45 Ways to Pray for Your Pastor

Christians should pray for their pastors on a regular basis. But do we know how to pray for our ministers? I offer this list of 45 items as a guide of biblically-informed prayers. Obviously, this list is suggestive, not exhaustive.  

1. Pray that your pastor continually abides in Jesus (John 15:5).
2. Pray that your pastor engages often in the duty and delight of private prayer (Mark 1:35; Matthew 6:6).
3. Pray that your pastor loves God above all other loves (Matthew 22:37) and that he loves people (Matthew 22:39).
4. Pray that your pastor loves his wife as Christ loves the Church (Ephesians 5:25) and that he raises his children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).
5. Pray that your pastor manages his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive (1 Timothy 3:4).
6. Pray that your pastor commands his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice (Genesis 18:19).
7. Pray that your pastor and his household would serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).
8. Pray that your pastor is delivered from worldliness (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17) and especially the love of money (Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 6:10).
9. Pray that your pastor pursues sanctification and abstains from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
10. Pray that your pastor exercises self-control over his tongue, his temper, and his appetite (1 Timothy 3:3; Galatians 5:22-23).
11. Pray that your pastor makes the best use of the time God has given him (Ephesians 5:16).
12. Pray that your pastor puts on the whole armor of God so that he might stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-20).
13. Pray that your pastor burns (gospel heat) and shines (gospel light) the truth of God (John 5:35).
14. Pray that your pastor studies the Law of the Lord, does it, and teaches it to God’s people (Ezra 7:10).
15. Pray that your pastor studies God’s Word so that he might handle it rightly (2 Timothy 2:15).
16. Pray that your pastor keeps a close watch on himself (life) and the teaching (doctrine) so that he might save both himself and his hearers (1 Timothy 4:16).
17. Pray that your pastor teaches what accords with sound doctrine (Titus 2:1).
18. Pray that your pastor speaks only what God says (1 Kings 22:14).
19. Pray that your pastor prioritizes prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).
20. Pray that your pastor preaches Christ and him crucified in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in the wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 2:2).
21. Pray that your pastor proclaims the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24).
22. Pray that your pastor proclaims the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).
23. Pray that your pastor faithfully shepherds the sheep who have been purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28).
24. Pray that your pastor does not lead by domineering over the flock but by serving as a good example (1 Peter 5:3).
25. Pray that your pastor gives a good account of the souls entrusted to his care on Judgment Day (Hebrews 13:17).
26. Pray that your pastor speaks to please God, not men (1 Thessalonians 2:4; Galatians 1:10).
27. Pray that your pastor preaches the Word of God, in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with complete patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2).
28. Pray that your pastor effectively protects the sheep from wolves (false teachers) (Acts 20:29-30).
29. Pray that your pastor is able to refute those who contradict sound teaching (Titus 1:9).
30. Pray that your pastor does the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5).
31. Pray that your pastor is willing to endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may obtain salvation (2 Timothy 2:10).
32. Pray that your pastor keeps his ministry faithful to God’s Word for the sake of the faith of God’s elect (Titus 1:1).
33. Pray that your pastor proclaims the truth that accords with godliness (both right doctrine and right living) (Titus 1:1).
34. Pray that your pastor shares both the gospel and his life with the congregation (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
35. Pray that your pastor is like a gentle mother nursing her children (1 Thessalonians 2:7) and like a faithful father exhorting his sons (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
36. Pray that your pastor practices hospitality (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8).
37. Pray that your pastor is strengthened by God’s grace (2 Timothy 2:1) to disciple faithful men who will disciple others (2 Timothy 2:2).
38. Pray that your pastor is prepared to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3).
39. Pray that your pastor avoids getting entangled in civilian pursuits (distractions) and keeps his focus on pleasing God (2 Timothy 2:4).
40. Pray that your pastor is a hardworking farmer who plants seeds and waters them (2 Timothy 2:6).
41. Pray that your pastor would gladly spend and be spent for souls (2 Corinthians 13:15).
42. Pray that your pastor’s planting and watering is blessed with God-given growth (1 Corinthians 3:7).   
43. Pray that your pastor ministers in light of eternity, seeking the things that are above (Colossians 3:1-2) and keeping in mind that all people will soon die and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
44. Pray that your pastor aims to present everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28).
45. Pray that your pastor dies to himself so that he might bear fruit for God (John 12:24).

Unrepentant Sin Undermines Prayer

“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov. 28:9).

“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 66:18).

          Many people are under the mistaken impression that all prayers are equal in the eyes of God. Whether it’s a boy “wishing upon a star” or a Muslim praying in a mosque or a President asking for the prayers of the American people or a Christian praying in the name of Jesus, the judgment of our age is the same. Although these approaches differ in form, they are the same in substance. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our God does not hear all prayers equally.

          One preacher said, “The man who starts praying, stops sinning, and the man who stops sinning, starts praying.” There is a connection between our sin and the impact of our prayers. It should go without saying that all people are sinners (Rom. 3:23). So prayer does not require sinless perfection. If that were the case, nobody other than Jesus would be able to pray.

          But prayer does require a holy posture before the Lord. We must pray with the right spiritual attitude. Proverbs 28:9 teaches that we must be willing to listen to God’s law. If we do not listen to God, why should God listen to us? If we cherish what God hates (sin), why should God give us what he loves (righteousness)? God will not allow prayer to be a one-way conversation. We ought to pray under the authority of the Word. If we are not attentive to God’s Word, God will clip the wings from our prayers.

          Psalm 66:18 elaborates on the relationship between sin and prayer. If we want to be heard, we must be willing to forsake all known sin. We cannot cherish iniquity in our hearts and expect God to regard our prayer with favor. Cherishing iniquity in the heart is not merely being a sinner. It is loving sin and the unwillingness to part with it. This speaks of unrepentant sin.

Unrepentant sin undermines effective prayer. The man who prays to God with unrepentant sin is like the adulterous man who enters marriage counseling without any intentions of ending his affair. What is the point? Praying to God with unrepentant sin in our hearts is like going to a conversation with a hidden dagger. We are not coming to God with a good will. 

          Thus the prayers of the godly are always marked by attention to God’s Word and confession of sin. If we expect God to listen to us, we must be on praying ground. We must open our Bibles and listen to his truth. We must confess our sin and turn away from it by God's grace. We must come to God on his terms, not our own. Where do you stand? Are you on praying ground with the Lord? Or have you turned away from his law and cherish sin in your heart?  

The Harvest

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."  Matthew 9:35-38

The Love of Jesus for Lost Souls

Jesus has a deep love for unsaved souls.  In another place, Mark tells us that when Jesus looked at the rich man who sought salvation by his good works, Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21).  Jesus loved him in spite of his greed, misunderstandings about salvation, and lost condition!  In this passage we see the compassion that Jesus has for the unsaved crowds that gathered around him during his earthly ministry.  He looked upon them with pity as they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (v. 36).  Lost sinners need a shepherd, and Jesus is the only Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11) and calls them by name (John 10:3).  A key part of following Jesus as our Shepherd means that we begin to love what he loves.  This means that we learn to love unsaved men and women as he loves them.  We begin to see them as those who are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.  We look at them in their dead (Ephesians 2:1), lost (Luke 19:10), blind (2 Corinthians 4:4), and bound (John 8:34) condition of sin and misery and long for them to be delivered by the grace of Jesus.  We remember when we were lost in sin.  Do we have a love for lost sinners?  Do we see them and have compassion on them as Jesus does?  Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to give us a love for the unsaved!

The Harvest

The metaphor shifts from sheep in v. 36 to a harvest in v. 37.  Jesus speaks of lost souls in need of salvation as a great harvest.  He tells his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful.”  Jesus wants us to know that there are many people who are ripe for the gospel.  In another place, Jesus says, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’?  Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35).  One of the reasons that we do not speak to unsaved souls about Jesus is because we do not believe what Jesus tells us about the world.  We do not really believe that “the harvest is plentiful” and that “the fields are white for harvest.”  We falsely assume that the harvest is scarce and that the fields are bare.  We do not share the good news of Jesus with others because we assume that they will respond negatively.  Nevertheless, Christians who share the gospel with others often discover that unsaved friends and family do not respond in the way that we expected.  We expected them to get angry, but, instead, they are interested.  We expected them to make fun, but they ask questions.  Of course, this is not always the case, but we find it to be the case more often than not.  Jesus tells us that people are ready for the gospel.  The fields are ripe.  Do you believe him? 

The Laborers are Few

Jesus also reminds us that “the laborers are few” (v. 37).  Unfortunately, there are few people who love souls so much that they are willing to labor for them in the harvest.  Labor implies effort and hard work.  True evangelism is not an easy task.  It requires persistence and prayer.  Rarely do we lead another sinner to Christ after one conversation.  It normally takes years and years of faithful explanation, love, care, and prayer.  Harvesting souls is not for the faint of heart or the lazy.  We must be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might (Ephesians 6:10) and remember that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Pray!

Jesus tells us to pray for more laborers (v. 38).  Obviously, this means that we must first be laboring in the harvest ourselves lest we become hypocrites.  How can we pray for God to send laborers into the harvest if we are not willing to lift a finger in the service of our Master?  So we must be active in the harvest of souls.  Jesus tells us to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest.  We cannot be lifeless and dead in this endeavor.  This must be a frequent and fervent prayer on the lips of God’s people.  And we are to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers.  God is sovereign here.  He sends the laborers.  “And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:15).  God sent the apostles.  God sends missionaries, evangelists, and preachers today.  And God sends us to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).  Are we loving souls and laboring in the harvest?  Are we praying for God to send other laborers to help us?  Let us unite our hearts in passionate prayer for unsaved family, friends, and neighbors!  “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!  He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:5-6).