KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Toolbox 1
IN EVERY ELDER'S toolbox...
There should be a PILLOW
I don't know how you could be an elder in the Lord's church if you are not intimately involved with God. Intimacy with God cannot be had separate from a devoted prayer life.
The Good Shepherd was a praying person. One of the most memorable occasions of the Lord praying was in the Garden. "Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, 'Sit here while I go and pray over there'" (Matt. 26:36). Jesus found a private place to pray.
Wendell Winkler tells the story about an elder who had a prayer room built away from the house in his yard. He would retire there every morning and pray. On one occasion, this man led a prayer during a gospel meeting. When he finished, a preacher leaned over to brother Winkler and said, "I would have traveled all this distance just to be a part of that prayer."
I wonder how many elders, preachers, and Christians, have "prayer closets"? We need shepherds who know prayer. (Neil Richey)
KneEmail: "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Matt. 6:6).