“Pray for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel” (Ephesians 6:19).
Whether requested or not, you and I would do well to pray for our pastors.
Then, continuing to pray for your pastor in good times and ill is a sign of great faith in Christ.
So much depends on whether our spiritual leaders are functioning well, close to the Lord, thinking clearly and in good health.
Here are 10 requests we should be asking of the Father for our pastors…
1. A strong sense of God’s calling on the pastor’s life.
“It is the Lord Christ whom ye serve” (Colossians 3:24).
He is not his own, nor is he “ours.” He has been bought with a price. So, we pray that he may always have a clear sense of where his allegiance begins and ends. This will produce a far greater intensity in his faith and drive to his work ethic than anything the deacons or finance committee can impose.
2. An increasingly deeper love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
I pray for my pastor to continually be growing in Christ, in his love for the Word, and in his ability to lead the church. Pity the church whose pastor stopped growing decades ago, who has not had a new idea in ages and who reruns the same platitudes and program ideas year after year. Such a pastor needs lay leaders who love him and the Lord enough to speak the hard truth to him. We can pray for that.
3. A devotion to the Scriptures.
“I have esteemed the words of Thy mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).
I pray my pastor will hunger for the riches and delights of God’s Word the way I hunger for Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream each night! (And that is quite a passion!) The pastor who opens God’s Word with a dread each week—“Oh bother. I have to find a sermon!”—is a reproach upon the ministry and a cancer upon the church. Let us pray our pastors will hunger for and delight in God’s Word and spend much time in the Scriptures to receive guidance from the Father. .
4. A sincere love for people of all kinds.
“Do you love me? Feed my sheep” (John 21:15ff).
A pastor is a shepherd of the Lord’s people. His devotion to the people stems from his love for the Lord Himself. The pastor who only tolerates God’s people and resents their interruptions into his schedule will either leave the ministry or will see his effectiveness dwindling. Paul told the Ephesian elders, “Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).
