How to Pray for Your Pastor

How to Pray for Your Pastor

Every Christ-follower engaged in a local church has a pastor. These followers of Christ should pray for their pastor but you may need help for how to pray for your pastor.

Pastors may appear as though they are so strong they do not need prayer. But I can assure you, any pastor genuinely called to the ministry knows he needs prayer; earnest, passionate and effective prayer. “Pray for me” should be the number one personal request from a pastor of the church he serves.

Stand on God’s Word When You Pray for Your Pastor

I think the strength of prayer stands on the authority of Holy Scripture. You need to stand on the infallibility and truthfulness of God’s Word when you pray for your pastor. I want to challenge you to pray while standing on Colossians 1:9-12:

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

Paul was praying this for the believers in Colossae, and these words help you understand how to pray for your pastor.

How to Pray for Your Pastor

Pray for your pastor to be:

1. Filled with the knowledge of God’s will

Pastors face the same dilemma people faced in the first century, when these words were penned originally. The knowledge of the world pours into the minds of pastors, but pastors need to have the full knowledge of God’s will. The will of God does not inflate a pastor’s ego, but it enlightens us to do what God wills for us to do.

Father, give my pastor the full knowledge of Your will in all things at all times, personally and for our church.

2. Filled with all spiritual wisdom

Pastors will view life from one of two perspectives: the world or the Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit will always lead a pastor to the Word of God and the will of God. The Spirit of God will lead a pastor to view life and ministry from God’s perspective, not his own. His perspective will determine his decision making.

Heavenly Father, fill my pastor with Your wisdom and perspective about all things in his life, in our church and in this world.

3. Filled with spiritual understanding

Pastors can operate and lead the church apart from information and facts, but not very effectively. Spiritual understanding is the experience of seeing the facts and hearing the needed information, but being able to put these things together biblically, spiritually and practically.