Pray that he flees temptation. Too many pastors have disqualified themselves from pastoral ministry due to a moral failure.When he has an uncharacteristically busy week, pray that he will trust the Lord to bless his best efforts. Pray that he is able to set aside sufficient time to prepare his sermons. Pray for his sermon prep time. Your pastor has many responsibilities, but none more important than preaching and teaching the Word of God multiple times each week.Pray the Lord will help your pastor to love those who support him as well as those who criticize him. Some church members are easier to love than others. Pray that his love for the church increases. Let’s be honest.Pray that your pastor spends intentional, uninterrupted time with his children, so they will know he loves them more than he loves the ministry. They learn to sacrifice time with their dad so that he can attend to the needs of the congregation. Pray for his relationship with his children. Pastor’s kids have a unique childhood experience.Pray that your pastor takes sufficient time to rest. For the workaholic, there’s always more ministry to be done than time to complete it. Phone calls, texts, social media messages, and emails light up his phone non-stop. Pray that he takes time to rest. Pastors are on call 24/7.Pray that she is confident that his marriage is more important than his ministry. Pray that he takes her out on regular date nights. Pray that he continues to love, cherish, and honor his wife. Pray for his marriage. Your pastor’s ministry begins at home. Pray for godly wisdom as he will undoubtedly need to make many more in the days to come. Pray for godly wisdom. Your pastor has faced numerous difficult decisions during the past eighteen months.No matter what each day has in store, pray that your pastor spends time with the Lord in prayer and personal Bible study. This can cause him to unintentionally neglect his relationship with the Lord. Pray that his relationship with the Lord continues to thrive. Due to the busyness of pastoral ministry, your pastor’s time and attention are often dominated by urgent matters.If you’d like a printable version of this Prayer Guide, you can download it here. When October comes to an end, feel free to start over on Day 1. For the 31 days of October, you will find 31 ways to pray for your pastor(s). To help you intercede on your pastor’s behalf, I have provided a Daily Prayer Guide below to use during Pastor Appreciation Month. In addition to expressing your appreciation in tangible ways, let me encourage you to also pray for him. (And don’t forget about any other pastors on staff as well!) You can learn more about how to do so here and how not to do so here. Therefore, I plead with you to go overboard in showing appreciation to your pastor this year. He won’t ask for it, but he desperately needs your encouragement. And your pastor needs you to support him right now. To undergird him so that Israel could prevail. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.” Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. When Moses’s hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. In Exodus 17:11-13, we read about how Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands as Israel battled Amalek: “While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. And he needs you to support him now more than ever. If there was ever a time when pastors needed to be encouraged, that time is now. It’s a time set aside each year for churches to show some love to their pastoral staff. October 1 marks the beginning of Pastor Appreciation Month. It’s no wonder that experts continue to predict a surge in pastoral transitions during the next year. He probably had to learn new skills in a short amount of time. He may have faced a tidal wave of criticism as he navigated your church’s response to the pandemic. Regardless of the size of your church, your pastor has likely experienced seasons of profound discouragement. The past eighteen months have been some of the most challenging in your pastor’s entire ministry.
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