The ministry of the word? Really?

We had a very helpful Bible-study group leaders meeting tonight, which posed a very challenging question: are we in danger of forgetting half of what we're about? At St.Helens we're fairly alert to the priority of "word ministry" -- but we often forget what it's shorthand for. It's not just the ministry of the word -- it's the ministry of the word and prayer.

The aim of the evening, thankfully, was not just to guilt trip us into wanting to do more praying, but to help us start working on our thinking so that we wouldn't be able to think of the phrase "Bible-teaching" without also thinking "and prayer".

It's the same lesson that I've been learning all year: will I depend upon myself and my own strength to do the work, or will I get busy praying because I trust that it is God's strength that I need, and his work that counts? Will I love the people in my group enough to be praying for them?