We Pray Wednesday: How to Pray for your Pastor (Part 1)

                One of the people who needs our prayers more than any other person that you may know would be a pastor.  Pastors bear their own burdens and the burdens of the many members of their church.  They wear many different hats and sometimes several at the same time.  These men of God need our prayers daily and sometimes several times daily.  This list is not a complete list nor is this thought original with me by any means.  Here are several things we need to pray daily for our pastor.  It may take time to pray through the entire list every day, but praying for some of them over a period of time will be beneficial to your pastor and to you.

1.  Pray that your pastor will love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Pray that God’s Spirit will work in his heart in power and that he will value and follow biblical priorities.

2.  Pray that your pastor will cultivate strong character and uncompromising integrity. Pray that his testimony will be genuine and that he will never do anything that he would need to hide from others.

3.  Pray for his personal walk with God—that his soul and spirit will be nourished and strengthened in his quiet time with God, beyond his sermon preparation. Pray that he will spend more time in the Word of God than in reading books and articles.

4.  Pray that your pastor will counsel and teach with discernment through the wise use of Scripture and faith in God’s power to work. Pray that he will be protected from the effects of sinful or negative attitudes that he encounters as he counsels.

5.  Pray for God to protect your pastor’s marriage and keep it strong as a model of Christ’s relationship with the Church. Pray that your pastor will tenderly cherish and lead his wife and that she will respect and encourage her husband, submitting to his leadership.

6.  Pray for God to heal any hurts that your pastor has suffered in the ministry. Pray that he will serve the Lord with gladness and encourage the congregation to worship God with a joyful, surrendered spirit.

7.  Pray for your pastor’s children and especially that the pressures of the ministry will not discourage or embitter them. Pray that your pastor will provide godly leadership in the home, not based on fear of what others will think, but according to scriptural truth.

8.  Pray for God to protect your pastor from the wiles of Satan. Pray that he will not be corrupted as he rubs shoulders with the world in the course of ministry.

9.  Pray that God will build a hedge of protection around your pastor’s marriage and that he and his wife will be aware of the potential for any improper relationships. Pray that their family time will be protected.

10.  Pray that God will guard his heart concerning the use of free time. Pray that he will be morally pure and that he will wear the armor of God so that he will not fall into sexual temptation.