Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes - Revision history

Dbuckley at 19:04, 24 June 2009

Dbuckley — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:04:03 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:04, 24 June 2009
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	{{info}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "		{{info}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "

-	Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The ~~120~~ were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).	+	Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 12 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).

	Without extended, concentrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers. And when the ministry of the Word declines, faith (Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2, 5) and holiness (John 17:17) decline. Activity may continue, but life and power and fruitfulness are gone. Therefore, whatever opposes prayer opposes the whole work of ministry.		Without extended, concentrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers. And when the ministry of the Word declines, faith (Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2, 5) and holiness (John 17:17) decline. Activity may continue, but life and power and fruitfulness are gone. Therefore, whatever opposes prayer opposes the whole work of ministry.

JoyaTeemer at 22:10, 22 September 2008

JoyaTeemer — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:10:31 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:10, 22 September 2008
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	Brothers, beware of sacred substitutes. Devote yourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.		Brothers, beware of sacred substitutes. Devote yourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
		+
		+	[[Category:Top priority]]

Bhkauflin at 17:21, 3 July 2008

Bhkauflin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:21:45 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:21, 3 July 2008
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-	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God\|other=\|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 \|newtitle=Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes \|series=Brothers, We Are Not Professionals \|topic=Church Leadership \|subtopic=Pastoral Ministry \|month=January \|day=1 \|year=1995}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "	+	{{info}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "

	Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).		Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).

Bhkauflin at 16:08, 20 June 2008

Bhkauflin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:08:39 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:08, 20 June 2008
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-	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God\|other=\|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 \|newtitle=Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes \|series=~~Articles 1995~~ \|topic=Church Leadership \|subtopic=Pastoral Ministry \|month=January \|day=1 \|year=1995}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "	+	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God\|other=\|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 \|newtitle=Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes \|series=Brothers, We Are Not Professionals \|topic=Church Leadership \|subtopic=Pastoral Ministry \|month=January \|day=1 \|year=1995}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "

	Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).		Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).

Bhkauflin at 15:55, 16 June 2008

Bhkauflin — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:55:19 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:55, 16 June 2008
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-	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God ~~\|date= 1 January 1995~~ \|other= ~~\|categorytopic= Pastoral Ministry~~ \|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 }}	+	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God\|other=\|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 \|newtitle=Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes \|series=Articles 1995 \|topic=Church Leadership \|subtopic=Pastoral Ministry \|month=January \|day=1 \|year=1995}}Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "

-	~~== Brothers~~, ~~Beware~~ of ~~Sacred Substitutes ==~~	+	Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).

-	~~Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by~~ the ~~big, bad wolf~~ of the ~~world~~. ~~It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "~~And the ~~twelve summoned the body~~ of the ~~disciples and said~~, ~~'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables~~. ~~Therefore~~, ~~brethren~~, ~~pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit~~ and ~~wisdom~~, ~~whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to~~ prayer~~'' and to~~ the ministry ~~of the Word~~.~~' "~~	+	Without extended, concentrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers. And when the ministry of the Word declines, faith (Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2, 5) and holiness (John 17:17) decline. Activity may continue, but life and power and fruitfulness are gone. Therefore, whatever opposes prayer opposes the whole work of ministry.

-	~~Without extended and consecrated~~ prayer~~, the~~ ministry of the ~~Word withers up and bears no fruit~~. ~~The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell~~ and ~~gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs~~ and ~~wonders were done~~ and ~~people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter~~ and ~~his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken~~ and ~~they were filled with the Spirit~~ and ~~spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth~~ and ~~proclaim~~ the ~~mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19)~~.	+	And what opposes the pastor's life of prayer more than anything? The ministry. It is not shopping or car repairs or sickness or yard work that squeezes our prayers into hurried corners of the day. It is budget development and staff meetings and visitation and counseling and answering mail and writing reports and reading magazines, and answering the phone.

-	~~Without extended, concentrated prayer,~~ the ~~ministry~~ of ~~the Word withers~~. ~~And when the ministry of the Word declines~~, ~~faith (Rom. 10~~:~~17; Gal.~~ 3:2, 5) and ~~holiness (John 17:17) decline. Activity~~ may ~~continue, but life and power and fruitfulness are gone~~. ~~Therefore, whatever opposes~~ prayer ~~opposes the whole work of ministry~~.	+	The effort to meet needs is the enemy of prayer. Literally, Acts 6:3 says, "Brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this need." The care of the widows was a real ''need''. And it was precisely this need which threatened apostolic prayer.

-	~~And what opposes~~ the ~~pastor's life of prayer more than anything? The ministry. It is~~ not ~~shopping or car repairs or sickness or yard work~~ that ~~squeezes our prayers into hurried corners~~ of ~~the day~~. ~~It is budget development and staff meetings and visitation and counseling and answering mail and writing reports and reading magazines~~, ~~and answering the phone~~.	+	But the apostles would not yield to the temptation. This must mean that prayer demanded a large part of their quality time. If they had thought of prayer as something you do while washing dishes or cooking (or driving a car between hospitals), they would have not seen table serving as such a threat. Prayer was a time-consuming labor during which other duties had to be set aside.

-	~~The effort~~ to ~~meet needs is the enemy of~~ prayer. ~~Literally, Acts~~ 6:~~3 says, "Brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of~~ the ~~Spirit and wisdom, whom~~ we ~~may appoint over this need.~~" ~~The care of~~ the ~~widows was a real~~ ''~~need~~''. ~~And it was precisely this need which threatened apostolic~~ prayer.	+	They had learned from Jacob and from Jesus that whole nights may have to be spent in prayer (Gen. 32:24; Luke 6:12). Under the drain of ministry we must "withdraw to the wilderness and pray" (Luke 5:16). Before significant pastoral encounters we must pray ''alone'' (Luke 9:18). For Jesus and the apostles the work of prayer demanded significant amounts of solitude: "In the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed" (Mark 1:35).

-	~~But the~~ apostles ~~would not yield~~ to ~~the temptation. This must mean that~~ prayer ~~demanded a large part of their quality time. If they had thought of prayer as something you do while washing dishes or cooking~~ (~~or driving a car between hospitals~~)~~, they would have not seen table serving as such a threat~~. ~~Prayer was a~~ time~~-consuming labor during~~ which ~~other duties had~~ to be ~~set aside~~.	+	The apostles said, "We will ''devote'' ourselves to prayer" (Acts 6:4). The word translated "devote ourselves" (''proskartereo'') emphasizes the unbending commitment of the apostles to preserve time for prayer. It means "to persist at" and "remain with." It is used in Acts 10:7 to refer to the loyalty with which some soldiers served Cornelius. The idea is to be strong and persistent and unwavering in one's assignment.

-	~~They had learned from Jacob and from Jesus that whole nights may have to be spent in prayer (Gen. 32~~:~~24; Luke 6:12). Under~~ the ~~drain of ministry we must "withdraw~~ to ~~the wilderness and pray" (Luke 5:16). Before significant pastoral encounters~~ we ~~must pray ''alone'' (Luke 9:18)~~. ~~For Jesus and the apostles~~ the work of prayer ~~demanded significant amounts of solitude: "In the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed" (Mark 1:35)~~.	+	So the apostles were saying: No matter how urgent the pressures upon us to spend our time doing good deeds, we will not forsake our chief work. We will persist in it. We will not waver or turn aside from the work of prayer.

-	~~The apostles said,~~ "~~We will~~ ''~~devote~~'' ~~ourselves~~ to prayer" (Acts 6:4). ~~The word translated~~ "~~devote ourselves~~" (''~~proskartereo~~'') ~~emphasizes~~ the ~~unbending commitment~~ of the ~~apostles~~ to ~~preserve~~ time ~~for~~ prayer. ~~It means~~ "~~to persist at~~" and "~~remain with." It is used in Acts 10:7 to refer to~~ the ~~loyalty with which some soldiers served Cornelius. The idea is to be strong~~ and ~~persistent and unwavering in one's assignment~~.	+	This word (''proskartereo'') comes to be firmly attached to the ministry of prayer in the early church. In Acts 1:14 the disciples "''devoted themselves'' to prayer," and in Acts 2:42 to "prayers." Then in the epistles of Paul this practice becomes a command: "Be ''constant'' in prayer" (Rom. 12:12). "''Continue steadfastly'' in prayer" (Col. 4:2). "Keep alert ''with all perseverance'', making supplication for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18). The more heavily engaged one is in battling the powers of darkness, the greater will be one's sense of need to spend much time in prayer. Therefore, the apostles combine "prayer" and "the ministry of the Word" and free themselves from time-consuming good deeds.

-	So the ~~apostles were saying: No matter how urgent~~ the ~~pressures upon us to spend our time doing good deeds,~~ we ~~will not forsake our chief work. We will persist~~ in it. ~~We will not waver or turn aside from~~ the work of prayer.	+	The importance of prayer rises in proportion to the importance of the things we should give up in order to pray. If the work we are to give up is a work which requires great spiritual depth and power, then how much more crucial and demanding must be the work of prayer? And this is just the case in Acts 6:3.

-	This word (''proskartereo'') comes to be firmly attached to the ministry of prayer in the early church. In Acts 1:14 the disciples "''devoted themselves'' to prayer," and in Acts 2:42 to "prayers." Then in the epistles of Paul this practice becomes a command: "Be ''constant'' in prayer" (Rom. 12:12). "''Continue steadfastly'' in prayer" (Col. 4:2). "Keep alert ''with all perseverance'', making supplication for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18). The more heavily engaged one is in battling the powers of darkness, the greater will be one's sense of need to spend much time in prayer. Therefore, the apostles combine "prayer" and "the ministry of the Word" and free themselves from time-consuming good deeds.	+	The text does not say, "Apostles should do the spiritual work of prayer and get some practical folks to serve tables." It says, "Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, ''full of the Spirit and of wisdom''." (Trustees ought not to be worldly financiers. They ought to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom.) It is not just the diddling demands of the pastorate that threaten our life of prayer. Prayer is also menaced by opportunities for ministry which demand fullness of the Spirit and wisdom. Even this we must forsake in order to devote ourselves to prayer.
-		+
-	The importance of prayer rises in proportion to the importance of the things we should give up in order to pray. If the work we are to give up is a work which requires great spiritual depth and power, then how much more crucial and demanding must be the work of prayer? And this is just the case in Acts 6:3.	+
-		+
-	The text does not say, "Apostles should do the spiritual work of prayer and get some practical folks to serve tables." It says, "Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, ''full of the Spirit and of wisdom''." (Trustees ought not to be worldly financiers. They ought to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom.) It is not just the diddling demands of the pastorate that threaten our life of prayer. Prayer is also menaced by opportunities for ministry which demand fullness of the Spirit and wisdom. Even this we must forsake in order to devote ourselves to prayer.	+

	Brothers, beware of sacred substitutes. Devote yourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.		Brothers, beware of sacred substitutes. Devote yourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.

CharisGalbraith at 15:59, 24 January 2008

CharisGalbraith — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:59:58 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:59, 24 January 2008
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	{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God \|date= 1 January 1995 \|other= \|categorytopic= Pastoral Ministry \|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 }}		{{MasterHeader \|author= John Piper \|partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org \|partner= Desiring God \|date= 1 January 1995 \|other= \|categorytopic= Pastoral Ministry \|mediatype= Article \|lang= English \|editor= n/a \|translator= n/a \|levels= 0 }}

-	=== Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes ===	+	== Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes ==
-		+
-	~~<br>By John Piper~~	+
-		+
-	~~January 1, 1995 <br>~~	+

	Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "		Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "

Kathyyee: New page: {{MasterHeader |author= John Piper |partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org |partner= Desiring God |date= 1 January 1995 |other= |categorytopic= Pastoral Ministry |mediatype= Article |lang=...

Kathyyee — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:44:01 GMT

New page: {{MasterHeader |author= John Piper |partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org |partner= Desiring God |date= 1 January 1995 |other= |categorytopic= Pastoral Ministry |mediatype= Article |lang=...

New page

{{MasterHeader |author= John Piper |partnerurl= http://www.desiringgod.org |partner= Desiring God |date= 1 January 1995 |other= |categorytopic= Pastoral Ministry |mediatype= Article |lang= English |editor= n/a |translator= n/a |levels= 0 }}

=== Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes ===

<br>By John Piper

January 1, 1995 <br>

Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. That is the point of Acts 6:2-4: "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But ''we will devote ourselves to prayer'' and to the ministry of the Word.' "

Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. The 120 were devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 1:14) when the Spirit fell and gave them utterance with 3000 converts. These converts were also devoting themselves to ''prayer'' (Acts 2:42) when signs and wonders were done and people were added to the church daily (Acts 2: 43, 47). Peter and his friends were engaged in ''prayer'' when the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word boldly (Acts 4:31). Paul relied on ''prayer'' that he might be given utterance to open his mouth and proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).

Without extended, concentrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers. And when the ministry of the Word declines, faith (Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2, 5) and holiness (John 17:17) decline. Activity may continue, but life and power and fruitfulness are gone. Therefore, whatever opposes prayer opposes the whole work of ministry.

And what opposes the pastor's life of prayer more than anything? The ministry. It is not shopping or car repairs or sickness or yard work that squeezes our prayers into hurried corners of the day. It is budget development and staff meetings and visitation and counseling and answering mail and writing reports and reading magazines, and answering the phone.

The effort to meet needs is the enemy of prayer. Literally, Acts 6:3 says, "Brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this need." The care of the widows was a real ''need''. And it was precisely this need which threatened apostolic prayer.

But the apostles would not yield to the temptation. This must mean that prayer demanded a large part of their quality time. If they had thought of prayer as something you do while washing dishes or cooking (or driving a car between hospitals), they would have not seen table serving as such a threat. Prayer was a time-consuming labor during which other duties had to be set aside.

They had learned from Jacob and from Jesus that whole nights may have to be spent in prayer (Gen. 32:24; Luke 6:12). Under the drain of ministry we must "withdraw to the wilderness and pray" (Luke 5:16). Before significant pastoral encounters we must pray ''alone'' (Luke 9:18). For Jesus and the apostles the work of prayer demanded significant amounts of solitude: "In the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed" (Mark 1:35).

The apostles said, "We will ''devote'' ourselves to prayer" (Acts 6:4). The word translated "devote ourselves" (''proskartereo'') emphasizes the unbending commitment of the apostles to preserve time for prayer. It means "to persist at" and "remain with." It is used in Acts 10:7 to refer to the loyalty with which some soldiers served Cornelius. The idea is to be strong and persistent and unwavering in one's assignment.

So the apostles were saying: No matter how urgent the pressures upon us to spend our time doing good deeds, we will not forsake our chief work. We will persist in it. We will not waver or turn aside from the work of prayer.

This word (''proskartereo'') comes to be firmly attached to the ministry of prayer in the early church. In Acts 1:14 the disciples "''devoted themselves'' to prayer," and in Acts 2:42 to "prayers." Then in the epistles of Paul this practice becomes a command: "Be ''constant'' in prayer" (Rom. 12:12). "''Continue steadfastly'' in prayer" (Col. 4:2). "Keep alert ''with all perseverance'', making supplication for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18). The more heavily engaged one is in battling the powers of darkness, the greater will be one's sense of need to spend much time in prayer. Therefore, the apostles combine "prayer" and "the ministry of the Word" and free themselves from time-consuming good deeds.

The importance of prayer rises in proportion to the importance of the things we should give up in order to pray. If the work we are to give up is a work which requires great spiritual depth and power, then how much more crucial and demanding must be the work of prayer? And this is just the case in Acts 6:3.

The text does not say, "Apostles should do the spiritual work of prayer and get some practical folks to serve tables." It says, "Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, ''full of the Spirit and of wisdom''." (Trustees ought not to be worldly financiers. They ought to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom.) It is not just the diddling demands of the pastorate that threaten our life of prayer. Prayer is also menaced by opportunities for ministry which demand fullness of the Spirit and wisdom. Even this we must forsake in order to devote ourselves to prayer.

Brothers, beware of sacred substitutes. Devote yourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.