I (Darin) talked to a pastor yesterday who said he wished he could resign. Pray for your pastors! I know it's cliche, but the struggle is real.
I don't care what church you go to, if your pastor loves Jesus, they are under attack.
Encourage your pastor. Please.
Before we get to our blog, here a couple of great “traditional” summary articles on how and what to pray for your:
https://www.ligonier.org/posts/5-ways-to-pray-for-your-pastor
https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/4-reasons-you-should-pray-for-your-pastor-daily/
But for our blog, here are several more “non-traditional” ways you might pray for your pastor with some verses to frame the point.
So, pray for your pastor because…
1. He may be coming off a tough week wondering if he has anything left in the tank to pour out for the congregation this coming Sunday (Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6a).
2. He may have had an incredibly busy week & is just now finishing his sermon & feeling the crunch to be ready Sunday (Mark 6:31).
3. He may feel he disappointed several people in the church this week & it is making him doubt the Word he is preparing to preach this week will not be enough, either (Heb. 4:12; Jer. 23:29; Isaiah 55:10-11).
4. He may be struggling on all fronts & may have forgot that our battle is not against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:11-12; 2 Cor. 2:11).
5. He may be in a dark place....& doesn’t know why (Psalm 51, 139).
6. Something very hurtful and discouraging may have been said or done to him this week and the pain is still present as he prepares to pour himself out for the good of the congregation this week, and, especially, on Sunday (Rom. 12:17-18; Eph. 4:29; Psalm 19:14).
7. He may be more worried about what people will think about his upcoming sermon than what God will think (Gal. 1:8-11; 1 Thess. 2:4).
8. His personal life may be unravelling & he doubts whether he has much left for those whom he serves (Gal. 6:10; 1 Pet. 4:17).
9. He may be very aware of his weakness & may be emotionally drained from a tough week of caring for souls….wondering if he has anything left to pour into souls (2 Cor. 12:9-10; Phil. 4:13).
10. He may be discouraged by a lack of attendance & tempted to compromise his preaching to try and draw a crowd (2 Tim. 4:1-6; Acts 17:24-28).
11. He might be tempted in his discouragement to believe that no one in his church truly loves him (John 16:33; Joshua 1:9; Rom. 8:31-39).
12. Satan and his minions might be working extra hard trying to convince him through lies he shouldn't be preaching. The enemy might be fiercely attacking him to discourage him as he seeks to feed you the word of life. The enemy loves to attack him with lies the days before he preaches truth (1 Pet. 5:8; James 4:7; John 10:10).
13. He could have had an unforeseen conflict blow up today and that burden may distract his sermon prep (James 4:1-2; Col. 3:13).
14. He may be burdened by his family struggling at the church and finding it hard to focus and prepare to preach (2 Cor. 11:28; Col. 2:1).
15. He might be more concerned with what you will think of his sermon than what God thinks of it (Matt. 6:33).
16. He might be distracted by trying to ___________ (done, advanced, finished, etc.) at church and lose needed sermon prep time (1 Tim. 4:8; Rom. 12:1-2).
And some final words of counsel…
--Before critiquing a pastor's sermon know that he's already critiqued himself far more harshly than you ever could, so pray for him instead. Pray for your pastor - don't score him.
--It's a rare pastor who gets more humble, gentle, staff-affirming, team-building, and repentant the bigger their church gets. Let's pray for more rare pastors. And for we who are pastors, let's pray that's who we're becoming.
--Pray for your pastor not just for his sake… but for your own that God would give you precisely what you need through him.
--2 Corinthians 11:28 “28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”—Every good pastor carries this constant weight around. Pray for him.
Regardless what happens this week, pray for him! God will be honored and glorified!
