HeartCry Missionary Society founder and preacher Paul Washer has stressed the importance of personal prayer, warning against what he dubbed “trifling trinket” ministries.
In a sermon at the Shepherds Conference last Friday, Washer preached from Mark 1:29-38, which speaks about Jesus healing several people before drawing away to pray and then telling His disciples that He needed to preach elsewhere.
“You can have really good theology and not be abiding in Christ,” Washer said. “Every trial, every war, every reckoning, every breaking that goes on in your life has one purpose: to drive you into ongoing communion with Christ, not just through studying good books, but on your knees.”
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Washer told conference attendees that the “pivotal point” of the Mark passages was “to see the prayer life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” adding that “in prayer, secret abiding prayer, there is no glory before men, there is only glory from God.”
“This Great Commission is not going to go anywhere — with all your expounding and all your preaching and all your diagramming — it’s going nowhere without prayer,” Washer continued.
Washer asserted that while “men of God” need rest from time-to-time,” personal prayer “is something that even triumphs over sleep and definitely triumphs over ministry.”
Washer also addressed “all these trifling trinket kind of ministries” that “aren’t necessary,” while stressing that “prayer is necessary,” especially for his mostly pastor-based audience.
He quoted famed 19th century British preacher Charles H. Spurgeon, who reportedly said, “I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”
Washer added that he believes “a lot of historians” of Spurgeon “are going to have a fight on their hands when they cross through the gates of glory” because “they attribute Spurgeon’s preaching to his mighty intellect or to his memory.”
“Those things he had, but he would fight you on that,” Washer continued. “You can’t look at Spurgeon’s sermons, you cannot read them and find a natural explanation for the fact that that much material was preached and yet every paragraph seems to be gold. … He was a man of prayer, like his Lord.”
Washer also stressed the importance of studying the Bible, stating: “I’ve found out that there’s only one thing my flesh hates more than the study of Scripture, its prayer.”
Washer mentioned passages of Scripture in which Jesus emphasized the importance of personal prayer, including Luke 11, when one disciple asked Jesus to “teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
“Isn’t it amazing that we never hear the disciples come to Jesus and say, ‘teach us to teach, like you teach?’ ‘Teach us to cast out demons as you cast out demons?’” said Washer. “‘Teach us to walk on water, as you walk on water?’”
“If I am going to ask a man to teach me something, it’s going to be the thing I find most spectacular in the life of that man. I honestly believe that the most spectacular thing about Jesus was His communion with God in prayer.”
Washer then discussed the importance of the “life of prayer” as well as the “commitment to labor” for the Kingdom of God, stressing that “you do not let go of the one to take hold of the other. You do both.”
Washer was among the speakers at the Shepherds Conference, a ministry gathering of Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, which was held March 5-7.
Prominent GCC Teaching Pastor John MacArthur also addressed conference attendees via video message, as the 85-year-old continues to struggle with severe health issues.
“I realize I’m on the last lap,” MacArthur said in his video message. “That takes on a new meaning when you know you’re on the short end of the candle.”
“I am all thanks and praise to God for everything He’s allowed me to be a part of and everything He’s accomplished by His Word in these years of ministry. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ.”
