5 April 1998 Dear Brother; God has laid it upon my heart to write this letter to the pastors whom we have shared with. This is the first of many letters that I hope to write to you, in order to encourage you in the ministry. As we have traveled, we have found many pastors that need ministry. They are in the position of always having to give of themselves to others, without having much given back to them. Many times, when we are ministering at a church, we spend more time ministering to the pastor and his wife, than we do in ministering to the congregation. Our desire is to strengthen and encourage you in the work that God has called you to do. We live in an exciting day. God is moving in a greater manner than any other time in church history. Revival is springing up throughout the land, and throughout the globe. It isn’t just any revival though, it is the end time move of God. We have a choice laid before us. God is bringing this age to a close. We can either be part of His plan, or we can stand in His way. If we chose neither, we will find ourselves standing against Him. That is one place I don’t want to find myself in. Oh God, keep me in the center of your will. Let me be your instrument, and mold me in whatever way it takes to keep me from standing against you. If this letter blesses you, praise God! If not, maybe you could pass it on to someone it will bless. Either way, remember that we are praying for you and your ministry, and will continue to believe God for revival in your church! In Jesus’ precious name, Rev. Rich Murphy ON OUR FACES - BEFORE THE LORD God has called us to enter into His presence, to come before His throne, and worship Him alone. Without taking the time to sit in His presence, how can we, the ministers of the Lord, expect to have anything of Him to give to others. And yet, with the demands on our time, it becomes harder and harder for most ministers to find time for their first ministry, that of prayer. I’m not talking about a superficial time with the Lord, either. It took Moses 40 days before the Lord before he could bring the tablets of stone back to the people. Why 40 days? I’m sure it didn’t take that long for God to engrave the tablets. In fact, I’m quite sure it took even less time than it did in the movie. Yet, Moses had to spend those 40 days there before he could bring back that one simple, concise message. How many times have we, as ministers, spent that kind of time laboring to receive a message from the Lord? Most of the time, we put it together in a few hours of study and prayer, and wonder why it took that long. Sometimes, God will speak to us for weeks about something in our own lives that ends up becoming a message. Occasionally, a message may take months to stir inside our spirits, before it is written. But even then, it will come out in a short burst of activity, a few brief minutes of writing. Weeks, or months of the Lord trying to tell us something, condensed into a neat, easy to preach form. The problem isn’t with God, it’s with us. The Holy Spirit is a great talker; He’s talking to us all the time. Unfortunately however, we are rarely quiet enough to hear what He’s saying. I doubt that Moses was any better or worse than us at recognizing God’s voice. Maybe that’s why he had to spend so long on the mountain. It didn’t take 40 days to receive the tablets, but it took that long in God’s presence for him to be ready to receive. Moses probably spent one day climbing the mountain. For the next two or three days, he worried about his family, the people he had brought out of Israel, his brother and sister, and the mortgage payment. Well, maybe not the mortgage, but you get the idea. After that, he spent at least a day grumbling about how stiff necked the people were, and how little they appreciated him. For the next few days, he developed the plan that he thought God should give him, so he’d have it ready to present to God. It wasn’t until he got all that out of the way that he was able to get quiet enough to hear what God had to say. Are we any different? How many times has our prayer time turned into a worry, complaining, or thinking time? Instead of growing closer to God, and receiving from Him, our minds are busy on hundreds of other things. I have stated, both publicly and in my prayer time, that I don’t ever want to minister without the anointing. If I have to get in front of a congregation, ministering in my own strength, the people won’t be blessed. But, when the anointing of the Lord falls, then it doesn’t matter what the vessel does, God’s people are blessed. You know something? God has taken me at my word. During the last year, there have been many churches we’ve ministered in. Most of them didn’t know we were coming. We just showed up, and the Holy Spirit told the pastor to have us minister. Since we never ask, it is up to the Holy Spirit to open the door. Other times, we showed up at churches that seemed just as likely for us to minister in, and nothing happened. We’ve even had times when the pastor invited us to come and minister, and we just sat in the service. There are several factors that determine whether or not we minister in a church. Of them, there are only two that are in my control. If I don’t mention that I am a minister, then the pastor isn’t aware that I am available to be the Lord’s instrument. That’s the first one, not asking, just saying that I am a minister. The second factor is much more important though. Recently, the Lord took me through a mental journey over the last year. He showed me the churches we ministered in, and those that we didn’t. He also showed me what I was doing in the days before we arrived at that church. If I had spent enough time with Him to be close enough to Him to have the anointing, I ministered. But, if I had been too busy for prayer and Bible study, the doors didn’t open for ministry. You see, the Lord knows that we ministers need more prayer than the average Christian. Not only do we have to receive from Him for our own lives and families, but for all those we minister to, also. If we don’t have enough time to receive, we don’t have anything to give. God has required of us, and provided the opportunity for us, to take time to enter into His presence. Not only can we enter in during our prayer time, but also in worship. We must remember that the commandments God has given are for our advantage, not His. There is no reason that God needs our worship. He isn’t an egomaniac, needing to be reaffirmed. No, God has required for us to worship Him in order that we can have the opportunity to enter into His presence. Without God making this a requirement, most of us would never find the time. Not only has God given us a commandment to come into His presence, He has also made provision for us to do so. Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We are told to come boldly before His throne, not meekly. We have the right to be there, before Him, entering into His presence, and worshipping Him. What a privilege, to be able to come before the King of Kings at any time, without an appointment, just to be with Him. When we truly enter into the presence of the Lord, it is an awesome experience. God’s greatness and holiness can leave us with only one response...to fall on our face before Him. This is the greatest place to be. On our faces; before Him. Seeing Him seated upon the throne; in all His majesty and glory. The purpose of our praise and worship is to usher us into His presence. It is there that we can truly receive from Him. As we are in His presence, He is able to reveal things to us that the Body of Christ needs to know. Yet, many ministers leave worship to the “worship leader,” being to busy with other things. Although there is a calling to be a worship leader, that doesn’t mean he is the greatest worshipper in the congregation. The greatest worshipper should be the pastor. It is he that has the greatest need. Not only does the pastor have the greatest need to worship, but he also is the example for the rest of the flock. As we’ve traveled, we’ve seen many churches that are great at worship, and we’ve seen others that aren’t as great at worship. The difference is simple. Whether or not the church worships is dependent upon the pastor’s attitude. Everything that happens in that church, including worship, will be a reflection of his heart. We were in a church once where the pastor was going up and down the aisles during the worship time, shaking people’s hands. Needless to say, that church didn’t do much worship. Just enough to allow him to make it around the church. When he was done, so was the worship. Nobody entered into God’s presence that morning. How could he, or any other man of God expect to bring God’s Word, in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, without spending time in God’s presence? Oh, I’m sure he had some prayer time, but the opportunity to enter in was spent in shaking hands and slapping backs, not seeking God’s face. There is an anointing in worship that comes no other way. I find that many of my greatest revelations come during the quiet time of worship, as I am on my face, before the Lord. What about you? Are you on your face enough? Are you seeking God both in prayer and in worship? Try prostrating yourself before the Lord in worship sometime, and see what God can do, both to, and through you. Don’t worry about what your congregation will think. Who knows, you might start shaking some of them into bowing down and truly worshipping the Lord of Lords, on their faces, before Him. God Bless You, Rev. Rich Murphy

PASTOR'S  LETTER

This teaching is also available in our book "Wisdom For Christian Leaders"
Click here for more information about this book.

	Return to Current Pastor's Letter
	Return to Ministry Page
	Return to Home Page

Copyright © 1998 by Richard A. Murphy,  Maranatha Life  All rights reserved.