Ministering At The Altar

We do the Prayer Counselor Training at my church for a couple of reasons. First, we need to have consistency in how we do ministry. A lot of churches do not have consistency; they have people at different levels doing different things. So, we just lay it out so there can be consistency in the house. People have been reading different books; they have different emphases. There are also different gifts and anointings. But there needs to be a level of consistency in the house.

Second, we equip saints for ministry. Our objective is that we will have a church infiltrated with people who can minister. It is very interesting. On a Sunday morning I will sit up here and see a lot of ministry going on at the front. I'm always amazed at the ministry I see, and the amount of ministry going on. I see people going out the door or standing in the back and people praying for other people. That's always a joy to my heart - to see the Body of Christ consistently ministering to people. There are two places where these things are taking place - up front and at the back door. There's a measure of consistency.

Instructions Of How Ministry Occurs At The Altar

First, find out why the person came for ministry. You need to interview. You have to discern what the person's true need is because what a person shares may not be his true need. They may come up for back pain, but their real need may be a heart pain. They may come up with an emotional pain, but it is a physical pain. They may come up with a particular issue they need prayer for, but they need to be saved. Your objective is to discern what the true need is.

You always want to ask some questions. "Tell me again why you came forward. Why are you here?" We used to have the hands-off system where I would be here as the pastor, and when they would come to me for ministry I would point to a prayer counselor who would come forward to minister. But that was too much work for me. So now we use the process that people just come up and minister. Primarily the people who have come for the Prayer Counselor Training are the ones who come forward to minister. We say that if you have gone through the Prayer Counselor Training, we will release you to minister to the people, according to what we do. Usually people who oversee areas of ministry, people who are more visible, are the people up here ministering. But the point is that the pastor doesn't have to control and be personally involved in all of the ministry that happens in the church service.

Back to the interview: Ask the person, "What do you want the Lord to do for you?" You've got to cut to the chase because they may tell this whole story and you begin to think, "OK I haven't been able to figure out what they want." Cut to the chase, because some people will take forever telling you the whole story. You don't need to know the whole story. So, do not be rude, but in a polite way ask them to in mind the question, "What is your need; what do you need prayer for?" This gets them thinking through why they came.

This causes a dilemma about which direction you should go. You will have to discern what their genuine need is, and what direction to go. Then you begin to discern that direction. Salvation is the most important thing God wants to do in their life. But that may not be what they came forward for, and you have to discern that.

We tend to assume everyone in church is saved, but that's not always the case. We tend to assume everyone at church speaks the same jargon and has the same basic understanding we do. That's not always the case. We tend to assume everyone in church is saved, but that's not always the case. So if you minister to someone you don't know personally, start with the least common denominator; make it easy to understand what you are asking. Let me give you some examples of really bad questions you shouldn't ask. Never ask, "Are you saved?" The term "saved" is Christian jargon and unbelievers may not understand what you mean. They may think, "Saved from what? I'm not drowning." If someone grew up in church, that may be a valid question, but for most people, that's a really poor question.

And don't ask them, "Are you a Christian?" Their reasoning may not be the same as ours. They may think: "Sure, I'm an American," or "Sure, I go to church. I grew up attending church. I went to vacation Bible school when I was a kid. My parents are Christians. Sure, I'm a Christian." That is not a good question, because now you have to define what a Christian is.

You need to ask a question like this: "Tell me when you gave your life to Jesus, or are you still in the process?" This is a good question because it gives them an out if they're not a Christian. "Oh! I can be in process?" If you say, "Tell me when you gave your life to Jesus," they may rack their brain trying to think of something that isn't there. If they say they are still in the process, then you'll know this person is lost. They don't have a relationship with God. Then follow it up. "Well, can I share with you the claims that Christ has for your life, so you can give your life to Jesus?"

You need to get familiar with a plan to share the Good News of Jesus. You need to find a plan and get used to it. Some Bibles are marked with the Roman Road. Our church has this available, and Bibles like this are available for you to buy. I don't care what plan you use until you get a plan.

We use a very familiar plan. It is one Willow Creek Community Church uses. It's a common one that's not original with them. It's simply the bridge. We don't presume anyone has a relationship with God. Then we use the bridge diagram with God on one side and man on the other. Man can't get to God because of sin. Sin separates man from God, but man is always trying to get to God by other things. He tries to earn his way, he tries philosophy, he tries being good, he tries going to church. He tries many things, but, of course, nothing works because man can't make his way to God. Everything man does simply falls short of God. The consequence of sin, of course, is hell. But the Good News is that Jesus Christ died on the cross and He became the bridge so we can come to God. The only way we can come to God is through Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is the way you come to God.

A napkin can work in a restaurant. Just draw a diagram. In doing that, you talk about God. God is holy, God is love and God is just. You can talk about man - why man needs it. Because man was created good, but became sinful, we deserve death; there's that sin part because of our sin. We're spiritually helpless in that we can't earn our way. We learn about Jesus. He died to become the bridge. He was God become man, our substitute. Forgiveness is a gift.

Then the person has to make a decision: They have to respond. They have to ask Jesus to be their leader; they have to repent. They have to place their trust in Him, make Him Lord, make Him the boss of their life. Give your whole life to Him, and in exchange He gave His whole life to you.

I don't care what plan you use; just get familiar with some plan. Some of you already have something you use, which is good so long as it is simple. The gospel isn't complicated; it's simple. It has the following main points: You are a sinner; you are going to hell. Jesus died for you to pay the penalty for your sins so you don't have to. If you would like that, give your heart to Him and He will take your sin and you will be on that road to God's life for you. You will have purpose and meaning in your life forever.

Another thing you have to watch for is "Believe-ism." Believe-ism is where one believes the things about God, but doesn't really have a relationship with God. This is knowing facts. But knowing facts doesn't make a person a Christian. "Oh yeah, sure, I believe in God. So what?" James 2:19 says demons believe in God. What makes you any different from a demon? "OK, well, I believe Jesus is God." Demons also understand that. "OK, I believe He was born of a virgin. I believe He died on the cross. I believe He was buried and was raised on the third day." Tell me something demons also don't know for certain. So far, you don't have anything that separates you from a demon.

Do you see what I'm getting at? It's not what you know, it's what you are committed to. Of course, the illustration of this truth that I live, is that faith is like getting on the plane. When you get on the plane, the doors are shut and you are going down the runway. Now you are committed to all the facts that you believe are true. You believe that plane is going to fly. You believe the pilot knows what he is doing. You believe there is enough fuel, that the mechanics have fixed every problem. You know all of that in your head. Faith comes whenever you commit yourself physically to what you know in your head.

Faith in God isn't what you know, it's what you are committed to. The person may say, "I believe stuff about God." When you minister to people who are not out of evangelical churches, (such as out of Catholic churches), you will find a lot who have head knowledge about God. You have to discern if they have heart knowledge about God. Some people will have a heart knowledge about God, and you will have to discern that. Some people won't have the same language you have, so they may not be able to convey that in a way that is satisfactory to you. You will have to discern with the Holy Spirit if the Holy Spirit is there. For a lot of people, even in evangelical churches, they will have head knowledge, but not heart knowledge. They will know all the right information. You have to discern that when you tell them about Jesus.

If a lost person has come up, and you know he is lost, but he doesn't want to get saved, yet he still needs prayer, always pray for him. Sometimes that's God's way of breaking down the walls to get to their heart. Always pray for them; meet their needs. Sometimes you know they are lost and you don't even get to the point of talking about whether they have a relationship with God. Because they come up for prayer, they don't know what they want. They are looking for the blessing of the priest. They come forward, but they don't know why. So you pray for them, and that will knock down a wall. Then pray that God will give you wisdom to speak that into their heart to penetrate their true and genuine need.