Steve Fouch, the Head of Nursing at the Christian Medical Fellowship, was speaking after figures obtained by Sky News showed virtually every NHS trust in England has a significant shortage of full-time doctors and nurses.
NHS trusts in England are running a deficit of £2.5bn a year - most of which comes from recruitment costs. Agency staff cost more than full-time contracted staff, making costs higher.
Around £500m has been saved since the caps on agency staff budgets came in last year, though it's also emerged the vast majority of trusts break those caps.
It's thought 1 in 10 nurse positions are currently unfilled in the NHS, with many of them being senior positions.
Steve Fouch, from the Christian Medical Fellowship, has said that the only long term solution to the NHS recruitment issues would be to increase the number of places where medics can train, and increase funding for that training so that potential medics are not put off by debts or expenses. Mr Fouch also urged Christians to pray for NHS staff, many of whom are leaving because of overwork and current pay freezes.
Speaking on Premier's News Hour, he said: "We are in a bit of a crisis at the moment both financially and in terms of staffing in the wider health service.
"The work that's going in the NHS is literally life-saving. The work that people are doing there makes the most profound difference... they go in because they have a genuine concern and care for patients.
"So [we should be] continuing to pray for them that they find encouragement and hope in the work that they're doing... and that those who're decision-makers would listen to their concerns and act justly and wisely."
Listen to Premier's Aaron James speaking to Steve Fouch on the News Hour:
