When You Run Out | Justin Chandler

A couple of years ago, I had done all I was capable of doing in ministry. At the ripe age of 25, with only three years of full-time ministry under my belt, I was finished with all that I was capable of doing. Therein lies the problem.

Week after week in the Student Ministry, a growing frustration was mounting within me. I had heard from God and was doing as He
said. I listened to God and shared what He had told me to share. I was doing everything I thought I needed to do. As I had stepped off the stage after speaking and was beginning to worship and pray with our students, the frustration reached its boiling point. It was then that I heard God say:

“This is the extent of what you are capable of. You can either keep doing things on your own or you can seek Me and see what I can do through you.”

As I continued in prayer, God began to speak to me about the ways in which I was active in doing ministry, but how the power and the presence of God wasn’t necessary in the Student Ministry for services to continue. In fact, we could continue to have “great” services that God Himself didn’t need to be apart of in order for us to think they were great.

Here was the problem. I listen to God about what I should speak on. I sought God for direction and how to lead. I spent time with God and maintained a personal relationship with Christ. However, when it came to our services, the lives of our students, reaching the lost and joining together that the power and presence of God would be present is where I was lacking. It was in the midst of that God said what had been done in the Student Ministry was the extent of what I was capable of doing, but if we give Him priority, if we would be passionate in our prayer towards Him and if we were purposeful as we prayed, that we would see what He was capable of doing. Allow me to elaborate a little bit on each of those.

PRIORITY

As God began to speak to me about the priority of prayer, it became overwhelmingly evident that God did not want to come behind or follow-up any other activities. He wanted to be first. He needed to be first. He had to be first. From there, we began to restructure our service schedules around dedicated times of corporate prayer that would lead off our nights. If the doors opened at 6:30, there would be a prayer meeting at 6:00. In order for us to say that we were dependent on God, we need to reprioritize the way we saw
our services happening.

Also, we needed to be sure that prayer found its way into as many aspects of what we do as possible. As we worship, pray. When we speak, pray. Before services, prayer. Before events, pray. Whenever we can find the opportunity we pray.

As you look at most of the letters of the Paul, he shared the same thought. You heart continually, “Whenever I think of you, I make mention of you in my prayers.” Whenever the thought of anything in the Student Ministry comes up, our first instinct and reflex is to pray. E.M. Bounds put it like this:

“The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.”

E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer

PURPOSEFUL

The second place we felt the need to grow in was our purpose. We wanted our prayers to matter. We wanted them to be heard. We wanted to know that what were praying wasn’t just a good idea or nice line for others to “amen” to. We wanted to know that when we prayed, it was the heart of God to work on our behalf. So we took to praying the Scriptures.

Our prayer meetings aren’t ones where we say whatever is on our hearts. We search and comb the Scriptures that as we pray we would pray God’s heart. That our asking of God is not for Him to do something that we want, but for us to declare that we want what He wants. And when you want to do what God wants to do, God goes to work.

A typical prayer will be to find 2-5 verses from the Bible. Cite the verses. Read the verses. Allow the prayer to be woven around the
verses quoting them often.

As this began to be apart of our culture and the way we prayed, we found that something electric happened. Not only were students more engaged in praying, but as we prayed the Scriptures, they had a way of sticking to our hearts. They weren’t just words on a page, but they were declarations to God in which His presence was felt in and through them.

As we prayed with a purpose, our culture changed.

PASSIONATE

Next, we wanted to be passionate in our prayers. We didn’t want to lift up prayers to God that we ourselves weren’t passionate about. We found ourselves rallying around six topics (though more do come up): campus, city, nations, intercession, healing, and passion.

In each of these six topics, we tracked verses that dealt with these topics and then found as many ways as possible to apply them to things that were right in front of our face. Whether it was the lost in our city or on local campus, the orphanages and missionaries we support in nations around the world, needs represented that we can intercede for each other with, spiritual, physical or emotional healing and when all else had been said, that God would stir a passion within us to pray. To know God and make Him known.

By having dedicated times of prayer to specific people, circumstances and situations, the way in which we prayed because we weren’t just praying for the nameless and faceless in our brain, but were we seeking God for those we knew. This not only fueled our desire to see God work in them, but also for us to have more intentional prayers for those we have yet to meet.

PATIENCE

Finally, I want to encourage you to be patient. Nothing changes overnight. Rick Warren said: “The
only thing that grows fast is cancer. It takes time to grow a healthy church.” In order to have a cultural shift, you have to patient and allow it to happen. We are two years removed from when we began to pray differently. We’ve seen a lot of growth and have noticed a significant change, but we still have a long way to go.

God cares to do more in the Student Ministry than we do, and as we’re faithful to prioritize Him, purposeful in how we pray, passionate as we do and patient for Him to work, He has a way of consistently revealing Himself to us, again and again.

If I could leave you with anything today, it would be to point you to some books that have been a huge help to me and have helped to birth a lot of what we are putting into practice. As you look to do the same, be reminded of this:

“Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian."

Books I Recommend:

Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig
Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
Prayer by Richard Foster
The Ministry of Intercession by Andrew Murray

Justin Chandler is the Student Pastor at Hope Church in Springfield, MO. He and his
wife Rachel have a son, Jude, and two dogs. You can find out more about Justin
and connect with him at twitter.com/Justin_Chandler and facebook.com/justinchandler.