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So Many Reasons
To Pray For The Preacher
A friend and I have been having
an internet discussion about preachers. We both love our preachers,
and years ago, I was her pastor, so we have a mutual understanding
about a lot of things.
The conversation went like this.
She: "One of the things I've
enjoyed in our church lately is an enhanced understanding of every
phrase of the Lord's prayer. So much so that I was offended recently
at a funeral when the minister asked us to stand and 'recite'
the Lord's Prayer. I don't think it's something to be recited;
it's something to be prayed diligently!"
She added: "Now don't go
getting the wrong idea. I think that preacher is a delightful
person, and I like him very much."
I said, "Asking someone to
'recite' the Lord's Prayer reminds me of something similar that
drives me up the wall. You'll be in a moving worship service,
and the leader will say, 'Now, let us have a word of prayer,'
or 'I'm going to ask Bill to lead us in a word of prayer.' I don't
know why that bothers me so much. I feel like calling out, 'Hey
friend, pray! Don't just have a 'word' of prayer. Go to the Heavenly
Father and pray!' Somehow, it minimizes the importance of prayer,
as though we're all tipping our hats to the Almighty, then going
on with the important stuff."
We branched out to discussing
how we preachers sometimes say foolish things without a clue as
to how it's being received. I told her about a recent internet
conversation with a friend in North Carolina.
He had told me a story of some
earnest soul who had come to a Catholic nun with a question and
ended up getting slapped down verbally. I said, "You know,
over 40 years in the ministry, I've said so many truly dumb things
like that, that I wonder how many people are still quoting me
and shaking their heads over such stupidity. It gives me a special
appreciation for those who cut me some slack and have graciously
forgotten such things." He came back with, "How true,
how true."
At that point, my long-time friend
and former member began to dredge up a couple of those very things,
thoughtless remarks I had uttered years ago. Time has minimized
their sharpness and given us a healthy perspective on them, and
she did it in good humor.
"The small goof of yours
I've never forgotten," she said, "is the Christmas Eve
service when you said, 'There are three stages of life: when you
believe in Santa Claus, when you don't believe in Santa Claus,
and when you find out you are Santa Claus.' And this with a chapel
full of small children including my 3 year old. Fortunately, she
wasn't listening! If she had been, you would have had to explain
that remark, not me!!"
I told her about the time some
ten years ago when I was doing a children's sermon in our church
here in New Orleans, and with a crowd of children around my knees,
told them that one way you can tell you are growing up is when
you can tell the real from what is make-believe. "For instance,"
I said, "is Frosty the Snowman real or pretend?" "Pretend!"
they cried. "How about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"
"Mary and Joseph?" "The Shepherds and the Wise
Men?" "Jesus?" They were really with me until I
said, "Santa Claus?" I almost had to resign the church
over that one, and ended up meeting with several parents the next
week to try to work my way out of the box I'd put myself in.
My friend said, "Years ago,
when you were our pastor, our relationship changed the day I quit
praying about you and started praying for you." This was
news to me, and a new thought to consider.
"It happened one Sunday morning
in church. I don't know why I was upset with you, but I was, and
I said, 'God, when are you going to do something about him?' I
heard the reply as clearly as anything: 'When are you going to
stop praying about him and start praying for him?' Oops. I have
prayed for my pastor ever since." She paused and added, "Yes,
and even Pastor Blank. That one didn't work, though." I smiled
and let it lay.
There are so many reasons to pray
for your pastor.
He stands before crowds large
and small who, unlike most 3 year olds, listen to what he says.
When he gets the words right, he comforts the hurting and shines
a light in darkness and clears a path for the lost. When he gets
it right, he shows people Jesus, gives them hope, and helps them
stand. But when he gets it wrong, he can hurt people in ways they
may never recover from, simply because they trust him in the deepest
and most personal matters of life.
Pray for your pastor's words.
Every day, people come to his office seeking advice about personal
matters, issues on which he may or may not have a clue. Perhaps
he's in a hurry, on his way to an appointment, swamped by personal
matters of his own, or simply tired or ill. In his fatigue or
impatience or pain, he utters words that can cut or heal, bless
or curse. Pray for him.
Pray for your pastor's heart.
Recently, our pastor, Tony Merida, said, "One thing I fear
is that the things that move me most right now may some day become
commonplace to me." Pray for the pastor.
Pray for your pastor's purity.
His television brings in the same channels yours does. Walking
in the mall, his eyes take in the same sights as yours. He has
the same temptations to impurities in thought the rest of us face.
Pray for him.
Pray for your pastor's choices.
Should he answer the phone tonight or let it ring? Respond to
a need or stay home with the family? Let someone else do that
funeral or rearrange his schedule and handle it himself? Spend
his morning in the study or in the community knocking on doors?
Confront the trouble-maker in the church or leave him to the Lord?
Pray for him.
Pray for your pastor's attitude.
When he's young and inexperienced, he may find it exhilarating
that hundreds of people know his name and look to him as a member
of the community's elite. The moment that begins impressing him,
his usefulness in the Kingdom lessens. When he realizes he holds
the power of employment over the office staff, custodial staff,
and ministerial staff, he stands in danger of misusing his position
and hurting the church and a lot of people. Better he always think
of himself as the servant of the servants, always giving thanks
that the Father chose to put such an unworthy one in such a place
of service, and always looking for ways to bless those around
him. Pray for him.
Years ago, when our church would
ordain new deacons, we had an elderly church leader who would
always rise to tell the same little story from the Bible. "Over
in Exodus 17, we read about the time Moses went to the top of
a hill and watched the Israelites in battle against their enemies.
He took with him his two closest friends, Aaron and Hur. Now,
something strange happened on the hill that day. The Bible says
that when Moses held up his arms, Israel prevailed in battle.
But when he grew tired and dropped his arms, the enemy prevailed.
So, Aaron got on one side and Hur the other, and they lifted his
arms. Scripture says, 'So his hands remained steady until the
sun went down, and Israel won a great victory that day.'"
Then he would say, "That's our job--to stand alongside the
pastor and lift him up in prayer."
Pray for your pastor, friend.
So much depends on it.
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