Category Archives: Prayer

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Jet-Fuel for Your Ministry of Prayer

Pray Persistently

Faithful pastors are ministers of the word and prayer. I don’t think I am out of line to say that most pastors struggle with the latter more than the former.

If my suspicion is correct then a remedy is needed. Prayer, as Bridges said, “is one half of our ministry, and it gives the other half all its power and success.” We will never be truly powerful in the pulpit if we are not powerful in prayer. Strategies for prayer-closet diligence abound, but let me offer one today you may not have considered before.

Here it is: spend time in your elders’ meetings praying for church members by name.

I’ll eventually get to how this relates to persistence in private prayer, but first let’s consider what praying for members by name in our elders’ meetings can look like.

WE MUST BE DOING THIS

I trust you need not be convinced that pastors ought to be praying for church members by name. But you may never have seen or heard how elders can integrate this into their regular meetings. Here’s how we do it at IDC . . .

First of all, we have two elders’ meetings each month: a “member centric” meeting and an “issue centric” meeting. These meetings usually occur on Thursday nights and run for 3-3.5 hours. Having two meetings each month gives us great ability to deal with pressing matters of oversight (normally at the “issue centric” meetings) and retain much time for shepherding through prayer.

At each “member centric” meeting we will pray through two pages of our membership directory, which is normally about 30 individuals. One month prior to this meeting, usually via email, each elder will delineate which members on the directory’s next two pages he will contact1 to discern how they are doing spiritually. From these conversations our elders arrive locked and loaded to the next month’s MC meeting with prayer request and spiritual updates.

When we come together at the MC meeting we usually settle some brief ministry matters before going into the time of prayer. Once we’re ready, we read off the first family unit (either a single member, or married couple), then elder who contacted them offers shares the update and points of prayer. After the update is given, one of the elders prays specifically for the family unit.2

The goal is to spend 5 minutes per family unit between the update and prayer, so going through two pages takes us between 90-105 minutes.

I can speak for the rest of our elders in saying we believe this is the single-most important and life-giving thing we do as elders.

HOW IT FUELS PRIVATE PRAYER

Now, back to the original point of this post: how does this practice fuel the pastor’s private prayer?

First, it helps me have somewhat recent knowledge of how every member of our church is doing. So as I pray through one page of the directory each day I am able to pray with specifics in mind.

Second, I find I am more burdened to pray for members after the MC meeting. It has an unexpected power in driving me to my knees in intercession.

Which leads to a third point. Faithful pastors are those growing in intercession and supplication. We are prone to focus all our prayer time on personal petitions for our family and skill in ministry, but we must balance that with the lifting up of others to God. Practicing intercessory prayer in the elders’ meeting flexes my prayer muscles and prepares them for diligence in private prayer.

Just as private prayer fuels public prayer, I’ve found this maxim to be true: group prayer fuels private prayer.

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  1. Face to face contact is preferred, phone call is second, and email is last. ↩
  2. We just go around in circle praying for each unit, so sometimes the elder who provides the update prays for the member or members himself. ↩
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2 Foundations for Public Prayer

Public Prayer

Our liturgy at IDC finds me ordinarily in charge of three particular elements: the pastoral prayer, sermon, and Lord’s Supper. I find the pastoral prayer to be the most daunting.

By far.

Every week, for six to seven minutes, I stand before my congregation and petition the Lord to answer our needs and send His gospel throughout our city, country, and world. I’ve never been able to adequately put into words exactly why I find the work so formidable . . . until yesterday.

In the course of my afternoon reading I came across Andrew Bonar’s journal entry from December 30, 1835 in which he wrote,

I saw . . . that in prayer the speaker ought to try to move the heart of God and not the feelings of man, and that I should be much more fervent in private prayer.

I put a star next to the sentence, dog-eared the page, laid the book aside, and spent some time in solemn examination for Bonar’s words cut me to the quick. If you, dear pastor, spend any time in public prayer remind yourself this week of these two simple steps to freedom in public prayer.

TWO STEPS TO FREEDOM IN PUBLIC PRAYER

#1: Pray to move the heart of God, not the feelings of men. It is a sad indication of my prideful soul that I often pray with a mind to impress my congregation. What pompous piety. With Paul I cry, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” When we stand before the people of God in intercession and supplication on their behalf, let us fix our gaze on the heart of God, not the praise of men. Let us cry out to Him with loving affection, instead of stilted spiritual jargon mean to paint us as more fervent than we are.

#2: Be persistent in private prayer. We should not expect to have freedom in public prayer when private prayer languishes. Our private familiarity with the throne of grace is God’s catalyst for fervent joy when praying in public. Samuel Miller’s first exhortation to excellence in public prayer is well worth a mention here: “None can hope to attain excellence in the grace and gift of prayer in the public assembly, unless they abound in closet devotion, and in holy communion with God in secret.”

These two points are like immovable cinder blocks of wisdom on which to build your practice of public prayer. Lean on them and lean into them.

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The Best Way to Serve Your Pastor

Pray for Your Pastor

What is the single best thing church members can do for their pastor? Pray for them.

Any other answer—encourage, attend, serve, give, etc.—are flickering candles when compared to the sun-blazing power of prayer.

The great apostle knew full well the power of prayer. He appealed to the Romans “by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.” He begged the Ephesians to pray “also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Pastors need the prayers of their people to not only survive in ministry but thrive in faithfulness and fruitfulness.

How to Pray for Your Pastor

I imagine few church members need any convincing of the simple point that pastors need their prayers. Yet, at least in my experience, while convinced of the need to pray for their pastors, church members often think, “What exactly should I pray for?” Of course, the easiest way to find out his prayer needs is to simply ask. Another thing a caring church member could do is peruse the Pastorals and pray for God to give what He commands of pastors. But life is busy and demands are many, so I decided to go ahead and put that list together.

Here then is a list of things you could pray for your pastor and be simultaneously certain of two things: 1) they are in accord with God’s will, and 2) they are things a healthy pastor always desires. Pray that:

  • He would warn against false doctrine (1 Tim. 1:3-4).
  • He would do all things in love that flows from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5).
  • He wages the good warfare and not reject his conscience (1 Tim. 1:18-19).
  • He would be active in prayer (1 Tim. 2:1-5).
  • He would be above reproach,  sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, and hospitable (1 Tim. 3:2).
  • He would increase in his ability to teach (1 Tim. 3:2).
  • He would not give himself to drunkenness, violence, quarrels, or the love of money (1 Tim. 3:3).
  • He would love his wife after the model of Christ and faithfully lead his children (1 Tim. 3:4-5).
  • He would train himself for godliness (1 Tim. 4:7).
  • He would set his hope in the living God (1 Tim. 4:10).
  • He would be exemplary in speech, conduct, and purity (1 Tim. 4:12).
  • He would devote himself to reading Scripture and preaching Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13).
  • He would not neglect his gift (1 Tim. 4:14).
  • He would keep a close watch on himself and the teaching (1 Tim. 4:16).
  • He would do nothing from partiality (1 Tim. 5:21).
  • He would not be hasty in decision-making (1 Tim. 5:22).
  • He would grow in contentment (1 Tim. 6:6).
  • He would flee sin and pursue righteousness, steadfastness, and gentleness (1 Tim. 6:11).
  • He would take hold of the assurance of eternal life in Christ (1 Tim. 6:12).
  • He would warn against worldliness and the vanity of money (1 Tim. 6:17).
  • He would guard the gospel (1 Tim. 6:20).
  • He would not be ashamed of the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8).
  • He would joyfully suffer for the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8).
  • He would be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:1).
  • He would be active in discipling (2 Tim. 2:2).
  • He would gain wisdom in everything (2 Tim. 2:7).
  • He would rightly handle the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).
  • He would avoid gossip (2 Tim. 2:16).
  • He would pursue peace (2 Tim. 2:22).
  • He would have nothing to do with foolish controversies (2 Tim. 2:23).
  • He would be kind to everyone (2 Tim. 2:24).
  • He would patiently endure evil (2 Tim. 2:24).
  • He would correct with gentleness (2 Tim. 2:25).
  • He would avoid false teachers (2 Tim. 3:5).
  • He would preach the word (2 Tim. 4:2).
  • He would always be ready with the truth (2 Tim. 4:2).
  • He would reprove, rebuke, and exhort with patience and clarity (2 Tim. 4:2).
  • He would be active in evangelism (2 Tim. 2:5).
  • He would be disciplined (Titus 1:8).
  • He would hold firm to sound doctrine (Titus 1:9).
  • His teaching would be saturated with sound doctrine (Titus 2:1).
  • He would disciple all generations to godliness (Titus 2:2-10).
  • He would lead with confidence (Titus 2:15).
  • He would disciple church members to be ready for every good work (Titus 3:1-8).
  • He would be wise in church discipline (Titus 3:10-11).

Take those 45 points and just pray for a few each day. You’ll never know the life it will bring to his soul and to your church as a whole.

Save

Save

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Have a Plan – Pt. 2

Praying Pastors 2

Last week I encouraged pastors to read through the entire Bible at least once a year. One of your best friends in such an endeavor will be a Bible reading plan. Ministers of the word must plan to read the word.

The same thing goes with that other half of pastoral ministry: prayer.

IN NEED OF A PLANNED TIME

Carson makes this point with typical verve in A Call to Spiritual Reformation when he writes,

Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray. We do not drift into spiritual life; we do not drift into disciplined prayer. We will not grow in prayer unless we plan to pray. That means we must self-consciously set aside time to do nothing but pray.

Pastor, do you have such set aside time?

Carson’s quote reveals the first part of planning to pray: our schedule must include regular times devoted to nothing but prayer. If that is a universal rule of wisdom, the uniqueness then comes in when each pastor looks at his own schedule and discerns when such times are right. My recommendation is to schedule three blocks of time per day – morning, afternoon, and evening – with one devoted to extended prayer. I personally find I am best suited for extended prayer in the afternoon.

IN NEED OF A PLANNED LIST

To ensure that set aside time is productive the ordinary pastor will need a prayer list. Thus, the second part of planning to pray is: our devoted prayer times will need a prayer list to protect faithfulness in the various areas of biblical prayer.We all know how hard this is. Some major in confession, others intercession, yet others thanksgiving, and oh so many more in simple petition. But we want to – and need to – do all those things everyday! A straightforward list is necessary here. Everyone’s system will be different, but you will need a system. I encourage pastors to have a list with specific categories. Here are the categories I typically pray through:

  • Personal
  • Family
  • Pastoral Ministry
  • Church Life
  • Intercession

I then take those categories and subdivide them into areas of praise/thanksgiving, confession, petition, and intercession. As much as possible I try to update these lists at least once a week. That way, whenever I enter the closet for an extended time of prayer I am never short of items to focus my attention. In fact, if you are good with updating your list and categories I think you will soon figure out how easy it is to pray in an extended manner. And when you reach that point you are heading in the right direction.

So make a a plan and get to praying this day . . . and don’t forget your church directory!

We are often for preaching to awaken others; but we should be more concerned with prayer. Prayer is more powerful than preaching. It is prayer that gives preaching all its power. . . . Prayer must be added to preaching, else preaching is in vain. . . . O believing brethren, what an instrument is this which God hath put into your hands! Prayer moves him that moves the universe. – Robert Murray M’Cheyne

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The Church’s Spiritual Thermometer

Spurgeon Prayer

Spurgeon is commonly known today as “The Prince of Preachers,” but he would just as rightly be called “The Prince of Prayer.”

D. L. Moody, the prolific 19th-century American evangelists, was asked after his first visit to England, “Did you hear Spurgeon preach?” He replied, “Yes, but better still I heard him pray.”

Spurgeon taught his students that “the preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office which he has undertaken.”1 Spurgeon modeled this counsel with legendary fervor as he spontaneous and reverent prayer punctuated his daily routine.

An American man, Dr. Wayland Hoyt, wrote,

I was once walking with him in the woods . . . and . . . we came upon a log lying [by] the path. ‘Come,’ he said, as naturally as one would say it if he were hungry and bread was put before him, ‘Come, let us pray.’ Kneeling beside the log he lifted his soul to God in the most loving and yet reverent prayer.2

One of his pastoral students would often attend family devotions at the Spurgeon home and he later recalled, “How full of tender pleading, of serene confidence in God, of world-embracing sympathy were his prayers. With what gracious familiarity he could talk with his Divine Master!”3 Another wrote, “His public prayers were an inspiration, but his prayers with the family were to me more wonderful still. Mr. Spurgeon, when bowed before God in family prayer, appeared a grander man even than when holding thousands spellbound by his oratory.”

PASTORING A PRAYING CHURCH

He was a man of prayer who led a praying people. When you spot a pastor in church history mightily used by God you can expect two things: 1) he was a man of prayer who 2) led a praying congregation. Spurgeon was once asked why his ministry was so effective and he replied, “My people pray for me.”

The prayers of his people was cause for deep gratitude as he later said, “I always give all the glory to God, but I do not forget that He gave me the privilege of ministering from the first to a praying people. We had prayer meetings that moved our very souls, each one appeared determined to storm the Celestial City by the might of intercession.” Seven hundred people could be found praying in the Tabernacle’s basement, its “boiler room” as Spurgeon called it, before the Sunday morning service and a few thousand would show up for Monday night prayer meeting. For Spurgeon, the prayer meeting was the best thermometer of the church’s spirituality.

WE WANT PRAYING PASTORS AND CHURCHES!

Spurgeon is a titan of the Christian ministry that is utterly impossible to replicate, but emulation is possible. In our age of fast paced self-confidence the reality of prayer seems to have vanished from pastors and churches. How many churches today have prayer meetings or have large portions of their worship gatherings devoted to prayer? If we are honest, a precious few.

Could this sad shortfall find a direct correlation to a decreasing number of men known as “praying pastors”? Sure, we have numerous pastors known for their preaching and personality – two things that distinguished Spurgeon as well – but what of pastors who are militant and reverent before the throne of grace?

I for one hope the surging popularity of Reformed theology will create a surge in that most basic practice of Reformed spirituality: prayer.

May God give us more praying pastors who lead praying churches.

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  1. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 747. ↩
  2. Dallimore, Spurgeon, 178. ↩
  3. Ibid. ↩

No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me. – Spurgeon

“The more thoroughly your mind is steeped in the Spirit of prayer, and of communion with God, when ascend the sacred desk, the more easy and delightful will it be to preach; the more rich and spiritual will your preaching be; the more fervent and natural your eloquence; and the greater the probability that what you say will be made a blessing.” – Samuel Miller

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Watson on Praying for Sermons

WatsonBeatitudesMondays are sermon prep days, at least for me. Rarely is the day occupied with anything else.

When Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”, was asked why his ministry was so effective, he responded, “My people pray for me.”

It is my hope that congregations everywhere pray consistently for their preachers. I have told my congregation which days of the week I devote to sermon preparation in hopes they offer supplication and intercession on my behalf (Eph. 6:19). Consider these words from Thomas Watson:

God’s Spirit must fill the sails of our ministry. It is not that scatters the seed which makes it spring up, but the dews and influences of heaven. So it is not our preaching, but the divine influence of the Spirit that makes grace grow in men’s hearts. We are but pipes and organs. It is God’s Spirit blowing in us that makes the preaching of the Word by a divine enchantment allure souls to Christ. Ministers are but stars to light you to Christ. The Spirit is the lodestone to draw you.

Oh, then pray for us, that God will make his work prosper in our hands. This may be one reason why the Word preached does not profit more, because people do not pray more. Perhaps you complain the tool is dull, the minister is dead and cold. You should have whetted and sharpened him by your prayer. If would have the door of a blessing opened to you through our ministry, you must unlock it through the key of prayer. (Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes, 23)

May our people be praying people and our preachers “prayed for” preachers.

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A Catalyst for the Pastor’s Prayer

Praying Pastors 2

I doubt any pastor would argue with this statement: “Faithful pastors are praying pastors.” I also doubt that any pastor wouldn’t simultaneously say, “I wish I was more faithful in private prayer.” The great Bishop Ryle knew this struggle well as he said, “Let us pray more heartily in private, and throw our whole souls more into our prayers.”

There are many things a pastor can do to see the consistency of private prayer grow in his ministry, but let me encourage you to one specific resource that you may “pray more heartily in private.”

A church directory.

AN UNDERRATED CATALYST FOR PRIVATE PRAYER

A directory can come in many different forms these days, but I personally prefer an old school paper directory complete with essential contact info and pictures. My goal is to pray through one page of the directory, sixteen people on average, each day. This simple commitment has done wonders for my prayer life and pastoral ministry.

First, praying through a church directory encourages specific prayer. In my experience and observation, most pastors seem to spend most of their prayer time hovering way up in the sky with their requests. We offer broad, and biblical, petitions like: “Help us to be faithful in disciple-making,” “give us teachable hearts,”  and “mold us into the likeness of Christ.” All good and necessary prayers for sure! But faithful pastoring means getting down into the trenches, even with our prayer requests. A church directory helps with this. Praying through individual names means I am, necessarily, offering specific intercessions that I wouldn’t otherwise probably be making. Intercessions for their children, jobs,

Second, praying through a church directory encourages consistent prayer. I block off time in the middle of each afternoon to pray for our church. Having the goal of praying through one page per day gives that time not only structure, but consistency. Even if nothing else pops into my mind for church-centric prayer, having the directory on hand gives me at least sixteen different people to pray for.

Third, praying through a church directory encourages public prayer. In his timeless little work on prayer JC Ryle said, “You may be vary sure people fall in private long before they fall in public.” If we are falling in private prayer we are undoing our public prayer. A maxim we pastors ought to live by in this area is, “He who fails in private prayer will fail in public prayer.” I know this to be true on a week by week basis. Those weeks where private prayer is lax, I feel my public prayer cold. Those weeks where private prayer is vibrant, I feel my public prayer has more heat. If a church directory indeed encourages specific and consistent private prayer, we can be sure that it is also fueling our public prayer in profound ways.

Fourth, praying through a church directory encourages peaceful unity. Ephesians 4:3 calls us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Colossians 3:15 commands the church to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.” Just the other day one of our elder candidates said, “You know I looked around the room during gathered worship and I felt such joy that I get to worship with this body. And I think it is because of your encouragement to pray through the directory.” Why might he say that? I believe it’s because intercessory prayer helps build chords of unity within the body in ways nothing else can. We all know, intuitively, the power prayer has to overcome the pettiness and prejudice we can have towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. Prayer kills the weeds that quench peaceful unity. Simply put, it’s hard to remain frustrated with people you consistently pray for.

So then, praying through a church directory is, probably, much more than a catalyst for private prayer. It might just be a catalyst toward church health. You might want to give it a try.