He lived forever: spiritual life begins with prayer
Pastor Conant in his 90s looked more vibrant than people half his age
When most people were retiring Pastor Newton Conant was barely getting started. He pastored a church in Camden NJ for nearly 50 years. Then, between the ages of 70 and 96, Pastor Newtown Conant became a missionary to Africa, a professor at Biblical Seminary, pastored Cinnaminson Baptist Church, and taught a seminary in Russia before finally retiring to rest with Jesus at 96 years old.
What was most remarkable about Pastor Conant was that he knew Jesus. His ministry model was so simple: know Jesus, be Jesus. Pastor Conant wrote a small number of books that have run out of print and taught a seminary class to future pastors on the Spiritual Life.
This blog series He Lived Forever will be filled with Pastor Conant’s stories and teachings.
The Spiritual Life Begins with Prayer
This content is taken from a class Pastor Conant taught on Spiritual Life at Biblical Seminary circa. 1988-1990
The beginning of the journey of the spiritual life is prayer. The beginning of all prayer is adoration. John 4:23 tells us that true worshipper will worship in spirit and in truth but the second half of this verse tell us that these are the worshippers which God is seeking. God is seeking your worship. He wants it. He longs for it. Why? Because He wants to use you. God looks for those to use and what he wants are people whose heart is right before Him, people who love Him.
Upon Peter’s failure Jesus asked just one question three times. “Peter, do you love me?” Why this question? Because the top qualification for a leader in faith is their personal love for Christ. For all the qualities that we ask of leaders the only that is indispensable to Christians leadership is love for Jesus Christ. If a pastor today denied Jesus I can’t imagine that the question “Do you love Jesus?” would be the question that the presbytery or denomination would ask when restoring him. But this is the greatest concern of anyone following Jesus, that we love Him.
Every Moment Before God
To grow our hearts to love Him requires time with Him. God has made it possible for us to enter behind the veil into the very holy of holies. We can come into the very presence of the Holy God. It was once that only high priests and Moses were allowed to enter into the holy presence of God. Hebrews 10:19 tell us that with BOLDNESS we may enter into the presence of God—not because of our own righteousness—because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Moses would enter on occasion to speak to God and the priests only entered once a year. But this invitation is for us is not just an invitation for church or holy times but for all of life. We live life IN THE HOLY place before God. We need never come out of the veil.
We can live ever in the presence of God, in our washing of dishes, scrubbing of floors, teaching of children, preparing of meals, in our business deals, conversations, labors and joys. Paul tells the Thessalonians “pray without ceasing!” This is a command to live each moment in the presence of God.
Prayer is Life
When we live each moment in the presence of God our prayer life will completely change. For many of us prayer is the salt and pepper—the seasoning—on our life. We believe that my life is lived by me and that prayer is asking God to improve the life I have. When we live each moment in God’s presence we will come to realize that prayer life is not the seasoning but the meat itself. God is life and coming into his presence is when we have life so our true life is lived in prayer. Prayer itself is the life that I am living. One sign that is becoming true is when you conclude your time of prayer each morning and believe that the day’s work is finished. The rest of the day is just picking up the remains, the work was done, the victory won in prayer that morning.
By winning the day in prayer we are able to achieve our greatest strength which is living in weakness. When we are completely empty then the Holy Spirit, in prayer, can finally fill us up.
God moves powerfully when He finds someone through whom He can work. He is looking for hearts that will stand in the gap, that will intercede, that will partner with Him. But this will not happen if we have not submitted ourselves to God in prayer. Unless you are willing to sacrifice time and attention, what appears legitimate in your ministry and duties will lack heavenly gifts unless you sacrifice time for prayer. You want to experience the power of the heavenly world in our world? Prayer is the space where these worlds unite, unless you spend time in seeking the Lord’s Blessing you can forget seeing his heavenly power.
Start small. I don’t mean to overwhelm you. I don’t want to guilt you and suggest that you need to give hours of your morning to prayer. Wake fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Give this first moment of your day to God. Fifteen minutes is truly a short period of time. It’s not enough to completely disrupt you day but it is enough to start. What do you do during those 15 minutes? Not much: simply ask God to give you what you need in your day. Then take a little silence and read scripture. Think of the first Psalm, “Blessed is the man that walketh not so. His delight is the will of the Lord. Lord, you be my delight today.” Then ask God to take the day, the first two hours, the hard moments of the day, time with your spouse, the pending work and conflicts with your supervisor. Cast all your cares upon Him. “Now Lord! Everything is in you hands!”
Can you imagine how the day will go if all your cares have already been cast on Jesus? You’ll find yourself working more efficiently, your mind won’t be cluttered, your emotions not in debris, you will see clearly in your relationships with others.
