HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR

1. Pray that God will protect your pastor spiritually.  Because your pastor has taken a stand for Christ and seeks to minister to God’s people, Satan will do everything that he can to destroy your pastor’s ministry.  The Apostle Paul pleaded with believers to uphold him in their prayers: ”Pray...for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.  Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”
2. Pray that your pastor will be empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Your pastor may be a good preacher, an excellent organizer and a wonderful counselor, but without th eposer of the Holy Spirit, nothing of significant value will be accomplished through his ministry.  God said, through the Prophet Zechariah, ”Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.”
3. Pray that your pastor will know God’s will and do it.  Pray that your pastor will have spiritual insight to know God’s will and the courage to carry it out.  Paul wrote, ”We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
4. Pray that your pastor will make personal devotions and quiet time a priority.  With all the demands that pastors face, it may be easy for them to sacrifice the time they have set aside for devotions.  Yet the loss of personal devotions will rob the ministry of its effectiveness.  Jesus said, ”Seek first(God’s) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
5. Pray that your pastor’s ministry will be Christ centered.  We live in a day of ”pop psychology” and ”feel-good Christianity.”  Many preachers try to fill their pews by entertaining their listeners.  They may have forgotten that Jesus said, ”I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw al lmen to myself.”  Pray that your pastor will point people to the Savior.
6. Pray that your pastor’s will resist temptation.  We hear more and more often about pastors who have succumbed to temptation and have publicy disgraced themselves.  The Apostle John wrote about three areas in which Satan tries to defeat us: ”the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”  Pray that your pastor will recognize in each temptation the hand of Satan and turn from the temptation, and flee to Jesus.
7. Pray that you pastor will be concerned for the lost.  Many churches claim to be Christian and yet deny that people outside Christ are lost – this in spite of the fact that the Bible teaches, ”Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whosoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”  Pray that your pastor will believe the Gospel and will proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to people who are lost, who are ”without hope and without God in the world.
8. Pray that your pastor will have a compassionate heart.  Jesus was concerned for hurting and lost individuals wherever He found them.  He sent out His followers with specific instructions: ”Heal the sick, rasie the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.”  Pray that the love of God for hurting humanity will so flow through your pastor’s heart that needy, hurting people will be blessed.
9. Pray that your pastor will handle opposition well.  Pastors who are doing God’s work in God’s way will not be excempt form critcism. In fact, Jesus said, ”Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”  Pray that your pastor will embody the love of Christ in handling criticism and personal attacks and those who try to undermine his ministry.
10. Pray that your pastor will give glory to God.  Being successful can be dangerous.  Sometimes pastors, in the midst of success, forget the Savior and take credit that belongs to God alone.  Paul wrote, ”May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world had been crucified to me, and I to the world.”  Pray for the success of your pastor’s ministry, but pray also that your pastor will give all the glory and honor to God.

Set aside some time each day to uphold your pastor in prayer.  Tell your pastor that you are praying for him or her, and ask him or her for specific prayer requests.  Knowing that you are praying for your pastor will strength his or her stand for Christ and increase his or her effectiveness in ministry.