulpit responsibility, but rather something we live with every day of our lives. We see men and women as lost. Whether they are casual acquaintances or friends, business acquaintances or those we meet only once, we not only see them as lost, but we respond by witnessing to them. We tell them about Jesus Christ and about hell and eternity. Who knows what the Holy Spirit is already doing in their lives? Who knows for what purpose God caused your paths to cross? We need an awareness that the Spirit is already working in people’s lives. Then we come with a sensitivity to the work of the Spirit and join with the Spirit’s witness to people.
A passion for the lost comes out of an intimate personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You will not fellowship with the Lord without the disciplines of Bible study and prayer. You will not come into close fellowship with Him without gaining His passion for the lost.
Personal evangelism needs to be a part of a minister’s lifestyle. Someone once said, "You win them to yourself. Then you can win them to the Lord." I’ve seen that happen. If my contact with other men can win them to me, they will have confidence in me. They’ll know that what I say to them comes from a love for them, not out of duty.
Relationships must be built. Pastors find the majority of opportunities to witness among people with whom they do business on a day-to-day basis outside the church. Many people today in high positions of business and government are lonely and hurting. The way to win them is to befriend them. Then, when crisis comes in their lives, to whom do they turn? They will contact you immediately. Then it is your opportunity to say, "You need the Lord." You’ve already planted the seed and have been watering it. Now the time has come for that seed to produce fruit.
Patience is an important part of the process. Fruit doesn’t grow overnight; it takes time. Scripture teaches that some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. We must do our part in the planting and watering, but only God can save. At times I have wondered, Did I fail when a business acquaintance slipped into eternity without receiving Christ as Lord and Savior? That’s a heavy responsibility. I want to be able to look back and say, "Lord, I witnessed to him. I told him. I warned him. I loved him. I did all I could."
A pastor who wants to see his or her congregation be soul winners must first model soul winning. What the pastor is, in time, the congregation will become. A healthy church must be a soul-winning church, and it begins with the pastor.
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Thomas E. Trask was general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Springfield, Missouri (1993-2007). |
*Scripture references are from the New International Version unless noted.
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