How to Support Your Pastor in Prayer

One of the most important people in the Christian believer’s spiritual journey is the pastor. Pastors play a significant role in helping us grow in faith, guiding us toward righteous living, and keeping us accountable for our Christian walk.

Intercessory prayer is not merely a religious routine or a means of expressing personal desires. Nor is it something to do because we don’t know what else to do. We sometimes think that prayer is an easy way to let ourselves off the hook, but not so! It is an active service on the front lines. It is a partnership with God intent on bringing about His will on earth. By praying for our pastors, we align ourselves with God’s purposes and unleash His supernatural power in our pastors’ lives, in our churches, and our communities.

Pray for your pastor’s personal and family life

Pastors often face personal, family or financial struggles that burden them, but they often don’t feel comfortable sharing this with the congregation. By lifting up your pastor’s name in prayer, you can ask God to provide them with strength, wisdom and grace to deal with the obstacles in ways that honor Jesus and help them to grow into greater degrees of His image. In this regard, intercede and ask the Lord to:

• Sustain the pastor’s health and spiritual well-being.
• Dittoes for everyone in the pastor’s family.
• Ensure that the church pays the pastor a God-honoring salary.
• Enrich the pastor’s marriage and family life.
• Guard the pastor and family from negative members of the congregation.

Pray for your pastor’s professional life and ministry

Pastors often feel overwhelmed by the incessant demands of ministry. They are called on to do too much with too few resources. When you pray, ask God to help your pastor:

• Maintain a laser focus on the church’s overall mission.
• Learn how to delegate tasks that others could do.
• Feel comfortable declining unreasonable requests.
• Provide clear direction and gracious leadership to the church.
• Find wise counsel, friends or colleagues in whom it is safe to confide.
• Obtain additional training to become a more effective leader. (There’s a wealth of things that are not taught in Bible colleges and seminaries).
• Navigate treacherous waters when the church is riven with strife.

Praying for your pastor blesses the church and community

Praying for your pastor isn’t just about making his job easier; it’s also about strengthening the entire body of Christ. When we lift up our spiritual leaders in prayer, we create a more supportive and encouraging environment for everyone in our church community. So take time each day to pray for your pastor, and watch how God works through their ministry to transform lives. Pray that:

The church would respond to the pastor’s call to participate in God’s mission to the community.Church members will make time in their schedules to pray, to serve, and to support the church’s needs.

Additionally, pray for your pastor’s ministry efforts, asking God to use them mightily to impact the church and surrounding community positively. Specific ministries and projects require specific resources, so intercede on behalf of any project your pastor is leading. Ask God to bless their efforts with much fruit, providing all the necessary resources for their vision to come to fruition. Pray that:

• The church will take an active role in reaching the community.
• You will be able to identify gospel-receptive people whom your church can serve.
• The church shifts its focus from services and programs inside the church to ministries and outreach that go on throughout the week in the community.
• That everyone would share your burden to pray for the pastor so that the mission of the church would go forth in power.

What the Bible has to say

Many Bible verses exhort Christians to pray. Three of them show us how our prayers are vital to helping our spiritual leaders succeed in their mission.

• 2 Corinthians 1:10–11: “…you also helping together in prayer for us…”
• Romans 15:30: “…strive together with me in prayers to God for me…”
• Philippians 1:19: “…I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer…”

Don’t deceive yourselves. Prayer requests from pastors and missionaries are not lame attempts to ask for help. They are calls to a powerful helping ministry and a way of joining in ministry out in the field where the action is!

Paul cherished and relied upon the prayers of those who interceded on his behalf. So does your pastor!

Conclusion

You should pray for your pastor every day. When you lift up your pastor in prayer, you contribute to the growth and health of your church and its mission to the unbelieving people in your community.

Will you commit to prayer? If so, send your pastor a text message or an email letting him know of your intent to come alongside.