Praying For Those You Mentor

Prayer: [prer] a spoken or unspoken address to God, a deity, or a saint. It may express praise, thanksgiving, confession, or a request for something such as help for somebody's well-being.

Prayer is encouraging, affirming, engages our hearts, and is “helpful training” when communicated. Prayer is the underpinning. It’s the crucial element in all we do. Pray for those you mentor for their:

1. Spiritual lives
2. Ministry
3. Relationships within the Body of Christ
It enables them to do what they do. It’s an infusion of spiritual help that they need.

Paul prays in Col 1:9-12, "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light."

This is a fool proof way for God to answer prayers of those we mentor. If Paul prayed this way for the saints in Colossae, and it is in the Bible, we pray with confidence that we are praying as God would have us pray.

Mentoring is a Matter of the Heart

Heart: [haart], affection, love, or warm admiration

Another key quality of a good mentor is when she mentors wholeheartedly, when she is engaged on every level. Have you ever heard the saying, “people won’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care”? With your whole heart mentor your protégé. Care for her. Passionately engage in the kind of ministry that Christ engaged in. Do you love those you are mentoring (discipling)? Do you believe that mentoring is ministering as Jesus ministered? The truth is, He spent most of His time with a small group of men (his 12 disciples), both one on one and in a small group. And He didn’t meet with them to just give them information, He engaged with them on a heart level. “There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.”(John 13:23). “Love one another; just as I have loved you, you also love one another.” (John 13:34)
He knew that you impress people from a distance, but you impact them when you engage heart to heart and life to life.

Discipleship, mentoring, is not just an intellectual activity, but a process of life change. We do our best coaching when we are engaged not just intellectually, but on a heart level with those we mentor.

And display a heart for the mentoring process. We may have a heart for mentoring, but do our protégés? The truth is many of them have to learn the value. I meet women all the time who have never been mentored or personally discipled in their life with the Lord. They think at times this is just another hoop they have to jump through.

I want to encourage you to believe enough in mentoring that you would be direct in saying to those you’re mentoring, how vital it is to their growth process. It’s important to speak frankly about the value of the mentoring experience. You will communicate wholeheartedness for mentoring and for your protégé by the way you approach your time together and by how much concern and love you show.

Read what Paul said to the Thessalonikan Christians, “But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.” I Thess. 2:7-8

Helpful Training: Discipleship

Those you are mentoring will need to know the basics in becoming a disciple of Christ. They should also be able to guide others through the process of knowing Christ and becoming like Him.
Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Some items you can train your protégé on would be:
1. How to have a quiet time with the Lord
2. Growing in understanding of the Word through various Bible Study Methods
3. Scripture Memorization
4. Character Development
5. Setting personal/ministry goals
6. Participating in ministry projects or how to lead a ministry project
7. Developing a personal mission statement
8. Preparing a personal testimony
9. Sharing the gospel with others

This isn’t a comprehensive list, but is a starting point for you as a mentor. You will play a critical role in guiding your protégé in spiritual growth and in ministry skills.

Affirmation

Affirmation: (af·fir·ma·tion) an assertion of support or agreement; a positive statement or declaration of the truth or existence of something.

Yesterday, we discussed the importance of encouraging each other. One important aspect of encouragement is expressing words of affirmation, or speaking a positive word to someone. Appreciation for your protégé always has to be expressed. We dare never take for granted the vital link all play in the body of Christ.

How to say it “out loud” to your protégé:
1. Share a Scripture that God has recently used in your life as “refreshment” to her spirit. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. “Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore, my soul keeps them.” Psalm 119:105 and 129.
2. Express gratitude for their service to the body, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” (Phil. 1:3) Affirm their significance in body of Christ. Your protégé has an important role to play in God’s kingdom program. Let her know that you know and are grateful for her heart for God.
3. Build her up! Ephesians 4:29 say to share words that build others up according to their needs: Speak words that edify. We have great power to build up with the tongue. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue”. “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” (Prov.12:25). Your protégé could periodically feel discouraged and want to quit. Consider how to encourage with words of affirmation! You could be the difference in her life.

Mentoring Tip #1: Encouragement

Encouragement is a significant part of any mentoring relationship. We will always need encouragement when mentoring others. And those we mentor need encouragement.

The book of Hebrews exhorts us to stimulate others to good deeds as the day approaches. Hebrews 10:24-25, “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” “Let us consider”…in other words, think about how to support those you mentor.

Here are a couple of reminders as we mentor:
1. It is a privilege to enter another’s world as closely as you do with a protégé. It is a worthwhile use of their time. We can lose sight of this.
2. Press on with your protégé even when they are not responding as you like. Don’t give up! Persistence usually pays off!

Encourage, encourage, encourage! Encouraging those you mentor will warm your heart as well!

New Series: Mentoring

Over the next week, we will look at some things I’ve learned over the years while training women to mentor others. My five topics are: Encouragement, Affirmation, Heart, Helpful Training, and Prayer. These are aspects of mentoring that we will want to remember as we relate to women.

As we discuss relating with women in our lives, our passion can be expressed either ineffectively or effectively. We can learn from Paul as he spoke to the Christians in Thessalonika, "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." I Thess. 2:8. God had given Paul a heart for those he was discipling just like He gives to us for those we reach out to.

Stay tuned as we cover 5 topics over 5 days!