There are many good things a pastor may do, but surely one of the best is the ministry of intercession. Often, we do not see the immediate results and are tempted to busy ourselves in other matters that seem to pay quicker dividends. Prayer is spiritual and therefore eternal. While God can and does answer with immediacy in some instances, often it is like sowing seed which may yield a harvest much later. It may even be after our lifetime.
The prayers of the saints are described here as being bowls full of incense with their fragrance filling the atmosphere of heaven. I see them as stored up, and in God’s timing and according to His sovereign design, will be answered. So, dear pastor, pray for your family, pray for the church, pray for the community, pray for missionaries and ministries. Pray and pray some more. Invest in intercession and it will pay eternal dividends.
It may be that you die without seeing much fruit. Looking back over a ministry and judging it as largely unproductive can be a discouraging thing. But, God gives the final judgment—and it may be when we get to the other side, that we discover an abundant fruitfulness exceeding our wildest imagination. Those prayers that seemed to rise no higher than the ceiling—the continual pleading when heaven seemed silent—were working powerfully. Keep on praying!
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