Many of you know that before Vickie and I began traveling to minister in our Holy Spirit Rallies and Jesus the Healer Rallies, we were the children’s pastors of a large church in South Florida for 25 years. In looking back on those years, there are three things that I will own up to.
- Those were 25 wonderful years. From time to time, people would ask when we would quit and go into another form of ministry. I always answered that we would leave when God told us to quit, but we’d argue with Him about His decision.
- I’ll be the first to admit that we didn’t know the name of every child in our ministry. (And it wasn’t that we were battling some debilitating memory disease.) You’ll have to agree that it would have been impossible to know every name of the 1,000+ children who attended our children’s ministry. And, to add to the challenge, we didn’t minister to the same children every week. We did have those who were with us almost every week. Then, we had children with us every other week so they could rotate weekends between their divorced parents. Finally, we had what I call the CEO (Christmas and Easter Only) children.
- Lastly, we didn’t know everything that was going on in a child’s life. Many of the children came to church wearing their Sunday best, donning their Sunday smile, interacting well with their parents, and behaving as angels in class. What could be wrong? Oh, if we could only have seen what heaven saw.
Thankfully, whether we knew every child by name or accurately understood the details of their life, we could flawlessly and powerfully impact every child. How? By praying in the Spirit.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know
what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit
prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”
Romans 8:26 (New Living Translation)
Offering prayers that might include, “Father, you know that I am clueless about the children entrusted to our care and ministry. But you know everything. You know each and every name. You know every detail about these boys and girls. Today, as I pray with the enablement of the Holy Spirit, touch them, help them, and provide for all that is needed. And, even today, begin to work in their hearts for what will be shared this weekend” and then I would begin to pray in other tongues and allow the Holy Spirit to do His promised work.
For those uttering a sigh of relief because you are thinking that this post is addressed solely to those who have the PRIVILEGE (yep, you read that correctly) to minister to children and youth, think again. Daily, you encounter people throughout your routines of life that desperately need the “such as I have” (Acts 3:6). And, like Vickie and me, you are clueless about what is needed. When encountered, their outward appearance is deceiving. The reality of life is, to quote John Osteen, that we live in a “sighing, crying, dying world.” People desperately need what only the Holy Spirit knows and can provide.
Ready to be the minister that God has called you to be? Thankfully, it won’t require taking a memory enhancement course to learn the names and details of those around you. According to Romans 8:26, praying in other tongues changes everything. Over the years, I’ve learned its value before connecting with people. Through this means, God prepares both my heart and those whom I encounter, for a needed word or work that I might be totally oblivious about. To take it one step further, the Holy Spirit enables us to pray for the perfect will of God for these ministry opportunities. (Romans 8:27)
As usual, there is so much more that I want to write, but I’ve reached my self-imposed word limit. So, I pray, “Holy Spirit, speak to those reading this post. Reveal the importance of stepping into the ministry opportunities in a “know not” state with the understanding that you know all. May our dependence on you grow all the more.”
Hi Pastor Billy, once again thank you for all that you do and have done. Three years ago, I felt the Lord telling me to pray in the Spirit on all occasions. Jennifer, my Wife and I pray the Full Armor of God every morning and one morning God told me to do it, and I have been doing it all the time it’s awesome, freeing and powerful. When I don’t know what to pray about for someone, I just lay hands on a picture of them and do so, its the perfect prayer for them.
Love you and Mrs. Vickie. Hope to visit you guys soon.
Ron, thank God for the working of His Holy Spirit in and through us. I am so thankful that I am not dependent upon my three pound brain to live life and fulfill the work of the Lord. I love living in the land of the Know-Nots!
You and Jennifer are loved. We would love to connect with you SOON!