When Prayers are Desperate and Meetings are Difficult
It’s up to you. You’re the Pastor, the Program Director, the Staff Member, the Minister. Call your title what you will - it all sums up to the same thing. You’re the one in charge.
Personal Attack.
Emotional Rejection.
What they really mean is “You don’t belong here.”
When you scribble a desperate prayer in your Journal:
“This isn’t working. I am so tired and bone-weary. I’m expected to work magic with this program all by myself. My very few volunteers and I don’t see eye to eye. (They said they’d be there, and they don’t even come to the Sunday night program that they don’t want me to change!) We approach things so differently and do things so differently. God, guide this ministry. Fix this heart issue among Your people and give me a stronger sense of what You have asked me to do.”
It’s the desperate hope that your volunteers will finally come to the Ministry Committee meeting you’ve had on the calendar for months. (Because you can’t bear to sit in an empty room all night waiting for the 3rd - or maybe 4th - time.) And yet you somehow know that if they come, it won’t end well.
Obligation.
Responsibility.
A desperate prayer.
God - fix this.
You’re at the meeting, and they’re all here! (Cue Hope!)
You’re at the meeting and they’re all here. (Staring at you.)
God - fix this.
So you prayerfully press on, welcome them, and present the truth about the Sunday night program struggles you’ve been experiencing. You share that, unless something drastically changes, you just don’t see how this program is sustainable. A few of them are clearly not happy, one in particular - but why? There’s got to be something deeper going on.
And then what you’ve feared comes true.
Personal attack. Emotional rejection.
What she really means is “You don’t belong here.”
She’s a parent in your ministry - but not just a parent. She’s on this very Committee that makes the leadership decisions for your ministry. And she’s made every excuse in the book to not attend the program you’re struggling to keep alive. Then she says, out loud for everyone to hear, “Who do you think you are? Ask anyone and they will tell you - I personally invited all of the kids that attend every week. I can just as easily tell their parents not to bring them.”
Wow. That’s a lot to unpack.
God - fix this.
That’s when you realize. GOD fix this. This ministry doesn’t belong to me. It doesn’t belong to her. It doesn’t even belong to us. It belongs to God! There’s too much “me vs. them.”
Too much “them vs. me.” The people we’re trying to serve - the God we’re trying to serve - they’re getting lost in this chaos.
Where is God? Have we asked Him to be present?
I didn’t know it yet, but there was the solution!
The volunteer to my right quietly says “Let’s take the next 24 hours to pray for God’s direction. I trust that He will give us the right answer.”
I didn’t know it yet, but I had just met one of my closest friends and faith mentors.
With God - and my new friend - on my side, I struggled through that fateful night in early November 2019. Over the next 24 hours, a few of us from that original group were truly faithful to our 24-hour prayer commitment.
God gave us a new vision - one where our meetings would be bathed in prayer. Filled with seeking His face, His will, His vision, and His purpose for our ministry.
A community reminiscent of
the early church in Acts 2.
Three of us took the month of November to craft a Ministry Covenant.
This would be a promise of our commitment - to God and each other.
We had a desire to build a community that people wanted to be a part of - one free of manipulation and personal motives. A community focused on God and a commitment to His plan and purpose for our ministry. A community reminiscent of the early church in Acts 2.
Specifically Acts 2:42:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”
Based on this, we knew we would have three main commitments for our new ministry Leadership Team.
A commitment to the apostle’s teaching (the Bible)
A commitment to fellowship
A commitment to prayer
(If you’re thinking, “Why not the breaking of bread?” Well… Thanks Covid-19…)
Ministry Leadership Team
As we discussed what this would look like, we quickly realized that we needed a new name to match our new community of volunteers. Exit “Ministry Committee.” Enter “Ministry Leadership Team.”
We spent the month of December reaching out to members of the original Ministry Committee, and others in our congregation, who might enjoy serving on this new Ministry Leadership Team.
A New Vision
By January, we had a core group of six committed Leadership Team members.
We began attending a small group together, true to our commitment of spending time in God’s word as a team. We endeavored to spend more time with one another - for the sake of enjoying each other’s company. And we devoted each meeting to Prayer - following a Prayer Guide in place of a regular meeting agenda.
I didn’t know it yet, but this was the Leadership Team Model that God would use to see us through a global pandemic.
Our meetings were spiritually sweet and devoted times of praying and studying God’s word together. Together, we passionately sought His will for our ministry. We would often go into a meeting, each with our own thoughts, and come out united and more on fire than ever. We began to crave being together and to look forward to our meetings with spiritual hunger. His Spirit showed up and His presence gave us the fuel to continue in our commitment to Him and to one another.
God fixed it
And made it stronger than any of us could have ever imagined.
Though I moved from that ministry years ago, two of those Leadership Team members are still my closest friends today. I am so thankful for their wisdom, friendship, laughter, and love.
Now, we fondly reminisce about the loyalty we felt to one another as a result of the Ministry Covenant. As the ministry transitioned, I listened as they expressed a longing for the camaraderie and dedication to prayerful planning that we experienced together.
As I transition to each new role in my own life, I find myself asking:
Where is God? Have I asked Him to be present?
As you think about your goals and plans for your own ministry, may I ask:
Where is God? Have you asked Him to be present?
God will fix it
And make it stronger than you could ever imagine.
If you’re looking for a practical and tangible way to do just that, get ahold of the Staff Retreat Prayer Guide and Ministry Covenant today. You need only to seek Him.
Helpful Resources: As we restructured our Leadership Team, we took a lot of practical advice from “Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page” by Larry Osborne
