Pray for Your Pastors: His Purity

When I was a kid, all a Sunday School teacher or pastor had to do when mentioning King David and two images would immediately come to mind:  killing Goliath and cheating with Bathsheba.  Giant killing is great.  Adultery, not so much.

Nothing can be more devastating to a local congregation than the moral failure of a pastor.  Hurt.  Disappointment.  Embarrassment.  All are part of the roller coaster of emotions that a church experiences when their pastor engages in sexual sin that becomes public.

What would it mean for your church to experience the moral failure of your pastor?

David's confession of sin in Psalm 51 give you important insights in how to intercede on behalf of your pastor's sexual purity.

Psalm 51:5  "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Your pastor is a sinner.  It is not his performance or morality that make him right with God.  Like any other sinner, he needs salvation that comes by grace alone.  None of us should ever be tricked in believing that our pastor is "super" spiritual.  He must battle sin like any other believer.

Psalm 51:6  "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart."

Because your pastor is a sinner, he can be tempted to rune from the truth that God desires.  In fact, just like any other believer, he needs the Holy Spirit to lead him in truth.  He needs the benefit of other godly men to help him walk in purity.

So how to pray for your pastor in this area?

Matthew 5:8  "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

*Pray for your pastor(s) to be honest about his sinful struggles.  Pray that he would be surrounded by other godly men where he can be honest in confession and receive encouragement in his battle for purity.

*Pray your pastor(s) would desire to live in truth and have teachable hearts.

*Pray for your pastor(s) to be pure in heart and for God to bless your pastor(s) with a keen awareness of His presence.

-Rodney Bradford

Pray for Your Pastors, One

I've been thinking about praying for my pastors the past few weeks.  Yeah, I have been praying for them.  Yet, I've been, as I said, thinking about how to pray for my pastors.  

From my perch, the congregation of which I am a part is served by three incredibly gifted and godly men.  Men that care deeply about the Gospel of Jesus.  Men that are striving to love their wives and father their children well.  Men that are concerned with the right preaching and teaching of God's Word.  Men that care about the believers of our church passionately pursuing Christ.  Men that desire our church to live in honest community with one another.  Men that work to see the giftedness of the church used for effective ministry.  Men that desire to be a part of planting more Gospel-centered churches.  Men who want to be faithful.  Men who are currently shepherding our church through a huge transitory time.

So how do I, a man that sits under their leadership, pray for them?

How do you pray for your pastor(s)?

The easy and the hard of it is that we need to be specific--as the Bible teaches us--in how we pray for those that Shepherd us.  Yes, we want them to be "blessed" by our God.  As well, we want to pray for them the things that are absolutely central to what it means to pastor.

Here's the rub--WILL YOU PRAY CONSISTENTLY AND IN AN ON-GOING WAY FOR YOUR PASTOR(S)?  One of the greatest gifts that you can give to your pastor(s) is your diligent prayer for them.  You can make it a consistent practice to pray for your pastor(s) every Thursday morning.  You can decide to gather with two or three other people on Sunday morning, before gathering with the church family, at Starbucks to pray for your pastor(s).  Don't wait or expect someone else to pray for your pastor(s).  You pray for your pastor(s) and invite some others to do the same.

So what to specifically pray for your pastor(s)?  Let me suggest these based on...

Colossians 4:2-4
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison--that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."

*Pray for God to open doors for your pastor(s) to clearly speak the word of God and the mystery of Jesus Christ.

*Pray for God to strengthen your pastor(s) to proclaim Christ in light of struggle and persecution.

-Rodney Bradford