Praying for your pastor: wisdom, protection, joy
Your pastor speaks every week in front of the congregation, officiates at weddings and funerals, accompanies the sick, manages conflicts, prepares messages, organizes teams, and yet remains, like everyone, a man or a woman with a family, with weariness, with doubts. Few people pray for them regularly. This quest invites you to do so, by name.
What it looks like in your day
Say their name to God. Start there: “Lord, I bring [first name] to you.” It personalizes the prayer.
Pray along three lines: wisdom, protection, joy. The last comes from the letter to the Hebrews, which hopes that leaders can watch over the Church “with joy, and not with grief”.
- Wisdom. A pastor makes hard decisions, hears heavy confidences, sometimes has to decide between people. Ask for discernment for them, the right words, courage.
- Protection. Against discouragement, exhaustion, attacks, the temptations that come with their role, loneliness. For their marriage, their children, their health.
- Joy. That their ministry would be a joy, not a burden. That they would see fruit, receive gratitude, find times of rest.
Think of their rhythm. Before Sunday: their preparation, their preaching, their tiredness. Afterwards: the letdown. During the week: visits, meetings, emergencies.
Think of their personal life. Their relationship with God (a pastor who prepares messages may lack the time to feed themselves), their family, their friendships.
Tell them, if it is appropriate. “I'm praying for you this week. Is there anything in particular?” Their answer can guide your prayer.
If you are short on time, three sentences are enough. If you are shy, you can pray without ever telling them. If your church has no pastor, pray for those who guide it.
What the Bible says
The letter to the Hebrews contains a well-known verse:
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
“That they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you”: the leader's joy is at stake for the whole Church. A pastor who is exhausted and discouraged cannot lead well. The apostles, in the book of Acts, define their priority:
“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
“We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word”: prayer and the word, two pillars. To maintain them, leaders need to be supported by the congregation's prayer. Paul often asks the churches to pray for him (Colossians 4:3), and he tells Archippus to take heed to the ministry he has received (Colossians 4:17).
Pitfalls to avoid
Idealizing your pastor. They have flaws, they are sometimes wrong. Praying for them is not placing them above legitimate criticism: it is supporting them in their task.
Praying against them. If you disagree, don't turn your prayer into an indictment. Ask for wisdom for them, and for you.
Expecting them to do everything. A pastor cannot carry the life of the church alone. Praying for them also leads you to ask: how can I help them?
Forgetting their family. Their spouse and children also carry the load. Pray for them by name.
Praying only in crises. Calm periods are also when the next storms are prepared for. Pray regularly.
Today, pray by name for your pastor. Ask for wisdom, protection and joy for them.