Return to the Beginning • Apr 13, 2026
The Right Ministry to God • Sep 27th 1969
Three Ways to Minister to the Lord: Individual, Church, and Group Prayer
What does it truly mean to minister to the Lord? Is prayer primarily about asking for things, or is it something far deeper—something that begins with God and returns to God? In this rich, practical teaching, Gene Edwards unfolds three distinct biblical ways believers minister to the Lord, drawing from Genesis 18 and the book of Acts.
The message begins with Abraham’s personal fellowship with the Lord. When Abraham welcomed three visitors, he offered them food and drink—unknowingly ministering to the Lord Himself. Out of that fellowship, God gave Abraham a promise. This reveals a profound principle: prayer begins with the Lord giving the prayer, continues as we pray it, and ends with the Lord answering it. Abraham’s greatest insight came not during the initial encounter, but when he chose to walk with the Lord a little longer, lingering in His presence. From this, we learn the importance of staying before the Lord even after the immediate sense of blessing has passed.
The second example comes from Acts 12, where the church gathers to pray for Peter, who has been imprisoned by Herod. This was not a scheduled prayer meeting, but a spontaneous response to crisis. As the church prayed without ceasing, God intervened with overwhelming power, delivering Peter through locked doors and guarded gates. This passage reveals the authority released when the church prays together under divine urgency. When Satan attacks the church, God opens His storehouse and invites His people to take full liberty in prayer.
The third and most far-reaching example comes from Acts 13, where a small group of prophets and teachers in Antioch gathered to minister to the Lord and fast. They were not planning sermons, studying doctrine, or organizing ministry. They were offering Christ to the Lord. Out of that simple act of ministering to Him, God changed the course of human history by setting apart Barnabas and Saul for apostolic work. Ministry to the church flowed naturally from ministry to the Lord.
This teaching emphasizes that all true ministry begins with fellowship with God. Whether alone, as a church, or in small groups, believers are called first to touch the Lord Himself. Teaching, prophecy, authority, and spiritual direction are never manufactured—they emerge organically from communion with Christ.
If you are seeking to grow in prayer, understand the life of the church, or learn how genuine ministry develops, this message offers both clarity and direction. It calls believers away from formulas and religious routines and back to the living center of Christian life: ministering to the Lord.
I trust some of you brothers will really, really take the burden of meeting together, to just minister to the Lord. And out of that will come the ministry to the church. It will also come by meeting alone, it will also come as the whole church meets, but brothers and sisters, there’s something here of the Lord having some brothers who bear the real burden of life and ministry in the church. And out of it, the church is greatly blessed. Out of it, in this case, the whole earth was blessed.
Now, brothers, when you pray, stay before the Lord a little while. He may have something new and marvelous to tell you. When you come together as a church, don’t be afraid to ask the Lord for anything. Brothers and sisters, come together and minister to the Lord.
Now, when you have come alone, when you have come as a church, and when you have come together in small groups, to minister to the Lord, out of these three experiences, you will learn how to pray. I cannot teach you. This is where you will learn. Go alone, in the church, and in groups, and begin learning now, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, how to live before the Lord.
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