Many Bible passages connect watchfulness and prayer. While preaching sounds the trumpet of alarm in the ears of men, prayer sounds the alarm in the ears of God. As a watchman, each believer has a responsibility to his brother or sister in Christ. While some believers are spiritually sleeping, unaware of their present danger, other believers ought to be standing upon the tower of watchfulness and calling upon the Lord. This was the point of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:18 when he said, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
If ever there was a man in the early church that qualified as a watchman, it would have been the apostle Paul. Paul includes “in watchings often” in his testimony about the trials he endured. He also mentioned that these watchings approved him as a minister of God (2 Corinthians 6:4-5). We know from the biblical accounts that when many believers were unaware of danger, the apostle Paul stood upon the tower and sounded the trumpet of alarm. While others were spiritually sleeping, the apostle Paul was sober and alert to the needs of the church. No doubt Paul endured sleepless nights, fasted, and went without even the necessities of life because he was watching for the church.
Paul and Barnabas functioned similar to pioneer church planters who travel into unreached areas with the gospel. As they traveled, they faithfully preached the gospel and started churches with the goal of returning later to strengthen the believers. As Paul and Barnabas were planning their return to these areas, a conflict arose between them concerning who would accompany them on their journey. Barnabas desired to take a young man named John Mark, but Paul adamantly refused. Mark had accompanied them on the first trip, but departed from them and “went not with them to the work.” Paul felt as though he could no longer depend upon John Mark because of his earlier failure. The contention was so strong that Paul and Barnabas parted company and went their own separate ways. This is a sad narrative should it end here; however, there is much more to the story. Praise God that Paul later remarked of John Mark that “he is profitable to me for the ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11).
Paul served the Lord in a capacity similar to what missionaries and evangelists do today. He traveled extensively to tell everyone and anyone about Christ’s saving grace. Holding a regular job to earn money would have been impossible due to Paul’s manner of life and recurring travels. However, the Bible tells us that he worked as a tent- maker when the need presented itself (Acts 18:1-3). Most of the time, however, he did not have personal income to provide for himself and the ministry. How would he live during those times? The Bible says that faithful churches provided for his necessities. For example, the church at Philippi served as one such group of believers. Paul refers to a time when he departed from Macedonia. At that time, no church helped him; yet, the believers at Philippi sacrificially provided for his needs. These same believers faithfully helped Paul again in Thessalonica. Paul knew he could depend upon them because they understood the importance of distributing to those who had surrendered to the ministry.
