Before I leave the subject of using prayer lists I want to suggest one more called the “Tending My Garden Prayer Tool”. I was introduced to this concept many years ago by a godly man named Dennis Peacocke. If you can find his teaching on this it would be worth the search, but leave out “prayer tool” as those are my words, and the prayer tool below is my take on his idea.
The concept of tending one’s garden first comes from God’s dealings with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. First in Genesis 1:26 the Scripture says, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, etc.” Then in Gen. 2:15 “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” God was very clear with Adam and Eve as to their God given responsibilities or their sphere or their lane as some refer to it these days. They were not to sit around and dream about what they might like to do. Instead they were to apply themselves to what God had already ordained for them to do.
Every believer has a God ordained garden or lane or sphere (see Paul’s discussion re: his adherence to his God given sphere in II Cor. 10:14-16) that He expects us to discern or discover and to steward. It is His specific calling on our lives. Fruitfulness ultimately is determined by our ability by His Spirit to figure this out and to not be distracted from it for lesser things (which often seem like greater things). Much of that supernatural ability to discern and to stay focused and persevere comes through focused and strategic prayer.
It was either towards the end of my first or second year in Seminary when a Navigator representative came into town and one of my ex navigator friends asked him to come and speak to a group of us seminary students. By the time he met with us we had heard umpteen powerful speakers come from all over the world to help us understand how to change the world in our ministries. I must admit some of them left me feeling overwhelmed, underequipped, and the wrong man for the job. I cannot remember all that this Navigator guy said. But I will never forget the gist of it. He said that while he appreciates the concept of strategic planning and management by objective thinking, he has come to a place in his understanding of God’s ways – where his primary concern is identifying and carrying out his God given responsibilities. Where so many in the body of Christ in that day, and even today were talking about the need to identify your dreams and vision and write it down and operate according to your dreams and vision, he had learned that Jesus Christ is more concerned that we learn to carry out our responsibilities and priorities day after day. I cannot remember many things that helped me more than that simple talk from a man who had faithfully served Christ for many years. Not that I've always faithfully followed his advice. Thankfully God is faithful to redirect us when necessary.
Dennis P.’s original Prayer List had this quote at the top, “The borders of my ministry are the borders of my prayer life.” I might reword it like this, “The fruitfulness of my ministry arises from the focus of my prayer life.” The point being, real effectiveness and fruitfulness in life and ministry comes from increasingly discerning one’s calling and responsibilities and priorities and refusing to be distracted or discouraged from that through the daily discipline of focused prayer about those responsibilities, etc.
Please know that the evil one and his minions live to distract and discourage us from what God has primarily called us to be and do. The last thing in the world they want is for us to make our daily priority in prayer and practice our own spiritual growth and our marriage and family’s growth and development. They could care less if we lay our lives down for the poor or for world evangelization as long as we neglect our own growth and our families. Because they know sooner or later we will unwittingly be in their sphere for us instead of God’s sphere.
So with that introduction, I commend to you a “Tending My Garden Prayer Tool” below.
Tending My Garden Prayer Tool
“The borders of my ministry are the borders of my prayer life”
I. Tending Myself – John 17:1-5; Psalm 119:5, 10b, 17, 18, 19, etc
A. Spiritual Growth
B. Fitness
C. Education/Training
D. Finances
E. Job
F. Things (e.g. cars, house, etc.)
II. Tending My Family – Eph. 5:22-6:4
A. Spouse
B. Children
C. Parents
D. Siblings
E. Grandchildren
III. Tending My Spiritual Family – Eph. 6:18
A. Pastor
B. Elders
C. Small Group Leader
D. Accountability partners
E. Team members
IV. Tending My Disciples – Col. 4:12
A. Main person(s)
B. Group
V. Tending My Neighbors – Luke 10:27
A.
B.
C.
D.
VI. Tending My Co-Workers – Eph. 6:6-9
A. Employers
B. Employees
C. Clients
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