Guest Post | Pray More, Sow More by Nick Floyd

Today, RonnieFloyd.com welcomes guest writer, Dr. Nick Floyd. Dr. Floyd is a Teaching Pastor at Cross Church.

For the past six months, our staff has consistently had the conversation of how we are going to reach more people.  Time and time again, I am drawn back to the simple Scriptural principle of reaping and sowing.  This principle goes far beyond ministry and can be viewed in light of your marriage, parenting, business, and beyond.  For our purposes today, I want to look at this principle in light of ministry.

In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul was speaking about this principle in relation to their spiritual lives.  He says in Galatians 6:8, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”  In speaking to the Corinthian church, he wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”  (1 Corinthians 3:6)  In other words, sometimes there are multiple people who have a role to play in the sowing process but its ultimately God who gives the growth.

When you think about ministry, it is filled with opportunities for discouragement because of a lack of “reaping.”  Maybe attendance is down, you’re not seeing as many people saved and baptized, small groups aren’t what you want them to be, or some other aspect of the ministry just isn’t where it should be.  Many times in our frustration we look to the lack of “reaping” when really our hearts and minds should be drawn to the “sowing.”  I realize there are all different opinions on measurement and metrics within the church.  One helpful thing that numbers do for us is that they can bring light to our sowing strategy.  If we’re not reaping what we want to see, we must check to see what we’re really sowing.  Let’s say you are unhappy with how your church is discipling people.  Think about your sowing.  Do we have an intentionality problem?  Do we have a systems issue?  What can we do to try to take people deeper in their walk with Jesus?

A simple motto our staff has come up with is, “Pray more, sow more.”  We believe this is the key to church ministry.  If we want to see our evangelism increase, it happens through prayer and good, old-fashioned sowing.  If we want to see a specific ministry grow, it happens through prayer and sowing.  We believe these run parallel and are not to be left alone.

We are in a spiritual line of work.  I’m sure you’ve had times where you have preached a clear Gospel message or a compelling sermon on church membership only to see nothing happen during the invitation or throughout the next week.  We are helpless individuals without the Spirit of God.  We can’t see anyone saved, baptized, or discipled without the power of the Spirit of God working in their lives.  That’s why prayer is the key component in all of ministry.  We need God to do what only He can do.

The Bible rightly connects prayer to action.  The Bible never commands us to only pray about making disciples, but to go and make disciples as we walk dependently upon the Spirit.  In ministry, praying but never sowing is not Biblical.  Sowing without prayer is hopeless.  Praying more and sowing more is the path to seeing God move.  Sometimes there are seasons of sowing; don’t be discouraged.  Sometimes there are seasons of reaping; be thankful.

One thing I have asked our staff to do this week is to come up with an intentional strategy for prayer and sowing in their specific ministries.  We are about half way through our church year and want to finish the year strong in making disciples.  Will you join us on the journey of more prayer and more sowing?

Dr. Nick Floyd

Teaching Pastor, Cross Church
@nickfloyd8