Requirements for a Faculty Ministry 1: Prayer

Today I was talking with a campus minister who works with our faculty group. He mentioned that his organization is going to focus this next year on prayer and evangelism in the various faculty ministries around the country.

Prayer is somewhat of a touchy subject for me. I have been blessed with several spiritual gifts, but prayer is not one of them. In other words, prayer doesn’t come easily to me and it isn’t the first thing I think of typically when I have a problem. However, that does not excuse me from doing it, and it is therefore a discipline I must challenge myself to develop. It is well and good for those with ‘the gift of prayer,’ and I ask any of you with it to lift university faculty up in prayer to the Lord fervently, faithfully, and frequently. (Preaching may be one of my gifts—three points all starting with the same letter—I’m golden!)

For the rest of us, which is probably a majority, we still have a responsibility to pray.

The Blessing of Help

Tonight was my first big blowout party at my home. It was a good success, and much of that is directly due to my parents. They drove two hours here and immediately jumped in to help set up and worked with me through most of the evening to host and stayed after to help get the food put away, then drove two hours back home. Mother laid out the food and dad put up the tree while I bustled around putting finishing touches on other areas.

Throughout Scripture, God hammers on the concept of relationship. He is in relationship with the three Persons of the Trinity. He created us to be in relationship with Him, and He created us to not just be social beings but interdependent. This is why we don’t all have the same gifts. We are not meant to be islands.

“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’” Gen 2:18

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecc. 4:12

Thanks, Mother and Dad.

SDG