A Call to Ministry is a Call to Prayer – Jesus (Part 2)

God allowed me to launch Every Generation Ministries in 1993 while living in Poland. The first few years were filled with obstacles and challenges.

One of the most painful occurred when a staff member drafted a letter to the Board of Directors accusing me of immoral behavior. The letter came as a shock to the Board and to me as well.

It was a “dark night of the soul” for me as the Board looked into the accusations. Defending myself did not seem to be right, so I focused on praying. The Board concluded that the accusations were completely unmerited, and the staff member left the team shortly thereafter.

I am certainly a flawed leader, but opposition can be unrelated to flaws and spiritual in nature. Leadership “blowback” is not uncommon in the Bible and prayer is an essential response. 

Leadership and Spiritual Opposition: The Power of Prayer

Even with great leadership you are likely to face opposition which was so evident in Jesus’ ministry.

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us, and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:17-29)

This is a great passage, giving us a glimpse into the love of Christ for children. It is also a reminder of the spiritual forces arrayed against young people seeking to capture their hearts in spiritual slavery.

Our attention, however, is on the attempts of the disciples to exorcise the demon from the boy. They fail and then in a dramatic turn of events Jesus casts the demon out and frees the boy from his bondage.

Afterwards the disciples inquire about their failed efforts. Jesus answers that “this kind can come out only by prayer” (vs. 29).

Without delving into technical questions about His meaning we can observe that prayer is an important element in dealing with some kinds of spiritual opposition. 

Leaders in the Bible often face spiritual forces opposed to their efforts. From the magicians and their dark arts (Exodus 7:11,22) to Paul confronting the sorcerer Elymas (Acts 13:6-12) ministry is often met by spiritual opposition and prayer is key.

Effective leaders deploy prayer as a tool against spiritual opposition.

Belarus is a throwback to the early years of communism and the persecution of the church by the state.

The government is always concerned about foreign influences that would undermine their authority. Christianity with its allegiance to Christ and international network is frequently the target of persecution, often immediately preceding “elections.”

Such was the case when we traveled as a team to Belarus including my wife, four-year-old son, and nine-year-old daughter. We crossed over the border on the train and declared the large amount of cash being delivered to the ministry in Belarus.

Since I have a propensity to lose things, my wife Marla had the cash and declared it on her form. Unbeknownst to us, during our travel the government passed a law making it illegal for Belarussians to possess any foreign currency. It was a felony.

The day after we arrived, they raided several churches looking for foreign cash and actually arrested some pastors for having a few Euros in a drawer.

Two days into our trip I was summoned to meet with the leaders of the two large evangelical churches. The purpose of the meeting was to ask me what I planned to tell the security police at the border when they asked my wife what she did with the money in Belarus.

If we told them that we gave it to the ministry leaders, they would all be arrested and tried. We all prayed, and we agreed I should speak to my wife.

The next day we were summoned back to a similar meeting. We had prayed together and decided that we were not going to provide evidence against our Belarussian friends and would refuse to answer the police.

The church leaders agreed and then explained that Marla would be arrested and that I needed to do two things: make sure someone on the train could take the children over the border and also make sure that I got arrested with Marla. Under no circumstances should I leave here with the security police by herself. Then we all prayed.

That night we hardly slept and the next morning we boarded the train. The church leaders were all there to pray for us along with our Belarussian ministry team. After praying, our kids stayed in the compartment with our team from Poland and Marla and I went to another spot.

We prayed all the way to the border and when we arrived, they came through car with the forms to complete. Marla completed her form which indicated she was leaving Belarus with about one-hundred and fifty dollars. She had to give them the form we completed when we arrived that stated in writing that she came into the country with over eleven thousand dollars.

When the security police officer opened the door, we were shocked to see it was the same officer that had processed us going into the county. We both were praying as he reviewed Marla’s forms.

Then he looked at her and said in Russian “You sure are leaving Belarus poor!” Then he closed the door and moved on. God had heard our prayers, and we all crossed without event.

Leadership prayers can overcome spiritual opposition, and it can strengthen leaders in times of doubt and discouragement. It was so for Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane.

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. (Matthew 26:36-44)

The call to the cross as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the earth is unlike any other.

As Jesus drew near to his own hour of suffering in the fulfillment of that calling, we see Him in impassioned prayer.

This stands at the threshold of the trial, humiliation and suffering that was to ensue and was His final moment or solitude with the Father before taking up His yoke of service.

Jesus models the weighty practice of seeking God in moments of leadership discouragement or even despair.

This kind of leadership prayer is common in Moses’ laments over Israel’s behavior (Numbers 11:1-15), Samuel is rejected in favor of a King (I Samuel 8), Paul prays and sings hymns while imprisoned (Acts 16).

When leaders face discouragement, they respond in prayer.

The Role of Prayer in Overcoming Discouragement 

When we relocated to the United States from Poland the cost of living had gone up dramatically. The ministry had teams in Poland, Belarus and Hungary and was operating with little financial margin.

Our relocation created additional financial stress that I felt daily. Every month we would barely scrape by and some months I would take less pay or even skip a paycheck. It was tough…. but God always provided.

In May 2002, we were coming to the end of the month and did not have enough money in the bank to send to the countries in Europe for their payroll. They were receiving income from within their countries, but we made a significant contribution monthly. It had been the same situation for months and the stress was wearing me down.

This month was really bad, and we were supposed to wire the funds on Monday morning. It was over nine thousand dollars. We had about five hundred dollars to our name.

Friday, I went to the P.O. box and there was just junk mail. Saturday was the same. I had a phone call with the three country leaders on Monday. I went that morning to check the box again…. nothing. I was so down, so I e-mailed to reschedule. The bad news was too much for me to share.

There were families with kids, and they were counting on me to raise the funds……. even though I knew it was God raising the funds. I prayed for God to lessen the discouragement and help me be content in plenty and want.

Tuesday morning, I was peppered with e-mails asking for the wiring information, but I still didn’t have the heart. My wife told me that it was not appropriate to lead in denial.

We prayed together and I decided to deliver the bad news on Wednesday. I prayed that morning and got up and drove to the post office. I opened the PO Box and was crestfallen, one envelope! I opened it and there was a check for ten thousand dollars.

When we face defeat and feel discouragement leaders pray and God brings the encouragement, joy, and ultimate victory. 

We may go through the valley of the shadow of death, but we will not fear evil and will follow example of the impassioned prayer of Jesus in the garden.

Next week we will look at the importance of leadership prayer in the ministry of the Apostle Paul!