Pray for your Pastor Every Day
October is Pastor Appreciation Month and thus presents a good opportunity to rightly give thanks to the Lord for pastors/elders who shepherd us gladly and excellently. Among the many ways you could bless your pastor(s) this month, perhaps the best gift you can give them is faithful prayer. Specifically, I want to encourage you to pray for your pastor(s) every day. Here’s a template for how you might do that.
Sundays: Pray for His Teaching
As we gather for worship each week ask the Lord to work mightily as His Word is proclaimed. Pray beforehand and during the service that your pastor's teaching will be spirit-empowered, biblically faithful, and eternally impactful.
Mondays: Pray for His Rest
Mondays can be an easy time for pastors, in a bit of exhaustion from a busy Sunday, to over analyze and worry about the details of preaching and ministry the day prior. So pray for your pastor’s rest – rest in the sufficiency of God’s Word which will not return void, rest in the promise of Christ to build his church, and rest in Christ’s finished work that covers his failures.
Tuesdays: Pray for His Study
Every week your pastor works hard so that he might be equipped to faithfully and effectually proclaim God’s Word on Sunday.
Pray for clarity of mind as he seeks to rightly divide the Word of Truth, for the Lord to give him fruitful study that is edifying and nourishing to his own soul, and that your pastor would find joy in mining the depths of God’s Word.
Wednesdays: Pray for His Sanctification
Pastors are normal Christians. Though called to a standard of character and conduct that is godly and above reproach, they aren’t perfect. They, too, sin and are in need of the Gospel each and every day. In the middle of the week take time to pray that your pastor would be challenged by God’s Word, held accountable by faithful friends, and empowered by the Spirit to put off the old self, be renewed, and put on the new.
Thursdays: Pray for His Endurance
Pastors who have long, faithful ministries are a blessing to a church. Long tenures give time where sound teaching, fervent prayer, and loving shepherding not only plant Gospel seeds, but water, nurture, and see them to maturation. Pray that your pastor would persevere through each week, month, and year of ministry as he is strengthened by the Lord and spurred on by the church.
Fridays: Pray for His Family
A pastor’s primary ministry is to be his family. In fact, it's on this most important ministry that all other ministries rise or fall. Ask the Lord to strengthen your pastor’s marriage and encourage his wife, to grant wisdom in parenting and joy in family life. Pray for his children’s salvation and joyful relationship with the church. Intercede for the Lord to protect their family from Satan’s attacks and strengthen them for hardship to come.
Saturdays: Pray for His Humility
Pastoral ministry presents ample opportunity for the pitfalls of pride and self pity. As Sunday comes again, pray for your pastor’s humility - that he would experience the joy of self forgetfulness that frees from self-focus and enables one to find true confidence in the Lord. Ask the Lord to grant those who shepherd you supernatural humility that lifts high the name of Jesus.
