People often ask about our organization. They want to know how we do things. They want to know how we run a particular part of the ministry or how we handle a certain kind of problem. They are seeking to figure out the reason for our success and growth. But there is no magic formula. All I can do is encourage them with how the organization began with prayer and continues with prayer.
Sometimes these people call us back and say, “Yes, prayer, but what else?” All I can tell them is, “We didn’t know what we were doing most of the time and we still don’t. We go along as the Lord guides and leads us. We make mistakes, we change things and we go on seeking His face. I do not know any magic formula.”
In all the 25 years of this ministry, every major breakthrough we have seen in the work has come through prayer. Through prayer, we let God be God, yielding ourselves as earthen vessels and becoming channels for His work. I am deeply convinced that the shortest route to getting things done is by prayer.
On the other hand, my nature is opposed to this. I want to make changes and get things accomplished. I like to think and say, “If we don’t do this or that, it isn’t going to happen.” But then I remember that every failure we have had and every setback we have experienced was always because we calculated and did something out of careful planning, but not careful prayer.