Proposal: Add Minister of Prayer to Ministry Staff

In every church, enough time must be given to prayer and prayer management or there will be no prayer miracles. Asking the minister responsible for administration of the Word to administer prayer is like asking the neurologist to be the cardiologist, too. While in very small communities the police officer may also be the firefighter, in most towns and communities, the functions are so different that they are split. 

Likewise, if we need a minister to youth because the senior minister cannot do that job … and if the senior minister cannot do the job of leading the music ministry, too, because we recognize the latter takes a special skill set … it stands to reason that something as powerful and complex as prayer might have to be administered by a special minister qualified, trained and committed to that task.

Too many ministers do not believe these words:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  John 14:12-14 (NIV)

Most ministers do not believe that Jesus will do “whatever you ask.” The word “whatever” is ad infinitum, bearing of no exception, all inclusive, and universal. Many ministers will not teach this text as written, because they have spent so little time studying prayer that they are certain there must be a context that somehow limits these intemperate words of Jesus.

By the way, that is not a criticism of ministers, but a recognition that ministers have given at least some thought to the complexity of their own relationship with the infinite being, the Creator. The time-starved minister is generally unable to educate those he is supposed to disciple in this complexity, and why these simple words of Jesus are so often difficult to implement in our lives. Christians often struggle with their relationships with each other, spouses and their own children, but do not expect to struggle with their relationship with the Almighty. Moreover, most Christians do not know how to engage in that struggle in a way designed to address what the Father desires in us or what we desire from our Father.

The Bible, of course, provides the texts necessary to study these problems and solve them. Jeremiah 29:13, for example, raises the idea of wholeheartedness as an aspect of successful prayer growing from a successful relationship with the Father. Prayer to be wholehearted must be without distraction, without divided loyalties, and without anything less than Christ-powered perfection. In Jeremiah 29:11, the prophet reported that the Father knew “the plans I have for you.” Those plans included prosperity rather than harm, and hope in the future rather than despair. A poor relationship with the Father can thwart those plans, and the remainder of Jeremiah 29 reported such a history.

Ministers, even if their own studies have led them to these concepts, do not have time to fully integrate them into the lives of a congregation. Thus, the station of minister of prayer should be considered as the next logical step in the development of church administration for many churches, especially those attempting to move beyond the worship service as their sole means of community expression of faith.