If you’ve ever drunk from a fire hose, you’ve got an idea of what the Lobby Gathering is like.
Every year that I’ve been a Small Group Point Person, I’ve gone to the Lobby Gathering. And every year it has easily been three of the most valuable days that I’ve spent networking and learning.
But there is one huge challenge every single time I come home after another Lobby Gathering… digesting the fire hose and moving forward!
And I think that we all find ourselves in a place like this in our ministries. We get so overwhelmed by the needs IN the ministry that we struggle to step back and work ON the ministry. And if we never work ON the ministry, it can drift to places it shouldn’t.
So here is my personal prayer after a “fire hose” kind of week; I hope it can serve you as well as we all work to move our ministries forward to help more people find and follow Jesus.
God of grace and power,
Again I find myself humbled before you: humbled by your depths of grace, by the beauty of your Church, and by the power that you instill in us through your Spirit.
Give me humility.
Help me give up my need to prove myself, and remember that I am just a servant to an all-powerful God. Take away my need for a name, and let yours be the only one I aim to lift up. Help me give away leadership, ministry, and authority to anyone that I can so that your church can thrive, outside of the grip I tend to have.
Give me passion.
Remind me of the immeasurable gap that stood between us, and how gracefully you bridged it. Let that grace find its way into every corner of my work, my day, and my relationships. Then let the realization of that grace in others’ lives be my constant joy and desire so that ministry is my privilege, never just work.
Give me clarity.
Help me see clearly through the fog that I find myself in so often. Whether it’s my need for perfection, or my desire to hold tightly to what you’ve asked me to let go of, clear away the noise so I can zero in on exactly what you’ve called me to do. Open my ears so I can listen to you and listen to those you’ve called me to faithfully serve. Let me see the lost sheep clearly, just as you always do.
Good Father, show me the right thing I ought to do next. No more, no less. Let me step forward in the foolishness of faith in a mighty God.
Whether you went to the Lobby Gathering or not, here are two main takeaways:
1. Don’t get so stuck IN your ministry that you forget to work ON your ministry. Stay nimble and let God change your mind.
2. Don’t ever stop praying!
