Prayers for Pastors
Pastors need to pray lots. And pastors need lots of prayer. So whether you are a pastor, or whether you have a pastor and would like some help and encouragement to pray for him, here are seven points of prayer from David Torrance's essay ‘Sharing in the Ministry of Christ’ (published in A Passion for Christ: The Vision that Ignites Ministry), to which I've added some comments and explanation.
1. Pray every day for the gift of love.
‘He who does not love does not know God, for God is love’ (1 John 4:8). On the night on which He entrusted the ministry of the Lord’s Table to His apostles and promised them the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus also gave them ‘a new commandment,’ that they should ‘love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another‘ (John 13:34-35). As Christ’s people we are all called to show Christlike love. And the shepherds of God’s flock are especially called to a ministry of loving as Christ has loved. The Lord Jesus has entrusted His flock to our care, and so we must lay down our lives in love for Christ's lambs. When the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him, He commissioned him to the loving service of His sheep (John 21:15-17). As David Torrance writes, ‘none of us can love as Jesus loves. We need constantly, daily, to pray for this gift in ever greater measure.’ So pray for Christ’s love for His people. Pray every day for more love. For, as Matthew the Poor put it, ‘love is the ultimate criterion of Christ’s service.’
2. Pray to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.
The Lord’s desire for us is that we should be holy like Jesus. Our sanctification is God’s will (1 Thessalonians 4:3). In His great love, the Father has predestined us ‘to be conformed to the image of His Son’ (Romans 8:29). And He gives gifts of ministers to help His people grow in Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:11-24). But that means unholy, un-Christlike ministers do not provide a model which encourages Christ’s people to Christlike holiness.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne is supposed to have said that ‘the greatest need of my people is my personal holiness.’ Although the exact quote is almost certainly apocryphal, it not only well sums up M’Cheyne’s life and ministry, but stands as a truth for all the pastors of Christ’s flock. What M’Cheyne really did say should spur us all on to great prayer: ‘It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.’ (Memoir and Remains, p.282). And so, we should all join in M’Cheynes prayer: ‘Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made.’
All pastors would be glad of their people praying for them they way M’Cheyne asked for prayer: ‘Pray for me, that I may be made holier and wiser, less like myself, and more like my heavenly Master.’ And the Lord’s answer to that prayer will always be a great blessing to the church.
3. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
God works through us in our weakness and dependence upon Him. But we need to see our need for Him, and not rely on our own abilities. A pastor cannot bring anyone to salvation; only the Holy Spirit can. A pastor cannot sanctify; only the Holy Spirit can. We need to be clothed with power from on high, as Jesus promised.
And pastors also need to lead others to look to the Lord Jesus for the outpoured power of His Spirit. Andrew Murray insisted that ‘it is the great work of the gospel ministry to lead believers to the Holy Spirit ... An evangelical minister must not merely preach about the Holy Spirit from time to time or even oftentimes, but also direct all his efforts towards teaching his congregation that there can be no true worship save through the indwelling and unceasing operation of the Holy Spirit.’ (The Full Blessing of Pentecost, pp.13-14). Pastors need the filling of the Holy Spirit to lead others to receive the Spirit’s filling too, for, as Murray put it, ‘to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, to have the full enjoyment of the Pentecostal blessing, is the will of God concerning us.’ (p.19).
The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus and draws to Jesus. The Holy Spirit brings revival and reformation. The Holy Spirit works maturity and holiness among Christ's people. The Holy Spirit makes us bold witnesses to Christ and Him crucified. Therefore, we need to pray again and again to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
4. Pray to be a good listener.
To truly tend Christ’s sheep, the shepherd must listen well. How can we pray aright if we don’t listen? How can we speak the Word rightly into the situation if we don’t listen? A true pastor can’t come to those in need with the sound a clanging cymbal; he must bring a word in season—and knowing what season it is will only come by listening. Richard Baxter recognised this, writing that we need to get to know people properly and listen to them careful, for then ‘we will know better how to lament for them and rejoice with them and how to pray for them to God ... he that seeks to pray rightly for others should know their hearts as far as he may and is appropriate.’ (Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, ed. Tim Cooper, p.102).
‘The true portrait of a Christian Pastor’, Charles Bridges wrote, ‘is that of a Parent walking among his children.’ And so, like a true parent, a pastor must listen to the Lord’s children for whom he cares, in order that he may always ‘be found ... encouraging, warning, directing, instructing—as a counsellor, ready to advise—as a friend to aid, sympathize, and console—with the affection of a mother to lift up the weak—“with the longsuffering” of a father to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort”’ (Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, 360). There are so many ways a pastor must speak as a spiritual parent, but to know the right way at the right time, he must listen well. And so pastors must pray — and people should pray for their pastors — to be good listeners.
5. Pray for wisdom and practical insight.
In everything he does, the pastor needs wisdom from on high. Thankfully, the Lord has promised, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him’ (James 1:5). As David Torrance writes, ‘If only we as ministers were more diligent in asking for the wisdom of God how different our ministries would be!’
6. Pray for courage.
Pastors are called to defend the flock from false teaching. They're also called to reprove sin. Pastors must defend the weak and rebuke injustice. And in all these things, pastors must fear God and not man. The pastor also carries out his work in the midst of the spiritual warfare; therefore he must stand courageously in Christ in the face of the enemy’s attacks. As Matthew the Poor writes, the pastor ‘must willingly accept the assaults of Satan and bear with patience and endurance all the afflictions that he hurls at our minds, emotions, impulses, and senses’ (Matthew the Poor, If You Love Me, p.91). Christ has triumphed over the devil and He will soon crush him under our feet (Romans 16:20). In the meantime, we are to stand strong in the Lord and the power of His might, praying to Him for the courage needed to faithfully shepherd His flock.
7. Pray that God will graciously work His miracles of grace.
Pray for the Lord to save souls. Pray for the Lord to convict sinners. Pray that the Lord, Torrance says, would ‘open eyes that are blind and make cold hearts receptive to the Gospel.’ And Torrance encourages us to pray for faith ‘that God will work miracles today in our generation and through our ministries ... We should ... expect miracles and pray for miracles.’ Amen! So let it be, Lord!
So, whether you are a pastor or have a pastor, here are seven ways to pray for pastors:
1. Pray every day for the gift of love.
2. Pray to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.
3. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
4. Pray to be a good listener.
5. Pray for wisdom and practical insight.
6. Pray for courage.
7. Pray that God will graciously work His miracles of grace.