SIX REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR DAILY.
BY BOLA ADEWARA
In recent time, God has been impressing it upon my heart the importance of praying regularly for my pastors and pastors of other churches once they are called of God. In this sense, I am talking of people occupying the five-fold ministries of our Lord: Apostles, Teachers, Prophets, Evangelists and Pastors.
PASTORS FACE A HIGHER JUDGMENT.
Being called into any of the five fold Ministries is a rewarding but dangerous one. James cautioned that not many should become teachers because they will face a stricter judgment. Once you are a preacher of the Word, you are responsible for the souls of your congregation or the people you are sent to. Men of God stand before God to speak to Him on behalf of their congregation and they stand before the congregation to speak the mind of God to them. The more the congregation, the more you will account for. Lord mercy. For me there is nothing exciting about this job. If I were you, I would look for a few members I can take to heaven. Not this 21st century churches that are filled with Pentecostal rascals and spiritual vagabonds going where
PASTORS ARE REPRESENTATIVES OF GOD ON EARTHPastors steward God’s glory in the church and before the community. Their character is to be sterling, and their reputation unblemished. The personality of a pastor reflects on the church members. The more the pastor knows, the more the church grows. A stunted pastor, a stunted church. A vibrant and intellectually sound pastor would attract and build same members. If a ministry is crawling or without impact, check out who the pastor is. Pastors can't do it alone, they need people to work with them. In their quests for reliable workforce, so many pastors have got their fingers burnt. They have been betrayed and hurt. Some pastors weep in their closets over what friends and church members have done to them. We can help them. Please pray for your pastor.
PASTORS FACE GREATER TEMPTATIONS THAN CHURCH MEMBERS .There is no sin like the sin of a clergyman, and there is no one Satan desires to bring down more than them. If you know the secret pains of most men of God, you will see the urgency in praying for them. Some of them, their biggest challenges or enemies are their spouses. Some their children. Some face more challenges in their churches as devil comes in the form of church members to derail their ministries. The philosophy of the Devil is strike the Shepherd, the sheep will scatter. The Devil wants to ridicule God before you and I. Some pastors are preaching on the altar some agents of the Devils in the front row are opening their laps. Some women come to pastors to anoint their breasts so they could have children to suck it. Some steal company or government money and bring it to churches, or buy cars for the Pastors asking them to pray the loot would not be traced. Diverse temptations. Please pray for your pastor.
THE PASTOR IS A HUMAN BEING LIKE YOU AND I.So many of us see them as superhuman. No Preachers are humans, exposed to same foibles and peccadilloes like you and I. The difference is that many of them give themselves to prayers and God has been keeping them. Their strength lies in your prayers and cooperation, the promises of God and covenant they have with Him. Pray for them always that they may not fall and misbehave, that the words in their mouths would be fire, that their eyes would see farther and deeper in the name of Jesus.
PASTORS CARRY BIGGER WEIGHTS.
These men of God are exposed to diverse facts and information, and for reasons of confidentiality, all they can do is bottle it up. Whether it is a piercing word of criticism, a church members scandalous sin, a draining counseling session, an enervating Sunday School session, choir filled with principalities, a rigorous day of sermon preparation, ushers bickering amongst themselves all of these burdens can mount up to make the strains of ministry seem at times nearly unbearable. A lazy man can't pastor a church. Believe me. In a single church there are engineers, doctors, students, journalists, singles, the unemployed, married, widows, widowers, the sick, the poor, diverse people with diverse pains and needs. The pastor is expected to minister to them all. Is he superhuman? That is why every pastor is expected to be fully equipped educationally and spiritually. In the 21st century, being anointed is not enough any longer. There is the place for anointing, there is the place for education and there is the place for intelligence and leadership acumen or trait. The anointing can take a pastor up but he requires the character to remain there. Even God left the uneducated Peter, James and John for a more equipped and educated Paul. Our preachers can only function by our prayers. Pray for them please.
IF YOU BLESS YOUR PASTOR, YOU ARE BLESSED.If you raise your pastor, you are raised. It is natural. It is spiritual. I am talking of the true pastor. Over the years I have noticed the more I pray for my pastor, and especially his preaching ministry and his family, the more I get fed from the pulpit. If church members would suspend judgements and see pastors as men sent to feed them, the better for us to see the Glory of God. Let us pray for our pastors not to be surrounded by spiritual thugs who come to give them bad names. As a journalist of the gospel for many years, I have come to know that most of these pastors seen as doing wrongly are just victims of bad advisers. Go to so many churches, there are loafers around them pretending to be raising the hands of Moses. Lazy people swarming around pastors seeking what to eat from them. These are the criminals who create false images for the pastors by which many of them are judged. Pray for your pastor that in this world of fake prophets and stupid prophecies, fake pastors and name droppers, that God will single out His own and make their feet strong.