Great and Mighty Things
Dear Pastors
Jeremiah (33:3) nails it when he says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (NKJV) OR “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come” (TLB). Linger here for a moment. Read it again.
My instinct is that most of us would like to pray more. Let me go further, most of us need to pray more. We intuitively know that prayer is absolutely critical to our work. It is important for all Christians to pray but for Pastors (and indeed all Christian leaders) it is doubly important.
Here we have an incredible promise. If Jeremiah prays , God promises that He will not only answer him, but reveal ‘great and mighty things’. These are in fact things that could not be known any other way. The idea of the word ‘mighty’ in Hebrew would be better translated ‘isolated’ or ‘inaccessible’. God says He will give us revelation and insight into otherwise inaccessible things based upon a pursuit in prayer.
Here’s our challenge I think. As Pastors we can very quickly depend (as in our default setting) on past successes or managerial techniques or the latest new idea, none of which is wrong per se, but only God can give you the precise answer or insight for your present day reality. Only He can reveal things to us that we do not yet know.
I love this about Christian leadership. God knows! He knows the past , the present and the future and He wants to disclose what He knows to His servants. Further, all successful spiritual enterprise is based upon clear understanding of the forces which oppose us and direction for dealing with these influences. The natural (carnal) mind is unfit and ill equipped for spiritual warfare. Only faith filled prayer will fix that.
So Pastor, how is your prayer life right now? You need some insight about your future, then pray. You need some insight about the future of the Church you lead, then pray. You need some wisdom to deal with an intractable problem, then pray. You need a committed and competent volunteer or two, then pray. And when all is said and done, pray some more.
God wants to (and I believe will) show you great and mighty things. He wants you, your leadership and your church(ministry) to flourish.
Blessings
Alan
Announcement
For those of you who live in or near Tauranga and Hamilton. I am convening two events on Euthanasia with Caralise Trayes (Author of the new book, ‘Final Choice”) this coming Sunday 20th September at Life Church, Tauranga at 7.00pm and West Hamilton Community Church in Hamilton on Monday 21st September at 7.30pm. More info available on request.
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
