Praying for Your Pastor
Summer 2021
Do you notice people’s feet? Not so much in our day, but in Bible times, a host offering water to wash dusty, tired feet was just exercising normal hospitality. Jesus Himself washed His disciples’ feet, teaching them about serving others. In Romans 10 Paul asks these pertinent questions, “How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent?” Faithful ministers are God’s gift to the church and to the world through the ages. Paul answers with this praiseworthy statement: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!” With this commission upon their lives, pastors go forth to serve God. They are frontline workers in God’s kingdom and greatly need our prayers. How can we pray for our pastors as they serve Christ?
First, praise God for your pastor and his faithfulness to preach the truth of God’s Word week by week. Also, pray fervently for his preaching ministry and for his study and preparation during the week. When I surveyed several ministers about their top three prayer requests, all requested prayer for God’s blessing upon their preaching ministry: strength for studying and preparation; knowing the Holy Spirit’s power in preaching Christ; joy and power in preaching the Word; and the Holy Spirit’s anointing on their public ministry.
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s application of the message to the hearts of the hearers. In the Romans 10 passage, the pastor’s beautiful feet bringing the glad tidings is framed with verse 13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” and verse 17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Pastors long for lost souls to come to Christ and for believers “to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Ask the Holy Spirit to save the lost—the children, ministers’ children, and the unsaved who attend services. Pray for the strengthening of God’s people to walk by faith rather than live in fear.
Pastors are concerned for the growth of their churches—for outreach opportunities and greater exposure in their localities. They long for people and families to visit, attend, and join the church. They desire good physical and spiritual health and for their churches to be well-established. That's why Paul left Titus in Crete so that he could set in order things not yet done and ordain elders. Pray earnestly for these matters.
Also, pray for your pastor’s faithfulness to the call of God upon his life. Trials and temptations will come and difficulties will arise from without and within. Your pastor needs your prayer support as he follows Paul’s injunction to Timothy: “Watch thou in all things; endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Pray that God will give your pastor wisdom, courage, and steadfastness.
Next, pray for his personal and family life. Pray that he’ll keep a tender heart, walk closely with the Lord daily, and manage his time wisely. Pray for his wise and loving leadership as a husband and father in his own home. Pray for his physical well-being and strength for each day. Pray that he’ll emulate Micah 6:8, “…to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
Pastors have a vision of legacy. Pray for the Lord’s protection for Christian homes as babies and children are trained up for the Lord. Pray for wise parental guidance directing young people to heed God’s Word and to consider God’s call for service. Pray for the seminary students preparing for the ministry. As Paul commissioned Timothy to commit what he had learned from Paul to "faithful men...able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2), pray for faithfulness in the passing of precious gospel truth from one generation of preachers to the next to the glory of God.
As a pastor’s wife, I see my pastor up close. Like your pastor, he has God’s call upon his life. Although we may not have thought of pastors’ feet as beautiful, the next time your pastor steps up to preach the Word, lift your grateful praise and pray for him as he “preaches the gospel of peace and brings glad tidings of good things!”
Mrs Barbara Mooney