Day Twenty Six
Prayer for Pastors and Church Leadership
"Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching"
(1 Timothy 5:17, RSV).
Read Here
It is easy to take for granted those who bless your life through the local church. Some would say it is their job to minister to hurting people. But we need to remember that a pastor is like your local doctor. He is always on call. He ministers to hurting people. And folks typically only seek him out when something is wrong.
The stress level on a pastor and his family can be enormous.
Church leaders often hear more complaining and grumbling than encouragement and commendation. It is easy for these shepherds to become discouraged. In time, that discouragement can evolve into disillusionment, and finally into burnout.
Our pastors need our prayers -- and our support.
Christian leaders are a source of so much blessing to so many people, and they can be a target for the enemy. The Devil would like nothing more than to take a visible, influential Christian and lure him or her into sin. We must surround our leaders with a hedge of prayer.
Another challenge for pastors today is the unmet expectations among people in the congregation. Think through the expectations you have on your church leadership, or leaders in other ministries that bless you. These men and women are human beings with frailties, weaknesses and needs like your own. It would do them good to hear from you that you are grateful for their service to the Lord. You can be an instrument in their lives to help them avoid burnout.
Thank God that He has given us people who would dare to rise up and lead, despite the stresses and pressures of ministry. Recognize their regular sacrifices, their daily pressures, and their responsibility. Thank them for shepherding you; share a time with them when they have ministered to you or your family and how that affected your spiritual and emotional health.
Our pastors need our prayers covering them daily. Will you be a prayer warrior on your pastors' behalf?
Action Point
Take time right now to thank your pastor, associate pastor, youth minister, and others by writing a note of appreciation & encouragement to them and their spouses. Plan to do something special to show them your appreciation. Make it tangible. Find a way to bless and honor your leadership -- and don't just thank the Senior Pastor. Give thanks to the associates, youth pastors, children's pastors, and other leaders that have blessed you and your family.
Pray for revival in the hearts of your Christian leadership. Pray that they would continually go to the Lord with their concerns, being undergirded with strong friends and with the God's strength. Pray that they would be guided in leading the Christian community in faithful response to God's call. Ask the Lord to protect their financial decisions, their health and families, and to direct them in moral and pure living.
Prayer
Lord I pray that revival would take place in the hearts of the pastors and spiritual leaders in my life. I pray that their first love for You would be rekindled, and that they would experience a fresh touch of Your spirit. Your Word tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that in your presence is fullness of joy. I pray that my pastors would clear their schedules to spend quality time in Your presence.
And Father, as these pastors are renewed, I ask that the flame of revival would spread from them to the people in my local church. From there I pray that revival would travel from family to family -- and eventually out to the community and the world. As Jesus taught us to pray, I ask that Your kingdom would come, and Your will be done, in the lives of these leaders -- and on Earth as it is in heaven.
Prayer for Pastors and Church Leadership
"Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching"
(1 Timothy 5:17, RSV).
Read Here
It is easy to take for granted those who bless your life through the local church. Some would say it is their job to minister to hurting people. But we need to remember that a pastor is like your local doctor. He is always on call. He ministers to hurting people. And folks typically only seek him out when something is wrong.
The stress level on a pastor and his family can be enormous.
Church leaders often hear more complaining and grumbling than encouragement and commendation. It is easy for these shepherds to become discouraged. In time, that discouragement can evolve into disillusionment, and finally into burnout.
Our pastors need our prayers -- and our support.
Christian leaders are a source of so much blessing to so many people, and they can be a target for the enemy. The Devil would like nothing more than to take a visible, influential Christian and lure him or her into sin. We must surround our leaders with a hedge of prayer.
Another challenge for pastors today is the unmet expectations among people in the congregation. Think through the expectations you have on your church leadership, or leaders in other ministries that bless you. These men and women are human beings with frailties, weaknesses and needs like your own. It would do them good to hear from you that you are grateful for their service to the Lord. You can be an instrument in their lives to help them avoid burnout.
Thank God that He has given us people who would dare to rise up and lead, despite the stresses and pressures of ministry. Recognize their regular sacrifices, their daily pressures, and their responsibility. Thank them for shepherding you; share a time with them when they have ministered to you or your family and how that affected your spiritual and emotional health.
Our pastors need our prayers covering them daily. Will you be a prayer warrior on your pastors' behalf?
Action Point
Take time right now to thank your pastor, associate pastor, youth minister, and others by writing a note of appreciation & encouragement to them and their spouses. Plan to do something special to show them your appreciation. Make it tangible. Find a way to bless and honor your leadership -- and don't just thank the Senior Pastor. Give thanks to the associates, youth pastors, children's pastors, and other leaders that have blessed you and your family.
Pray for revival in the hearts of your Christian leadership. Pray that they would continually go to the Lord with their concerns, being undergirded with strong friends and with the God's strength. Pray that they would be guided in leading the Christian community in faithful response to God's call. Ask the Lord to protect their financial decisions, their health and families, and to direct them in moral and pure living.
Prayer
Lord I pray that revival would take place in the hearts of the pastors and spiritual leaders in my life. I pray that their first love for You would be rekindled, and that they would experience a fresh touch of Your spirit. Your Word tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that in your presence is fullness of joy. I pray that my pastors would clear their schedules to spend quality time in Your presence.
And Father, as these pastors are renewed, I ask that the flame of revival would spread from them to the people in my local church. From there I pray that revival would travel from family to family -- and eventually out to the community and the world. As Jesus taught us to pray, I ask that Your kingdom would come, and Your will be done, in the lives of these leaders -- and on Earth as it is in heaven.