Picture the scene… the pastor is praying… the band is waiting for that special moment… the amen that opens the door… as the pastor reaches the height of prayer, he brings the plane in for a landing, and the worship leader says as the band hits a perfect rumble….
“WELL I…… (long hold for dramatic effect)…Went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me…” (I will pause here if you need to get up and do a praise break…)
WE love those declarative ideas, taking back our joy, freedom, or unsaved friends and family, storming hell’s gates with a water pistol…. All of that is good and powerful… we want to take back from the enemy things he has stolen… but when was the last time we looked to take back Sabbath, devotional time, prayer time. I wanted to take a moment today and talk about the idea that the level of passion we have for storming hell for others should also be present in our passion for making Sabbath and having devotions, and making time for prayer.
Speaking from my own life, these things have taken somewhat of a backseat at times during the pandemic. With being so busy learning how to live stream, zoom, make calls and texts, in-person services, snowstorms, COVID cancellations… it’s been a struggle to keep up. There is something about focusing our priorities on what we are supposed to that is refreshing. I always notice when I get that prayer time in with God in the morning or read my devotions, not to study, but just to spend time with God, I feel more prepared for the day… more ready for whatever might come my way. With that, I wanted to look at the first four commandments as an outline for maybe what we need to watch out for in this season to make sure we aren’t missing what God has in store for us…
- There is one God…
Exodus 20:2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.3 “You must not have any other god but me
This one can seem super easy and basic until I began to ask myself, over the last 6-8 months, what defines who my God is. There are a lot of things out there vying for attention in my life. The more time I spend focused on GOD and not the things I make gods in my life, the better off I will be. Making sure I spend time watching what I treasure, what I value, and what I protect can also show what/who my god is. If I am truly protective of my time with God and that relationship, things will always be better.
- Do not make idols
Exodus 20:4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything…”
This one hit home for me during this season more than most. It is so easy to focus on the things that I feel like I can “control” or things I can get right with hard work. I can easily make the perfect live stream an idol, or the perfect Instagram post, the cleanest youth room. I can make something my focus of attention that is meant for God. Now all of those things are good, and we should strive for them to be great. But let us not lose focus on what matters. Those things are tools that we can use, not things that are to be worshiped, and often where we spend our time shows what we worship. For some transparency, I tend to focus on the items listed above. They are things that I have to guard myself against, making them more of a focus than the God I am trying to point my students towards. Sometimes I have to fight against this mentality and not compare myself to others and what they are doing. This is where we have to be faithful to God and focus on the calling He has in our lives.
- Honor the name of the Lord
Exodus 20:7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”
Often prayer is one of the hardest things to “find the time” for. It shouldn’t be. We are so great at telling our students to spend time talking to God and describing how easy it is. And yet, it is one of the things that are often a struggle to implement. I mean, if we look at our lives, there might be days where we say, “oh my god, more than we actually pray oh My God… I want to encourage you during this season, make time for prayer. Make time to converse with God and say His name… be reminded of the power of the name of Jesus to break chains and strongholds, to lead students and us to salvation, and to change lives. Be reminded that the enemy flees at the name of Jesus and that the more time we spend praying, the more confident, prepared, and joyful we can be. I am reminded of a powerful Myles Munroe quote… “that Jesus spent hours with God in the morning so He only had to spend minutes dealing with men…” We’re in the business of dealing with people, but think about the change we could see in ourselves and our ministries if we made sure that we honored the name of the Lord, and made certain prayer has a vital, regular place in our lives.
- Keep the Sabbath Holy
Exodus 20:8-10 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ten but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.
Taking a sabbath has been notoriously difficult for ministers. I know that my master’s reading on leadership has all but solidified that it is completely necessary, as if the verse from the bible above didn’t already do that. We need to make it a priority to unplug, to say no, and to just be. To live life and do things that are not ministry-related. This one hurts a little because I am pretty bad at this. I love ministry, and I love working at the church, probably to a fault. But having time away from ministry reminds me that I am not my title, and my salvation/walk is not my job. God doesn’t see me as Pastor Matt, and when I am correctly taking a Sabbath and spending time unplugging and just being alive, I am reminded of how God sees me. As His son Matt. It is not like He needed a rest. He did it because He knew that if I didn’t see it modeled, I wouldn’t do it. Take some time, go for a walk, start by setting aside a few hours once a week just to unplug… go for a walk, relax on the porch, but get unplugged… God requires it of us, and we need to do it more… it not only has an impact on our work and ability to avoid burnout, but it keeps us connected to God in the way that He designed. I would like to end with this… if we follow these four commandments and we work on the strength of our relationship with God, we will be able to better deal with the issues with people, the ministry things we will face, the trials, and the struggles. Let’s take the rest of this year and focus on God, His plan, His name, and time with Him. If we do that, I wholeheartedly believe and anticipate that God will do mighty things in our ministries and, more importantly, in our lives.
Matthew Lund // Next Gen Pastor/Hope Assembly of God // Ellicott City, MD