We just finished watching the final ceremony for the Olympic Games of 2024 held in Paris, France. I think they did a good job, even though there was a bit of controversy. What impressed me most was the video they made of the emotional reactions of those who won and those who lost.

The intensity of the emotions was incredible. With every ounce of energy, they would scream out their joy at winning and tears at losing. It mattered to them. They had trained hard. They were disciplined and focused. They were willing to sacrifice everything to be the best of the best in their area of expertise.

I don’t really have anything to say against that kind of commitment and effort, but I did wonder why we, as spiritual leaders, don’t have the same mentality of discipline and focus and joy in our ministries. I certainly don’t. Of course, it takes training and commitment to get to that kind of emotional and psychological certainty that this is what you want to do with your life.

And that leads me to the next pair of prayers on the Twelve Prayers of the Cross. These are the prayers of my Life Ministry both creational and redemptive. Now I don’t have a convenient verse to hang these two prayers on because they are based on the more general theological truths of our purpose here on earth.

I often say that the creational is the context for the redemptive and that is true and that, for me, the creational work I do is more like a tentmaking ministry that supports what I do on the redemptive side. I know that there are people who believe that the creational work has value in and of itself, and I don’t disagree. I simply realize that the redemptive focus must always take precedence, and many people are good at the creational but do nothing with the redemptive part of their Life Ministry. That is wrong and violates the whole purpose of God on earth that we must participate in.

So, the first thing to say is that there are a thousand ways to fulfill your Life Ministry and when you combine the creational with the redemptive there are still even more. I have a whole section at the end of this book called The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success that may help you to find the right combination for you.

But in terms of praying for my Life Ministry, I include both the creational and the redemptive side. It is important to find out what God has put in you as creational skills and spiritual gifts. That will get you started. You need to find out what makes you sing and dance and assume that your Life Ministry is about that in some way. No drudgery here. No sad, misguided, mind-numbing job-seeking allowed. This is your Life Ministry we are talking about and if you don’t start with something that really motivates you, then you are already on the wrong path.

But my prayer life isn’t just about finding my Life Ministry. That’s a good start. But rather fulfilling my Life Ministry in such a way that it pleases God. So, using the Olympic Games as an example, I pray for the same discipline, the same commitment, the same excitement that motivates those Olympic athletes so that I can do my best work for God. That’s not an easy prayer to pray because it demands sacrifice and focus and discipline towards a specific goal.

I want to be with the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 whom “the world was not worthy of.” They were the prophets of old who were killed for their faith by ungodly kings and leaders. That doesn’t sound so good, but I am a “living sacrifice” for God’s redemptive purpose and I believe that it is a worthy thing to become a spiritual leader (1 Timothy 3:1 NIV).

But not just any kind of spiritual leader. If I am going to do it, I want to do it right. I don’t want to play at it but rather take it seriously. My goal is to be a workman worthy of his wages and come to God with fruit in my hands, souls that have been won for God, talents that have been doubled, and rewards like the golden crown prepared for me.

These are not bad things to strive for even though, if the truth be told, his words “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21 NIV) are more than enough for me. In the meantime, is presence is my reward and his anointing for effective ministry is my goal.

Point is that working for God is worthy of our best efforts and greatest sacrifices and I don’t want to forget it. After all, this section is about Spiritual Leadership which is something that we all should aspire to since it is simply a reflection of our Spiritual Maturity focused on the ministry of reconciliation. It is not a job but a calling. That is not something I want to forget. So praying for my Life Ministry which in my case is about writing and being a thought leader on the redemptive side and being an Internet Marketer and businessman on the other side is key to my ongoing motivation and focus.

The key ingredient here is faith. I need to believe that this is my Life Ministry and, if it is, it will be blessed by God. I will have his favor as I work diligently to fulfill his purpose in my life. Sometimes the way is rough, and the road is long, but so long as I have breath, I will have faith that my efforts will bring forth fruit acceptable to God. Faith is essential otherwise it’s just another job that you can take or leave at will.

So praying for faith and focus for my Life Ministry is really two prayers at once. I usually put the words LIFE MINISTRY at the bottom of the cross between the Creational and Redemptive prayers that I pray for people. The two points of the cross at the bottom represent the two areas of prayer for faith and focus. This isn’t about other people but about myself and my own Life Ministry.

Now we come to the next two prayers that are prayed together. You must have noticed by now that I like to pray in “two prayer” combinations. This one is no different. I have talked about this problem a number of times in my posts but here I want to talk about how I pray about this fundamental problem of spiritual leadership. Do you remember the verse that I consider one of the most difficult ones in the Bible?

It comes from Matthew 7:21-23 NIV where Jesus tells his disciples “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The pit of my stomach churns a bit at reading these words. There are so many questions here that remain unanswered. How is it possible that a ministry that is blessed with prophecy, driving out demons in your name, and performing many miracles is not doing the will of my Father who is in heaven? Is that not his will? If it isn’t his will, how many of us are dedicated to ministries that are blessed by God but do not please him and put our eternal salvation in danger?

How can he say that he never knew me and call me an evildoer if I am involved in a ministry so obviously blessed by Him? After all, the Devil is not going to throw his own demons out, especially in the name of Jesus. The Devil isn’t going to do miracles or inspire prophecy, is he?

Lord, what a statement you have made here that destroys so many spiritual leaders who are focused on their Life Ministries and want to please you by working hard at whatever you have given them to do. What are we missing here?

The context is helpful as always. Jesus was just talking about false prophets (and ministries) and how to tell if a tree has good fruit. He has just talked about the narrow and wide gates and how only a few find the way that “leads to life.” After this particular passage he talks about building your house on the rock or the sand and your decision will be judged by the storms of life that will undoubtedly come. That all helps to some extent.

It is true that the Sermon on the Mount is a powerful message that turns a lot of the religious teaching on its head. But in the end, I believe that this difficult passage represents a severe mercy to those in spiritual leadership. One of our great temptations is to allow the demands of the ministry to overshadow our walk with God personally. That is what matters to God. Isn’t that amazing? God is more interested in your heart than in your successful ministry.

How many Pastors and Evangelists are out there preaching away, building their churches, even with God’s blessing but they are hiding sin in their hearts, they are callous towards people, they have their priorities mixed up. I can think of the Pastor a few years ago who led the Mars Hill Church and created a culture of shame and guilt so deep and wide that it was difficult to work there in any capacity. But outwardly, the church seemed to be successful.

Or the Evangelist who preached against the homosexual lifestyle but met with a young man in a seedy motel room once a week to get what satisfaction he needed to ease his stress and anxiety. Until he was found out and all the tears he could shed on national television made no difference. A severe mercy that would allow him, hopefully, to focus on his personal walk with God.

And there are many more examples and I am not immune. I don’t have a successful ministry by any means. My life has been marked more by failure than by success and given my ego and arrogance, that was probably God’s severe mercy towards me to allow me the time to get my head on right and heart focused towards what matters rather than on the demands of a successful ministry.

And don’t think that this is easy by any stretch of the imagination. Having the blessing of God in your ministry is very seductive and makes it quite easy to focus on what’s working rather than on what matters. It helps if your ministry is focused on the ministry of reconciliation because that is about relationships. It helps you to keep hidden sins out of your life, dealt with, and nipped in the bud before it becomes a problem. It keeps your heart soft towards the poor and the homeless who may come to your church. It keeps you sensitive to the personal lives of the people who work for you and who are part of your ministry. The ministry of reconciliation has a way of keeping a good balance between effective ministry and your personal walk with God.

But since it is so dangerous, I like to include it in my prayers for spiritual leadership. It balances out the focus on ministry that comes from the prayers for our Life Ministry. But I am not done yet. There is a complimentary prayer that I also pray that keeps me focused on the right things that God is interested in. That comes from 1 Corinthians 13:1,2 NIV). We’ve read these words so many times that we haven’t experienced their impact but when taken with the passage from Matthew 7, you will finally understand God’s priorities.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

It is a wonderful testimony to the priority of love in the lives of God’s people. We usually use it for weddings, but Paul used it as a guide for all Christians. And he was right. Faith is only necessary until we see God personally in glory. Hope is only necessary until our hope is fulfilled by Christ before the throne of God. But love lasts into eternity and is the one thing that God is most interested in.

When you pair that with the warning of Matthew 7, you begin to see the point. A successful ministry, even if it is blessed by God, is not a substitute for a life of love toward everyone you meet. Love is what matters. Relationships are what matters. And if you want to hear something really crazy, I believe that treating everyone as the glorious children of God that they are is the best way to demonstrate this love for the people that surround you, friends and enemies alike.

That means that once again, a focus on the ministry of reconciliation that brings you to the point of having to learn how to treat people as they are in Christ will be the training ground for a sacrificial love for people that includes suffering for the gospel, as Jesus did, and even dying to oneself, one’s ego and priorities to love the other person.

And don’t think that this is easy. How many times have I failed to show love to someone? Lord, forgive me for that. I remember when we had a number of homeless people who came to our church that were difficult to love.

There was Julio who would sit at a table after the service and write nonsense on multiple pieces of paper, breathing heavily and sighing constantly as he wrote out his spiritual inspirations. It had nothing to do with God you understand but the fine, upstanding citizens of the world that came to our international church were not amused.

Or take the thin young man in green flip-flops that insisted that the government was using his sperm to make super soldiers from his DNI. A conspiracy nut that had to live on the streets to hide from the powers that be. Obviously, he suffered from some form of schizophrenia.

Or take Charles for instance. Always impeccably dressed although smelled bad since he couldn’t very well clean his clothes. His sister had stolen his inheritance and left him on the street to fend for himself. But he was always a gentleman and tried to keep the others in line.

Or what about Scottie, an evangelist on the street that did more for the Kingdom of God than the entire church put together. He would go to hospitals and give empanadas (a pastry filled with meat) and mate (a local drink) to those on the streets. Whenever he could, he would preach the gospel in his own particular way and come to church smelling bad and singing loudly with his beautiful tenor voice. He knew some English so he could participate a bit in our service while the others just waited for the service to end so that they could get a few pastries and tea and ask people for a handout.

I remember one time when the smell got so bad that people had to move away from these homeless men and women during the worship service. And the smell got into the fabric of the chairs, God forbid. Several women cornered my wife to complain about it and she didn’t know what to say. Instead, tears streamed down her face in frustration at the lack of love being shown. A powerful testimony by itself. Enough said.

Somehow, we were associated with the smelly, homeless people that came to our church. I’m not sure why but I take it as a compliment. We started a Bible Study in Spanish for them and tried to give them a place to take showers and wash their clothes. But for a number of reasons, we had to change churches and go to another smaller international bible church but some of these people followed us there. They also didn’t like it.

They asked us (why us?) to keep them from coming to the official congregational meetings. Perhaps to make sure their votes didn’t count or maybe they were scared that they would be robbed (although there was no cash in the church at those meetings).

At one point, Scottie was told not to come back to the church or the police would be called. We confronted that person publicly, but he was the power behind the throne in that particular community, so it didn’t end well and we were asked to leave too.

Loving people is easy when it is your own family (sometimes) but when you have to love the unlovable, the difficult, the smelly, the homeless, the needy, the well-intentioned dragons, that is when the rubber hits the road. That is the love that Jesus and Paul are talking about. Without that, all of your ministry means nothing, you have learned nothing, and you have gained nothing.

And again, in I Corinthians 13, it sounds like you are so spiritual. You are speaking in tongues, you have the gift of prophecy, you have a faith that can move mountains, you are willing to give everything to the poor but without love, it means nothing. Is that not too harsh? Not at all. It isn’t just what you do but how you do it that matters. Relationships are the priority of God. These are his children too. Treating them all like the glorious children of God in Christ is the only solution to a ministry's success that is not based on the relationships that make up that ministry.

So, there you have it.

I pray fervently for discipline, focus, and motivation for my Life Ministry both in the creational and redemptive sense, but I add to that the two prayers from Matthew 7 and I Corinthians 13 that keep me focused on the love relationships that matter most to God. I find that focusing my efforts on an effective ministry of reconciliation takes care of both of those things but I keep praying in faith for my Life Ministry and in hope that I get it right and stay focused on the things that matter the most to God. After all, he came to earth to die on the cross to heal relationships, and to forget that is to forget everything that matters to God.

Now for the final two prayers for spiritual leadership. These I call the Prayer of Delight and the Prayer of Joy. And these are important prayers for spiritual leadership. After all, the situation is serious, and the darkness is dangerous. We are working behind enemy lines. The eternal salvation of people is at stake. There is no time to waste. It is easy to get a bit depressed or at least too serious in our comportment when we are dealing with people (and ourselves).

And, on top of it all, God seems to be a bit tough on us as well. Like a good coach, he wants the best for us and demands that we give our best for his kingdom. And rightly so but all of this focus and commitment can sometimes make us forget the gentle side of God and his true feelings for us. I don’t want to forget that. It is a source of great healing for my heart that struggles and fails so often to please Him above all.

The prayer of delight isn’t just about us taking delight in the Lord, although that is true and good (Psalm 37:4 NIV) but rather that God takes delight in you (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV). “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Another version has God “dancing over you as in a day of festival.” You get the idea. God is delighted in you. He has died for you, of course, and that shows his love in a deep and abiding way but he is also delighted to have you as part of his family.

This is also part of the ministry of reconciliation. God also forgives us by the blood of the lamb, and he also treats us, now, today, as we will be in the future, spotless and clean and worthy of all delight. He delights over us now because he treats us as we are in Christ already today. And his delight brings joy to my heart. It has healing power to meditate on the delight of the Lord in me, despite my failures and sins, because of what Jesus has done for me and what the Holy Spirit is working out in me.

Things are serious and we need to keep that in mind. But God delights in me and that brings balance to my life and healing to my bones in the midst of the greatest trials and suffering for the gospel that can happen to me. For that I am grateful. I hope one day to dance and sing with the Lord in glory, but the truth is that we should start already now. There is a lot of singing and dancing in many churches, but it isn’t balanced with a serious focus on the ministry of reconciliation, so I tend to talk more about the serious side to help bring the church back into balance.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the singing and dancing and delighting in the Lord as he delights in us, isn’t an important source of healing for all of us.

In fact, I add to that Prayer of Delight my own version of the Prayer of Joy. A number of years ago, the Lord gave me a poem that encapsulates the essence of what my ambitions are. Not that I live up to it very well but every time I read it, it becomes a prayer to God to help me achieve it. It goes well with the Prayer of Delight and every aspect of this poem is rooted in the truth of the Word of God. It goes like this.