Prayer is the master key

There is a Sunday school song I used to sing growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. And the lyrics to the song are:

"Prayer is the key, prayer is the key, prayer is the master key. Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer. Prayer is the master key".

How true the words of the songs are. Jesus started his ministry with prayer (in the desert) and ended his ministry with prayer (on the cross). I just finished reading Shenk and Stutzman book Creating Communities of the Kingdom: The New Testament Models of Church Planting, and in their sola scriptura and ad fontes approach to their book identified that "the early church was born in a prayer meeting" (p. 37). All I could say was “ouch!” as soon as I read that line in the book. I currently work as a church planter in Colorado Springs, Colorado and it seems lately I have been reminded about the importance of prayer and my own personal spiritual formation as a pastor. Recent personalities tests reveal that I am a strategist, planner, goal setter, and that I am fairly conscientious. In addition, I am a futurist, fairly good at multitasking, and accomplishing goals. I am driven and will work late into the wee hours of the night if need be (results derived from personalities tests such as Strength Finders, DISC, and Myers-Briggs).

I don’t say this to elevate my abilities but to reveal my spiritual weakness. I am good at accomplishing things without dependence on God. It will be so easy for me to plant a church like starting a business without involving the work of the Holy Spirit. I recently visited a church in Colorado Springs where the pastor contended that it is possible to build a mega-church without the Holy Spirit. I have the tendency to fall into that camp if care is not taken as some church plants do today. That is the activities of getting the church started, taking precedence over prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit, forgetting that the New Testament church was born out of prayer (Acts 2:1-47).

Just as I was recently reminded in Darrin Patrick’s book, Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission, Shenk and Stutzman have reminded me once again that not only is prayer important but it is first. As I am currently reading Ed Stetzer’s book Planting Missional Churches, I am reminded of the importance of my own personal spiritual formation as a church planter.