Pray for Your Pastor(s)
Do you pray for your pastor(s)? I strongly encourage you to do so. As a former pastor, I can assure you very few non-pastors understand the load a pastor carries. About thirty years ago, I heard Chuck Swindoll commenting on Jesus’ getting away to rest. He said, “Only those who have ministered publicly understand the strain of public ministry.” He’s right about that.
When I finally made the decision to leave full-time ministry, I was interviewing with a [cough] gentleman who scanned through my Curriculum Vitae, lowered it to his desk, looked at me and asked, “So, you say you were a pastor?” “Yes, that’s correct,” I responded. “So … basically, you worked one day a week?”
I stood up, thanked him for his time, and left. No matter how fascinating the job, I could never work for a man in possession such astounding ignorance. Pastoring is hard work. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting, carrying with it a stress level I have experienced in no other vocational arena.
Pray for His Study Time
Most pastors block out time specifically for study. A good pastor will understand that he needs to be well prepared for times of teaching. When pastoring, I constantly reminded myself that if I’m not prepared and I stand before two hundred people with a weak and disjointed message, I just wasted two hundred hours of time.
Even with time blocked out for study and preparation, interruptions are inevitable. If not interruptions by people, there may be interruptions stemming from his own thoughts; cares at home, members with specific needs or life-challenges, the burden of those with whom he is studying and sharing the gospel. Pray that your pastor can have quality, focused study time. Pray that his study and prep time brings him wisdom to lead his flock.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach.
– James 1:5, ESV
Pray as a Partner in Ministry
Though an apostle rather than a pastor, Paul repeatedly asked for prayers from the recipients of his letters.
I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.
– Romans 15:30, ESV
From the verse above, we see that by praying for Paul, the believers in Rome were striving with Paul in his ministry. Indeed, most of the verses I’ve listed here carry that tone.
Pray For the Gospel
And [pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
– Romans 15:30, ESV
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison.
– Colossians 4:2-3, ESV
Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored.
– 2 Thessalonians 3:1, ESV
Paul pleads for believers to pray that God will open doors of opportunity to further the gospel message.
While every believer has a responsibility to share the gospel with non-believers, pastors have an advantage in that much of their time is structured around doing so, and because those seeking knowledge of the faith will often seek the pastor out. Pray for those holy encounters.
Pray For the Sermons
Every Sunday morning, a small group of believers from my home church meets an hour before the service begins. We pray through the passage to be covered in that morning’s sermon. Inevitably, someone will pray specifically for the one bringing the sermon that morning.
A few women from our church family will walk each row of the empty auditorium, praying over each seat and the person who will be sitting there.
I know of churches where a gathering of five or six believers will choose to forego listening to the sermon live so they can be earnest in prayer as the pastor is delivering it. They pray for him and they pray for those who are hearing the message.
I am blessed to be able to share the preaching duties with three other men in our congregation. When it is my turn to speak people in our congregation pray for me all week leading up to that moment. I get emails and text messages telling me so. Those messages are so uplifting.
Pray For His Family
Full-time ministry is hard not only on the pastor, but also on his family. The hours are long and taxing, sometimes running seventy or eighty hours per week. In fact, you could accurately say that your pastor is always on duty. In most cases, he doesn’t clock in and out each day. He is always “on.” If the call comes at 3:00 am, he’s up, serving his flock.
Many of your pastor’s activities do not directly involve his family, but require time apart. Much of what your pastor sees and hears is confidential so, even when the family is together, he cannot share those things with them.
Many in the body are highly critical of your pastor, perpetually dissatisfied with his activities, his service to them, his teaching style or content, his administrative skill, his availability. They are quick to tell him these things.
When pastoring full time, I made it a policy to never read a note left for me without first looking at the bottom to see if it was signed. If not, it went to the trash unread. It is astonishing how many people believe they have pastoral expertise, yet have never walked in the pastor’s shoes.
The stress of the criticism weighs heavily on him and that bleeds over to his family. When my eldest son was only three years old, he made the comment, “I don’t like daddy’s new job.” My stress was spilling over onto him. Pray for protection of your pastor’s family from the congregational curmudgeons that will be flinging their arrows of criticism at him. Pray that his armor holds and that he can continually love his family well.
Pray for His Energy
In Exodus 17, we read a fascinating account of Joshua’s army defending the Israelites against the Amalekites at Rephidim. Moses went up to the hilltop, above the battle, carrying with him the staff of God. So long as Moses held the staff of God in the air, Israel prevailed in the battle. However, when Moses’ arms grew tired and he let them fall, the Amalekites prevailed.
Realizing what was happening, Aaron and Hur climbed up to where Moses was, placed a stone under him for a seat, and they held Moses’ arms up for him until nightfall. Israel successfully defended themselves against their Amalekite attackers.
Hold your pastor’s arms up through your prayers on his behalf. He is expending a substantial amount of emotional and cognitive energy in caring for the flock, and he needs your prayers for the replenishing of his energy buckets.
Pray for your pastor often. I assure you, your pastor is praying for you … probably something like this:
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
– Colossians 1:9-12, ESV
