Paul's Ministry ManualMuestra

Kneeling Helpers

If you have been in any kind of ministry for some time, you know ministry can bring pain, and often it can bring a sense of inadequacy. There can be times when you feel unable to accomplish what you want to accomplish, and at the same time you are facing trouble in your family or in your work. 

During his ministry, the Apostle Paul stood in need of prayer in these two areas. He needed help in his ministry and in his suffering. When he wrote the second letter to the Corinthians, he had the care of many churches and was undergoing intense suffering. He needed support from others. He needed their prayers. He explains all this in 2 Cor. 1:8-11.

In that context, he makes a remarkable statement, “On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers” (11). The people to whom he was writing helped him survive the persecution by their prayers. Paul endured with God’s help, but here he is saying God’s help came, not only in answer to his own prayers, but also as a result of their prayers.

Paul recognized that as he traveled spreading the gospel he had teammates who worked alongside him. But here he recognizes that he also has teammates in distant Corinth. They were helping him in his work. They were working with him on their knees. They were calling down the blessing of God on him.

He wrote the same thing to the Romans, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (15:30). And in Phil. 1:19 he put it like this, “I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”

In your ministry, do you have a team of praying helpers? Are there some people you can depend on to support you before God’s throne of grace? The great evangelist D. L. Moody once said, “I’d rather be able to pray than be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.” Are you praying for the ministry of others, and are there some who are supporting you in prayer? If the Apostle Paul needed that support, we do also. Are there trusted friends you can ask to pray regularly for your ministry?

Prayer: Lord, teach me the value of prayer. May I be a kneeling helper in the ministry of others, and may others  support me in my ministry by prayer.