FLOURISHING MINISTERS, FLOURISHING MINISTRY: AMAZING CHANGES IN MINISTRY TODAY (II)

F. HOW TO FINISH WELL

You can finish well. Finishing well does not mean finishing perfect or unblemished. Finishing well means ability to rise up and remain standing at the end.

You may not have the opportunity to make a fresh start, but you can begin the journey of a great finish from now!

1. Ministry To The Lord

Ministry to the Lord must forever be before ministry to the people. We must never be ministry conscious that we lose sight of the One who has called us into the ministry. He must be our Number One forever. Devotion to God must come first. Many a preacher have failed here, they loved the work than the One who gave them the work. Spend time with Him; seek His leading direction and guidance. Nurture your love relationship with Him by consistent fellowship and this must come before anything else. Many ministers have buried their spirituality in their ministerial activities.

2. Delegation And Training (Eph. 4:11-12)

To keep fresh, the minister must stop the habit of doing everything. Many ministers have experienced dryness, and burnout as a result of their failure to share the ministry. They erroneously believed that no one can do it as well as they would and therefore become the all in all. This has evidently resulted in burn outs. The ministry must be shared and the people must be trained to do the job. Delegation must take place if the minister is to be at his best. This was Jethro’s advice to Moses (Exod. 18:13-27). The Apostles also did the same (Acts 6:1-7).

3. Discipline And Watchfulness

Indiscipline, carelessness and failure to be watchful have resulted in many a minister’s ruin. Carefulness must be maintained in diet, stoep and comportment Frivolity, gluttony and carefise allitude towards members, especially the opposite sex is an invitation to ruin. Be a good soldier of the cross.

4. Priority On Time

One of the misused items is our time. It is very easy to become lazy and indulgent in the ministry. To misuse and waste our time is to waste our lives. Our times must be adequately divided if we are to be useful and fresh always. In the priority placed on our time, the lonely times must be addressed first. There must be lonely times for the following:

(a) Prayer: No minister can prosper without this. Secret waiting is the key of knowing God and having power with Him. This must be resolutely fought for. Early morning, afternoon and midnight must find us in this heaven blest exercise.

(b) Seasons of waiting upon the Lord: Not only must we pray, there should also be seasons of waiting upon the Lord for renewal, re-anointing and strength plus grace. Seeking God for the fulfillment of promises and greater manifestation of His power must be consistent and enduring.

© Study Time: Reading and studying are invaluable to the growth and freshness of our ministry and preaching. The minister who refuses to read and study the Bible is on the way down. Good books should be bought, read and digested and the Bible studied for self-edification again and again. These will make our messages unpredictable, powerful and full of insight and inspiration.

(d) Rest Time: Many do not observe this and they have died prematurely or have their bodily functions seriously impaired. Wagner said, “Withdraw weekly, divorce daily and abandon annually. A wise minister will observe and practice this. Without proper rest and exercise, we will soon tire out and others will carry on the work and our ministry unfulfilled. Rest and renew your strength for necessary freshness.

(e) Family Time: Many homes (families) have been destroyed because the man is too busy in the ministry The children are wayward and the home is upside down because no time and attention is given to the wife and children. You must realize that after God and yourself, the next important in your life is your wife and children. The church and ministry must be the reflection of our home and this will only happen when we have spent adequate time with our wife and children.

(f) Creative and Reflective Time: Time must be given to dreaming dreams, creating new ideas and reflection on our ministry so far. This will help us to detect any mistakes, lack and failures to be repented of and new goals to strive for.

5. Be Yourself

We lose much and deny God of His glory when we imitate and try to be somebody else. Don’t try be anybody but be yourself and your best self. Don’t settle for the rest but the best. Eliminate all impediments in your way and stretch to your very best. Be highly motivated and self-starting. Prod and kick yourself to give your best shot at all times.

6. Submit To Authority

To maintain your usefulness and freshness, you must submit yourself to authority of people. Have people to watch over you and report any observed pride or slip to you to be corrected and prayed over.

7. Demand And Solicit For The Prayers of Others (Exod. 17:8-13)

To maintain, increase your usefulness and remain fresh at most times, the minister must have and arrange for those who will hold, uplift and shield him in prayer against demonic attacks. The prayers of the minister is not and can never be sufficient, he therefore needs those who will do the ministry of Aaron and Hur for him. He must have people who are praying for him in these three levels named by Peter Wagner in his book “Prayer Shield”:

(a) 1-3 Intercessors – These are people who just casually remember him in their prayer times.

(b) 1-2 Intercessors – These are people who agree to spend few minutes everyday praying for him and his ministry.

(c) 1-1 Intercessors – Full time intercessor(s) spending several hours each day interceding for him. If possible, they should be paid wages. Finney had such in Abel Clary and Father Nash. Most great men of God today have such people backing up their ministry. David Yonggi Cho has 2,000 intercessors backing and upholding him in prayer.

-If all these can be imbibed and practiced, our usefulness will increase and we shall not lose our freshness. Ministerial burn-outs and falling from grace shall be greatly minimized if not totally wiped out. Prayer for the Pastor must be strongly taught and stressed. It must be given and accorded the right priority. Most ministers seek only financial backers and sponsors in the ministry; as good as this is, yet it is putting the cart before the horse. Prayer backers and intercessors should be sought and put at work first, then their prayers will bring necessary financial backers, blessings, promotion and the growth required.