“You can do more than pray, after you have prayed,” wrote A. J. Gordon, “but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed.” It is a divinely ordered sequence.
When Jesus called the Twelve, He called them so that they might do three things. The first was simply to “be with him.” With that in place, and from that place, he sent them out to do the rest: “to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14–15). All the work of the kingdom of God begins with simply being with Jesus. If it doesn’t start there, it doesn’t start at all.
From: Patterson, B., & Goetz, D. L. (1999). Vol. 7: Deepening your conversation with God. The pastor’s soul series; Library of leadership development (20–21). Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers.
Ultimate Standards 