“In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He heard because of His piety.” There is an urgent need and an earnest appeal for help. The prayers of our Lord were pertinent, and they were pressing. He was here for a short time, and there was work to be done.

As a church pastor and leader, I need to be more decisive and confident and willing to have a prayer life. My prayer needs to be what it was to Jesus, needs to imply forethought and daily searching of the scriptures in preparation.

How much more powerful and spiritually successful could our ministries be if we stopped being so busy and followed the excellent example of Jesus. Worship does more than offer worship to a worthy God; it also trains believers to respond to God. Spending time with the church past by reading their writings, hymns, and prayers. Doing this, they are exposed to the piety of Christians outside of their current culture of diverse backgrounds.

 A pastor leader within the local church can seek to encourage  Christian piety through the minister teaching ministry. Your life as a pastor is on display that will reveal how the Christian life is to work. I have learned through reading this lesson that a minister cannot hide their view of  Christian piety.

My three key learnings from my Spiritual Sustenance over time are concerning how I envision my practices of ministers have many variables. I have daily prayers, read my Bible, and meditate on the Word. There are many distractions daily like work and tasks at home that you have to govern yourself to do your best. I had to practice many ways and things to stay spiritually focused.

Nearly as often as I heard it when I was coming through my developmental years, we always heard that you have some learning with your burning. It is the challenge of learning new things and discovering new perspectives about yourself as a minister.  I always say as a preacher, and I am a soldier in the army of the Lord, I have to keep my mind sharp to the things of God.  I equated sitting before God in private meditation and just is listening to hear from God. Take time out of my schedule to sit simply before God at the altar at home or the sanctuary.

 I have practiced ensuring my longevity in ministry. Secondly is with regimen the fasting and prayer. I  fast weekly, which is a habit that has become a tradition of mine to focus on my ministry.   I’m trying to discern God’s call and what God would have me do for the coming days.

 Thirdly,  laughter is a significant part of my ministry. Before the pandemic, I enjoyed taking selfies with everyone that I met. The Bible says in Proverbs 17:22a says  ” A merry  heart is a good medicine.”  I have maintained the practice of studying the Word of God not just for sermons but to be aware and know God intimately. God’s word unwrapping wisdom would enlarge my mind that has been helpful and studying for sermons and preaching sermons of different types.  I have preached sermons as one of the biblical characters where I appeared dressed in costume as a guest to the worship. I try to be very creative by using different styles of preaching to keep my preaching sharp that has been helpful, I have found that I could be having the worst week in the world even after studying, fasting, and praying, but when I get in the congregation, even on the Zoom platform.  I think that it’s a privilege to engage in active worship as a participant instead of a spectator. Worship takes me from one degree of grace to another and enlarges my view of worship and love of God.