I was looking through some old notes, and came across this short excerpt from Ps Ed’s book on ‘Growing Deep in God’ that I feel is a very timely reminder for me.

“Without the power of God, the Church is as powerless as a man armed with a rubber band, in the face of a charging rhinoceros. They are many ways to work for God, but only one way to work with God; through humble and contrite prayer. God moves in answer to prayer. Oswald Chambers was right on target when he wrote, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works… prayer is the greater work.”

The highest calling of Christian leaders in the ministry is prayer. A spiritual leader who is not praying has abdicated his primary job description from God. Prayer cannot be divorced from spiritual leadership. In fact, concerning prayer and spiritual leadership, the godly J.Oswald Sanders goes further to say, “In nothing should the leader be ahead of his followers more than in the real of prayer.”

In this matter of spiritual leadership, the apostles of Christ understood their apostolic priorities. They said, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). It is spiritually instructive that prayer precedes the ministry of the Word.

Being precedes doing. Prayer precedes preaching. There is an Old Testament example of this priority. The prophet Samuel said, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way” (1 Sam 12:23). Intercession precedes instruction.”

An excerpt from ‘Growing Deep in God’  – Edmund Chan. p.44