by
Daniyel
Blankenship
Essentials of Ministry
CHMN 201-D10 LUO
Introduction to Church Ministries
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Submitted to Professor David B. Roberts,
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
The writers of the book, Everyday Ministry, provided a very transparent look into their
ministry journeys. Many of the stories detailed mountain top success where God was showing
up, blessing them, their staffs and their congregants. However, I am grateful that the authors took
it a step further to allow us a glimpse of the hardship that made an attempt to interrupt what God
wanted to do through them. In this paper, I will summarize the 10 individual “Essentials of
Ministry” listed in Part 3 of the Everyday Ministry text book by tying all 10 essentials together
into a cohesive overview. While completing the reading I was convicted about strengthening my
prayer life and my daily commitment to obedience. You are only as strong as your weakest areas
and because of this I have developed a personal growth plan to assist me in my daily walk with
Christ.
“Praying for the call” into ministry is a dangerous prayer that requires a response from
God. God desires to speak to us but in order for us to hear from heaven we have to be tuned to
His frequency. Once you hear from God, “Responding to the call” will take faith. The thought
and act of ministering to people should bring great joy, peace, and completeness to the minister.
“Prayer” must be priority #1 for ministry leaders. After all, Christ, who was fully God and fully
man modeled a healthy prayer life and prayer patterns. Anyone who doesn’t prioritize prayer
opens the door to burnout and will continue to strive in their own limited strength until they have
nothing left damaging themselves and those that they have influence with.
Quitting ministry is not terribly uncommon. “Maintaining an Eternal Perspective” is one
way to keep the heart focused on serving and representing Christ while we have the privilege to
minister. The Bible teaches in Ecclesiastes 3:11that God has set eternity in our hearts. The
power of this promise can keep our thoughts positive during the most trying of times by enabling
us to maintain our focus on eternity. Pressing into God during hard times can seem be difficult.
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However, making the decision of “Continuing to Grow” is a lifestyle choice and not an emotions
based strategy for short term ministry success. The promise of God’s word, not our feelings, is
our authority1. Spiritual growth never happens by accident and is the result of a lifestyle marked
by discipline and obedience.
It is impossible to be an effective minister without “Loving People”. Jesus was clear that
our greatest task while on earth was to love each other. As Christ’s representative to our
generation everything done in ministry has to begin and end with love. Love is a relational
investment and the key to building spiritual family. One way “Uncompromising Faith” is built is
by standing in faith with fellow believers. Seeing God move and answer prayer amongst your
inner circle enables the believer to remain obedient and have unshakable faith in the face of
tremendous adversity.
Faith that has been tested is faith that can be trusted. A faith you can trust produces a
“Loyalty to the Truth” that will allow you to stand firm in the middle of any storm and give you a
desire to seek those who desperately need the truth of the Word of God. This is literally a matter
of eternal life or death where we get to participate in “Being the Biblical Church”. A biblical
church is a “go and do church”. This type of church is filled with a unified group of believers
who support and love on one another in all things. Together, they have “Committed to
Obedience” and yield large influence among their congregation. Influence that can propel the
bride of Christ to fulfill her calling of following God in humble obedience.
The 10 essentials of ministry written by Dave Early and Ben Gutierrez provide an all
1 Bill Bright, How To Walk In The Spirit, Transferable Concept 4 (California: Here’s Life Publishers, 1981),
21.
encompassing look into ministry based on their personal experiences. From the invitation into
ministry to how to maintain your physical, personal and spiritual health. The authors did a
fantastic job choosing the 10 essentials for this text. I was challenged throughout and
encouraged through their words.
Holy conviction is a gift in the heart of a believer. While absorbing the reading this week
the Holy Spirit put his finger on two of the essentials of the ministry that I desire to grow in: my
prayer life and my commitment to obedience. These essentials may be listed independently but
if we are being honest, they are dependent upon one another in many ways.
In my own prayer life, I find that it is very strong in certain seasons and in other seasons
it is lacking zeal and passion. In June of 2018 I returned from a year long deployment South
Korea. While there we were engaged in the Maximum Pressure Campaign against the North
Korean government. My job was to orchestrate the immediate evacuation of all US civilians,
contractors, and dependents from our portion of the peninsula in the event that we went to war.
While stationed there it seemed as if war was imminent. We prepared with a “fight tonight”
mentality and that meant always being engaged in the here and now. For the Christian, our
prayers are our #1 weapon of war. Our first and best defense against the enemy of our soul and
yet in life it seems that somehow, I allow my prayer life to take a backseat to “stuff”.
My strongest seasons of prayer were marked by a few distinct characteristics. First, they
were always accompanied by time that I had set aside. Of course, I pray throughout out my day
but there is something different when there is time set aside specifically to engage God
distraction free. As part of my plan I will schedule time with God in the morning. Five days a
week I will begin set my alarm 20 minutes early to allow time to pray before leaving for work.
When we are truly alone with God, in the privacy of a room to which we have “shut the door”
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(Math. 6:5), then we can pour out our hearts to him2. Second, my most powerful times of prayer
came during seasons of fasting. I will establish one day a week (Thursday) where I will fast to
place prayer above pleasure. I desire to be a part of miracles and not just read about them in the
Bible and the Word of God teaches that through prayer and fasting certain doors can be
unlocked. The Bible contains examples of personal breakthrough and miraculous healing of the
sick directly related to times of prayer and fasting. Lastly, I will develop a prayer list to help
guide my prayer. In this season of life, the prayer needs around me are vast and putting some
guardrails on this time will help to structure and focus my prayer.
The second essential of ministry that I am committed to strengthen is my commitment to
obedience. The highly influential medical missionary Albert Schweitzer observed, “Example is
not the main thing influencing others. It’s the only thing3.” It pains me to write this but my
Christlikeness often shines brightest outside of my home. The first example to came mind was
daily praying over my wife. We pray all the time corporately or at small group but I can’t
remember the last time just her and I prayed together. I am called to love her as Christ loved the
church and part of that means covering her daily in prayer. I am going to schedule some alone
time with her where I can confess my shortcomings, repent, and pledge to chart a different
course with her. My goal in this area is to pray over her at least one time per day. My obedience
in this area isn’t just for me. It will make a difference in my wife which will have a ripple effect
in every sphere that she has influence in.
The final area of obedience is stepping out to pray for people when God calls me to do it
regardless of where I am or how “weird” it may make me look. There have been times when I
2 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine, (Michigan: Zondervan, 1994), 389. 3
Dave Early and Ben Gutierrez, Everyday Ministry, Applying The Christian Faith (Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group,
2010), digital book
4
Bibliography
have felt a nudge from God to lay hands on someone and pray and I have passed it up because of
where I was or because it would appear weird to those around me. Whenever you chose your
way over His way, you commit idolatry because, in essence, you are saying that your wisdom is
superior to God’s. You are acting as though you are God4. The answering of the prayer is up to
God. All He is looking for from me is that I be obedient and respond when he calls my name.
Just last night I had the opportunity to step out and pray for a stranger and I jumped at the
chance. I am believing that God would send me more and more opportunities to pray for those
who need healing.
In conclusion, Part 3 of The Essentials of Ministry was an extremely impactful read. I
was challenged and encouraged by each chapter. The transparency of the authors was very
encouraging and provided a great example to me as a leader but also as man. The two areas I
was convicted about were: my prayer life and my commitment to obedience. Setting goals and
developing a plan for growth in these areas is exciting. I know that I will be blessed because of
this but those around me will be also. Committing to growth in these areas is a “line in the sand
moment” in my life. I am believing that I’ll never be same because of what was revealed during
this assignment. By the grace of God, may I leave a legacy that demonstrated radical immediate
obedience in my prayer life, personal life, and in ministry.
4 Crawford W. Loritts, Jr., Leadership As An Identity, The Four Traits Of Those Who Wield Lasting Influence,
(Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2009), 171.
5
6
Bright, Bill. How To Walk In The Spirit, Transferable Concept 4. California: Here’s Life
Publishers, 1981.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology, An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine. Michigan:
Zondervan, 1994.
Early, Dave and Gutierrez, Ben. Everyday Ministry, Applying The Christian Faith. Tennessee:
B&H Publishing, 2010.
Lorrits Jr., Crawford W. Leadership As An Identity, The Four Traits Of Those Who Wield Lasting
Influence. Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2009.
