A Prayer for our Pastors
Last Sunday, Pastor Brent led us through some of the challenging exhortations to pastors in 1 Timothy 3:14-4:16. He asked us to respond to this text by praying for faithfulness, clarity, wisdom, and family protection for our pastors and deacons. The following prayer is based on Scripture and includes the references at the end for further meditation. Please join us in lifting them up this week:
God, we praise You because You are our good shepherd. You instruct us and counsel us with Your loving eye upon us. You gather us and lead us gently. You protect us and fight for us.
Thank You for raising up leaders to assist You in these roles. We acknowledge the weight of this responsibility on their shoulders and know that You will hold them accountable for how they led us and how they handled Your Word. You have asked us to respect and esteem them highly because of their work. Please forgive us for any gossip, unfair judgments, or other sins we may have committed against them. Thank You for the opportunity to lift them up to You.
God, please bless our leaders with faithfulness. Give them willing and humble hearts to be “workers who have no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Help them to run with endurance, fixing their gaze on Jesus.
God, please bless our leaders with clarity. Let them present Your Word in such a way that it may be honored. Keep them anchored in the truth of Jesus. When they must call out sin and error, let their words be well-chosen and gracious.
God, please bless our leaders with wisdom. Help them to understand their need for it and continually seek it out. We praise You that all true wisdom belongs to You and that when we ask for it, You are glad to give it to us.
God, please protect our leaders and their families. We ask for protection from burnout, temptation, deception, and other physical and spiritual harm. We ask that You strengthen their marriages and families and unite them in the work of Your kingdom, that they may work with all their hearts. We ask that you provide many opportunities for rest and encouragement.
More than anything else, may our leaders and our church and our lives bring glory to You, because You are the only one who is worthy of it. We love You and pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scriptures for Meditation
God is our shepherd: Psalm 32:8, Isaiah 40:11, Psalm 18:2, Deuteronomy 3:22
God raises up leaders: 1 Timothy 3:1, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:1-5, James 3:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, 1 John 1:9-10
Faithfulness: 1 Peter 5:2-3, 2 Timothy 2:15, Hebrews 12:1-3
Clarity: 2 Thessalonians 3:1, John 14:6, Colossians 4:6
Wisdom: 2 Chronicles 1:10, Matthew 6:33, Job 12:13, James 1:5
Protection: Psalm 121:3, Colossians 3:23-24, Hebrews 3:13