3 Bad Habits Making You Less Effective in Ministry
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan series, famously wrote, “We are, all of us, creatures of habit.” That oft-repeated statement is more accurate than we might think. We are indeed creatures of habit, and that’s precisely because we are made in the image of a Creator of habit.
Ours is the God who commands the rhythms of the heavenly bodies, upholds the regularity of the seasons, and establishes the patterns of the Sabbath, festivals, and feast days. Our confidence in God’s promises rests on the knowledge that He is habitually faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23). It follows that His image-bearers ought to cultivate a similar consistency.
When it comes to ministry, good habits significantly contribute to our effectiveness. But bad habits lead just as surely to unproductive patterns. Some bad habits may not even be sinful, but if left unaddressed, they become the seeds that eventually grow into great problems in life and ministry.
Here are three bad habits particularly common to pastors that may be sapping your energy and making you less effective in ministry.
1. No prayer habit
Prayerlessness is a devious thing, especially for pastors. It creeps in subtly by degrees. Many ministries have rendered themselves impotent because their leaders fell out of the habit of secret prayer. They didn’t have a prayer routine.
A prayer routine is simply a scheduled daily appointment with the Lord. It’s a set time and place where every single day, rain or shine, whether you feel like it or not, you meet with the Lord.
People sometimes criticize consistent prayer routines as rote and necessarily cold. “I’ll pray when my heart is stirred to pray,” we say. And we certainly should pray when our heart is stirred, and on all occasions (Ephesians 6:18). But it does not follow that because you schedule something, it is emotionally hollow. Just because you write “date night with wife” on the calendar doesn’t mean your heart isn’t in it when the day finally comes.
We give spontaneity too much credit. We schedule the things that are most important to us to ensure that busyness doesn’t crowd them out. Could there be anything more important for us to schedule than time with the Lord each day?
It’s also worth noting that the habit of prayer is part of your job. In Acts 6, when the apostles first appointed deacons to help with administrative tasks, the reason given was so that the apostles could “devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4). We tend to focus on the ministry of the Word part. But they saw prayer as part of their ministry calling, too. It’s even listed first. Think about it this way: if you aren’t making it a habit to pray, you fail to perform half your job.
Why not dedicate a regular prayer routine to your calendar today?
“We give spontaneity too much credit. We schedule the things that are most important to us to ensure that busyness doesn’t crowd them out. Could there be anything more important for us to schedule than time with the Lord each day?”
2. Scrolling in the morning
Many of us thoughtlessly give the first fruits of our day to our phones rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. This bad habit is so common we may not even recognize how harmful it is.
In a chapter on the importance of what we do in the mornings, I wrote the following in Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God:
When you start your morning with the news, email, or social media, you set the tone for the day ahead. Just as a hatchling imprints on the first face it sees, what you first engage with upon waking affects the rest of your day. Put everything else on hold until you’ve first met with God.
Numerous problems stem from the bad habit of scrolling your phone in the morning. Here are just a few common ones:
- It distracts from devotional time
- Sets a tone of distraction for the day
- Presents temptations to sin through envy, worry, or lust
- Can lead to mental exhaustion before you even begin your day
One simple way to avoid this bad habit is to charge my phone in another room at night. Then there’s less temptation to reach for it when you first wake up. There are various other ways to limit the distractions inherent to modern smartphones, not just in the morning.
3. Sitting all day
Sitting all day is the final bad habit that may be sapping your energy and making you less effective in ministry.
Some people call sitting the new smoking because of its adverse effects on our health. Indeed, research has shown that sitting too much can lead to things like:
- Chronic back pain
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Lack of focus
- Increased risk of some forms of cancer
- Lower energy levels
From meetings to sermon prep to counseling appointments, ministry involves lots and lots of sitting. If we don’t make a habit of standing and walking throughout the day, it just won’t happen on its own.
In addition to allaying some of the dangers listed above, taking even just a 15-minute walk once a day after your lunch break can increase your circulation, which leads to improved focus, higher energy levels, better sleep, improved digestion, less fatigue, and greater clarity of thought. These things will increase your effectiveness in the work the Lord has called you to.
What might happen if you addressed just one of these bad habits? Imagine how much more invigorated you would feel, what a sharper tool you’d be in the hand of the Redeemer. We are indeed creatures of habit. So let us strive to have those be good habits.
Imagine how much more invigorated you would feel, what a sharper tool you’d be in the hand of the Redeemer if you address your bad habits.
©2023, 2025 Raegan Rose. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
About The Author
Reagan Rose
Reagan Rose is the founder of Redeeming Productivity, a media ministry that helps Christians learn time management from a biblical perspective and the author of Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God.
