If you pray for your pastor, as I hope you will, how will you pray for him during this coronavirus blockage?
Obviously, this global blockade affects each of us in different ways, we live under very different regulations in different countries or even in different municipalities of the same country, but are there things you can pray for for your pastor?Consider these five.
- Every self-respecting pastor cares deeply for the men and women who are under his leadership.
- Loves them.
- Takes care of his soul (He 13:17) and wants to bring them to maturity in Christ.
- Working with all the energy that Christ exercises to powerfully in him (Colossses 1:28.
- 29).
- So.
- It’s deep?Deep!? frustrating not being able to visit their sheep.
- Take their hand.
- Pray personally with them.
- Sit with them and listen to their hopes and fears.
Oh, of course, the ubiquitous Zoom predicts that you can speak and see most church members, unless they can handle technology. But a video call is exhausting for all parties and, at best, is the second best alternative. it doesn’t replace face-to-face proximity, from person to person. The most important thing, therefore, is that your pastor remembers that he is an insufficient shepherd and that the pastor is ultimately and truly made by Jesus, the main pastor. . Pray that you will receive the grace to entrust your people to the lead pastor when you feel this frustration.
Pastors tend to feel in the shadow of death more intensely than others. They sit with the dying, cry with the mourners, celebrate funerals and visit the mourners for weeks. For most of us, death is an occasional visit; to pastors, he is a family intruder.
Funerals are currently small, as even the closest and dearest are isolated and cannot participate. Gone are the largest funerals, where mourners comfort and cheer while suffering together. Pray for his shepherd, that he may be more deeply convinced that whenever Jesus offers life and immortality to all who approach him in faith.
Working from home makes it harder than ever to set healthy limits between working hours and night sleep, between six days of work and the day off. Work is everywhere. It yells at you on your laptop, tablet, iPhone. Get in the room. Under normal conditions, you can spend the day outdoors or even in a café, but not now.
Pray that your pastor will receive the grace to put out his spirit and rest, that he will finally literally turn off his devices and rest.
His pastor is called to the apostolic ministry of prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:2, 4). Praying faithfully and resolutely for those you lead is an integral part of your work. Such a prayer is demanding and exhausting; implies a “wrestling match. “It’s hard enough on normal days; it’s harder than ever in isolation. In theory, we may think that this is getting easier, because there may be more time available, but I doubt many pastors will feel that way.
Even if a pastor has a woman who is a faithful and faithful prayer partner (like me), it’s hard not being able to pray personally with the elders and others, so pray that your pastor will receive the grace to keep praying.
In the UK, where I live, the great heroes of the day are the National Health Service. Every Thursday night, we are encouraged to go out and applaud doctors and nurses, paramedics and janitors. We’re at the forefront of the battle against the virus. During the daily briefings, in collaboration with ministers, scientific and medical consultants are invited to share their knowledge with us. I hope all these men and women know that they are deeply appreciated, as they should be.
In our secular societies, pastors will never be congratulated like this, we will not be called to prepare the world to face death, we will not be invited to share how the gospel of the Lord Jesus gives us hope in the face of death or how we can love our neighbor as ourselves today. At no time will a president or prime minister address a pastor with gratitude and respect and ask him or her to speak.
Under normal circumstances, pastors can feel warmth and gratitude when preaching to their people; today, when he speaks, through a live stream or pre-recording, to a microphone and a camera, everything stops. Some may take the trouble to thank, later, but it’s not the same.
Pray for your pastor. He may feel undervalued. Pray that he will not be a victim of self-pity and say, “I would like to be applauded !? Pray that he will keep his eyes on the one word of affirmation that will ultimately matter:” Well done, good and faithful servant. Pray that he will gladly follow in the footsteps of his Master, who has been despised, despised and despised.