Examining the Servant Behind the Service
There are times when every servant must temporarily stop examining the work and begin examining the worker.
We measure attendance.
We measure finances.
We measure growth.
We measure projects.
We measure programmes.
We measure reach.
We measure results.
But there is another measurement that is even more important:
What is happening inside the person doing the work?
Paul wrote:
“Examine yourselves…” — 2 Corinthians 13:5
The purpose of this inventory is not condemnation.
It is alignment.
Do not rush through it.
Pray before answering.
Where necessary, write your answers privately.
The goal is not to produce impressive answers.
The goal is truth.
INVENTORY ONE — MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Ask yourself:
1. Is my relationship with God presently alive, growing and personal, or has it become mainly professional?
2. Do I still read Scripture for my own spiritual nourishment, or mostly when preparing to teach others?
3. When did I last spend meaningful time with God without preparing a sermon, lesson, programme or public ministry?
4. Is prayer still fellowship with God, or has it become primarily a tool for ministry?
5. Do I enjoy God’s presence when there is nothing I need Him to do?
6. Has activity for God gradually replaced intimacy with God?
7. Am I more interested in being used by God than knowing God?
8. If my public ministry disappeared tomorrow, would my private relationship with Christ remain strong?
9. Am I still sensitive to conviction?
10. Is there anything God has repeatedly spoken to me about that I continue postponing?
Pause and ask:
Lord, has commission become more important to me than communion?
INVENTORY TWO — MY MOTIVES FOR SERVICE
Why am I serving?
Not what do I say publicly.
What is actually operating inside me?
Ask:
1. Would I still do this assignment if nobody knew I was doing it?
2. Would I still serve if my name never appeared on the programme?
3. How do I feel when someone else receives recognition for something I contributed to?
4. Do I secretly compare my ministry with other people’s ministries?
5. Does another servant’s success genuinely make me happy?
6. Have I ever exaggerated results because I wanted to appear successful?
7. Do I become discouraged when people fail to appreciate me?
8. Do I need constant affirmation to remain motivated?
9. Am I serving from love or trying to prove something?
10. Am I building God’s Kingdom — or trying to build my personal significance?
Diagnostic question:
If nobody applauded, would Jesus still be enough reason for me to continue?
INVENTORY THREE — MY SURRENDER
Ask:
1. Does God genuinely have the right to interrupt my plans?
2. Can He redirect my ministry?
3. Can He tell me to wait?
4. Can He tell me to move?
5. Can He tell me to stay?
6. Can He correct an idea I have defended for years?
7. Can He reduce my visibility without making me bitter?
8. Can He enlarge another person’s ministry without making me jealous?
9. Can God touch something I regard as my Isaac?
10. Is there anything I say belongs to God but practically refuse to place under His authority?
Complete this sentence privately:
“Lord, the thing I find most difficult to surrender to You is __________.”
Do not rush beyond that sentence.
Sometimes one honest answer can reveal an entire spiritual battle.
INVENTORY FOUR — MY STEWARDSHIP
If everything ultimately belongs to God, how am I managing what He has entrusted to me?
Examine:
Time
Am I disciplined with time?
Do unnecessary activities consume energy required for my primary assignment?
Money
Am I financially responsible?
Is ministry money handled transparently?
Do I confuse personal resources with entrusted resources?
Gifts
Am I developing my abilities?
Or am I using “anointing” as an excuse for poor preparation?
Body
Am I stewarding sleep, nutrition, exercise and medical needs responsibly?
Relationships
Am I sacrificing important relationships unnecessarily in the name of ministry?
Opportunities
Am I saying yes to everything because I fear becoming invisible?
Influence
Am I using influence to serve people or control people?
Knowledge
Am I still learning?
Ministry
Am I building something that can function without my constant physical presence?
INVENTORY FIVE — MY RELATIONSHIP WITH RESULTS
Ask:
1. How do I respond when results are small?
2. Do empty nets make me question my identity?
3. Do full nets make me feel superior?
4. Have numbers become the primary measure of my worth?
5. Am I tempted to manipulate outcomes?
6. Can I remain faithful during slow seasons?
7. Can I remain humble during rapid growth?
8. Do I know the difference between genuine fruit and impressive statistics?
9. When something succeeds, who receives the glory in my heart?
10. If God changes the form of the reward, will I still trust Him?
Remember:
Better an empty net with integrity than a full net obtained through compromise.
INVENTORY SIX — MY LEVEL OF EXHAUSTION
Ask honestly:
What kind of tired am I?
Physical?
Do I simply need proper rest?
Emotional?
Have criticism, disappointment or grief depleted me?
Spiritual?
Has communion become shallow?
Relational?
Am I carrying unresolved conflict?
Administrative?
Are poor systems creating unnecessary pressure?
Ministerial?
Am I doing too much alone?
Directional?
Am I exhausted because I am working hard at something God is no longer asking me to do?
Medical or psychological?
Is there persistent distress, insomnia, hopelessness, anxiety, physical deterioration or inability to function that requires appropriate professional assessment?
Faith does not require denying legitimate need for medical or psychological care.
Wisdom receives help.
INVENTORY SEVEN — MY RESPONSE TO DISCOURAGEMENT
When discouraged:
Do I isolate?
Become irritable?
Stop praying?
Overwork?
Overeat?
Withdraw emotionally?
Blame people?
Become cynical?
Compare myself?
Make impulsive decisions?
Or do I know how to:
rest,
pray,
talk honestly,
seek counsel,
receive help,
evaluate,
recover,
and listen again?
Remember Elijah.
The man under the juniper tree was still God’s prophet.
INVENTORY EIGHT — MY DIVINE LOCATION
Ask:
1. Am I where God presently wants me?
2. Am I trying to leave because another place appears more visible?
3. Am I remaining somewhere merely because I fear change?
4. Have I confused obscurity with failure?
5. Have I confused popularity with divine approval?
6. Am I neglecting today’s assignment while dreaming about tomorrow’s platform?
7. What are the “few sheep” presently entrusted to me?
8. Am I serving them faithfully?
9. If God says “hide yourself,” can I obey?
10. If God says “show yourself,” can I obey without fear?
Remember:
It is better to be hidden where God placed you than celebrated where God never sent you.
INVENTORY NINE — MY PRIVATE LIFE
What exists when the microphone is off?
Who am I when nobody is watching?
Examine:
integrity,
sexuality,
financial conduct,
thought life,
speech,
online behaviour,
relationships,
anger,
forgiveness,
humility,
honesty.
Public gifting must never become an excuse for private disorder.
Private faithfulness is the root system of durable public usefulness.
INVENTORY TEN — MY DIRECTION OF FORMATION
After all my years of serving God:
Am I becoming:
more humble?
more loving?
more patient?
more truthful?
more forgiving?
more teachable?
more disciplined?
more compassionate?
more prayerful?
more dependent upon God?
more like Jesus?
Or merely more experienced at religious activity?
This may be the most important inventory of all.
Service that does not increasingly transform the servant is incomplete.
PERSONAL RESPONSE PAGE
Write privately:
Something God is asking me to stop:
______________________________________________
Something God is asking me to start:
______________________________________________
Something God is asking me to continue:
______________________________________________
Something I need to surrender:
______________________________________________
Someone I need to forgive:
______________________________________________
Someone from whom I need help:
______________________________________________
An area where I need greater discipline:
______________________________________________
An area where I need rest:
______________________________________________
My present Kingdom assignment as I understand it:
______________________________________________
My immediate act of obedience:
______________________________________________
APPENDIX TWO — QUESTIONS FOR MINISTERS, LEADERS AND CHURCH WORKERS
From Discussion to Transformation
These questions can be used in:
ministers’ retreats,
workers’ meetings,
leadership training,
discipleship groups,
pastoral conferences,
personal retreats.
The goal is not theological debate alone.
The questions should produce honest conversation.
SESSION ONE — EMPTY NETS
1. How should a servant distinguish temporary disappointment from genuine divine redirection?
2. What dangers arise when ministry results become the primary source of personal identity?
3. Can a ministry be faithful and temporarily appear unsuccessful?
4. How should leaders evaluate results without becoming controlled by statistics?
5. What “boats” in our lives could God use differently from how we originally intended?
SESSION TWO — AVAILABILITY
1. What is the difference between availability and lack of boundaries?
2. Why can gifted people become difficult for God to use?
3. What does practical availability look like for a modern Christian worker?
4. How can a servant remain interruptible by God without becoming controlled by everybody’s demands?
5. Which is presently more evident in our ministry culture: ability or availability?
SESSION THREE — SERVING WITHOUT IMMEDIATE RESULTS
1. How does transactional Christianity distort Kingdom service?
2. How should we encourage faithful people experiencing delayed results?
3. What compromises are ministers tempted to make when growth appears slow?
4. How do we distinguish perseverance from stubbornly continuing an ineffective method?
5. What does “Nevertheless at Thy Word” mean in practical ministry?
SESSION FOUR — EXHAUSTION
1. Why do Christian communities sometimes glorify burnout?
2. What are the warning signs of unhealthy ministerial exhaustion?
3. How can leaders build structures that do not depend excessively upon one person?
4. What responsibilities should be delegated?
5. How can churches practically care for exhausted ministers and workers?
SESSION FIVE — COMMUNION BEFORE COMMISSION
1. Can ministry activity become a substitute for relationship with God?
2. How can Scripture remain personal nourishment rather than merely sermon material?
3. How can leaders distinguish people’s pressure from God’s direction?
4. Are there activities in our ministry that continue mainly because “we have always done them”?
5. What would change if prayer became the birthplace of strategy rather than an emergency response after strategy fails?
SESSION SIX — SURRENDER
1. What is the difference between sacrifice and surrender?
2. Can someone sacrifice greatly without being surrendered?
3. What forms can ownership mentality take in ministry?
4. How should a leader understand the expression “my ministry”?
5. Why can success test surrender more severely than failure?
SESSION SEVEN — DIVINE REMEMBRANCE
1. How should Hebrews 6:10 be taught without creating entitlement?
2. Why is comparison so destructive to faithful service?
3. What kinds of Kingdom reward are often overlooked because they are not material?
4. How should ministers respond when people forget their contributions?
5. What does it mean practically to trust that God remembers?
SESSION EIGHT — DISCOURAGEMENT
1. What can Elijah’s experience teach us about ministerial mental and emotional health?
2. Why did God address Elijah’s physical condition before confronting his distorted conclusions?
3. What does “faint, yet pursuing” mean without glorifying self-destruction?
4. How should churches respond when ministers admit they are struggling?
5. What systems could make our ministry culture safer for honest conversations about weakness?
SESSION NINE — HIDDEN SERVICE
1. Why is visibility so attractive to modern ministers?
2. How have social media changed our understanding of ministry significance?
3. What is the difference between communicating ministry and advertising oneself?
4. How can someone know whether a hidden season is divine preparation, an unnecessary limitation, or simply a circumstance that requires responsible action?
5. What does it mean to remain in divine location?
6. Can someone be publicly successful and spiritually misplaced?
7. Would we serve with the same intensity if nobody knew our names?
SESSION TEN — FROM WORKER TO DISCIPLE
1. Can someone be an effective religious worker without being a mature disciple?
2. What indicators reveal that ministry is actually transforming the minister?
3. Why must love for Christ precede feeding His sheep?
4. What happens when platform grows faster than character?
5. How can leaders intentionally prioritise formation alongside productivity?
6. What would it mean for us personally to choose Christ above the catch?
APPENDIX THREE — THIRTY PRAYERS FOR FAITHFUL KINGDOM SERVICE
These prayers should not merely be recited.
Pray slowly.
Where conviction comes, pause.
Where repentance is necessary, repent.
Where action is required, act.
PRAYERS OF SURRENDER
1. Father, take complete possession of my life. Let no part of me remain outside the lordship of Jesus Christ.
2. Lord, expose every hidden idol competing with You for my loyalty.
3. Give me grace to surrender not merely sinful things, but even legitimate things whenever they begin competing with Your will.
4. Deliver me from ownership mentality. Teach me to see everything entrusted to me as stewardship.
5. Let my ambitions come under Your government. May I never build a personal kingdom using Your name.
PRAYERS FOR AVAILABILITY
6. Lord, make my life available for Your purposes.
7. Deliver me from being so attached to convenience that I become unavailable to divine assignment.
8. Give me a teachable spirit. Correct me without losing me.
9. Give me discernment to distinguish divine interruptions from unnecessary distractions.
10. Use what is in my hand for what is in Your heart.
PRAYERS FOR FAITHFULNESS
11. Father, strengthen me to remain faithful when immediate results are absent.
12. Deliver me from comparison, jealousy and unhealthy competition.
13. Keep me from compromising truth in order to manufacture results.
14. Give me wisdom to know when to persevere and when to change methods.
15. Let my service flow from love rather than entitlement.
PRAYERS FOR DEPENDENCE
16. Lord, deliver me from self-reliance disguised as dedication.
17. Teach me communion before commission.
18. May prayer become the birthplace of direction rather than my last resort after human effort fails.
19. Teach me to place my education, experience, intelligence and ability under Your authority.
20. Give me ears to hear what You are saying in each season.
PRAYERS FOR WEARY SERVANTS
21. Father, renew my strength where I have become exhausted.
22. Give me wisdom to recognise when I need rest, help, healing or restructuring.
23. Deliver me from carrying responsibilities You never assigned to me.
24. Surround me with trustworthy people who can strengthen me when I am faint.
25. When human companions fail, make me deeply conscious that the Lord still stands with me.
PRAYERS FOR HIDDEN SERVICE
26. Deliver me from addiction to applause and visibility.
27. Keep me in divine location, whether that location is Cherith or Carmel, sheepfold or palace, secret or public.
28. Develop my roots until they can safely carry the foliage You intend for my life.
29. Give me grace to serve faithfully when nobody sees except You.
THE FINAL PRAYER
30. Father, when my service on earth is finished, let it be said that I did not merely work for You — I walked with You. Let me finish faithful, surrendered, humble, fruitful, still loving Jesus, and increasingly conformed to His image.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
APPENDIX FOUR — SCRIPTURES FOR THE WEARY AND DISCOURAGED SERVANT
Biblical Anchors for Seasons When Strength Is Low
There are moments when exhausted servants do not need many words.
They need anchors.
This section is designed for slow meditation rather than rapid reading.
WHEN YOU FEEL YOUR LABOUR IS WASTED
1 Corinthians 15:58
Remember:
Your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
The location of the labour matters.
Not merely activity.
Labour in Him.