Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Food For Thought

I have a question.  Some may think its an odd question, but this past Sunday in church, it became (to me) a very legitimate question.

Do you pray for your pastor and the leadership of your church?

Seriously.  Whether you love your church and are completely content, or if you wish your church had something that you feel is missing- do you pray for who God has in the position of leadership in that church?

Do you pray that God would guide the leadership of the church and "move and shake things" for His glory? 

If you do pray for things to get shaken, how open would you truly be to the changes that would be made?  Would your flesh and complacency want to accept it or complain and resist?

Have you ever imagined the amount of pressure that pastors must feel when God is prompting their hearts to make changes in a congregation that may not accept it?

These are all things that weighed on my heart Sunday morning as I watched the pastor of our church sitting at the front during praise and worship.  I felt the need to pray for Him, and as I was praying all of these questions were going through my mind. 

If you do pray for the leadership of your church,  think about challenging others to think about some of these questions.  If we are all honest, I am pretty sure most of us would be convicted in this area.  If you, like me, feel this weighing on your heart- committ this week to make praying for your pastor and others who lead in your church on a regular basis. 

James 3:17-18


2 comments:

  1. We have been wrestling with the same thing for the past year and a half. After ten years in ministry, a new lead pastor came and 'shook things up' and my husband no longer had a job through that process. Talk about hard. But in the 'shaking up' you speak of, God has taken us new places (that we never dreamed of) and he is taking our old church into new arenas of influence as well. We just aren't there to see it.

    You are so astute in your observation that the pressure of the congregation against change (even change THEY asked for) is/can be tremendously difficult to bear.

    Thank you for posing this question and challenging others to pray in this way.

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  2. Wow... I will admit I have not been. Thanks for sharing...

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