It is forever good and oh so encouraging to the congregation when pastors and leaders (also human and fallible) stands with us to humbly demonstrate their love for God with pure joy in worship before going forward to speak God’s Word. A committed pastor, called and equipped by God, can’t wait to deliver what God has given to them. We see it on their faces and in their body language as they worship. They are excited because they have message full of truth that is helpful to them and will be helpful to us all—and they can’t wait to tell it!
Our pastors’ confidence in God’s Word fills us with confidence as they speak. Their prayers for us, humble us, as they praise and thank God for us. A compassionate pastor’s prayer fills those listening and praying with God’s blessed assurance that we are all His children as we seek Him with all that is in us. When we see Jesus in our leaders, we are reminded of our Hope of living eternally with God because of Jesus, His Son. A trusted pastor knows Jesus personally, seeks justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God daily. Want to encourage your pastor in their walk? When you see Jesus in him or her, tell them in affirming ways with love and truth!
A surrendered, committed pastor prays like Jesus prayed for those in His care with pleas for wisdom and Truth. Here are perfect examples from Jesus who knew no sin, filled with compassion for His followers then and later, while giving all glory to God;
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Then Jesus Prays for All Believers—
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”—Jesus, John 17:6-26
When elements of Jesus’ prayer are heard from praying, humbled leaders who give all glory to God—they are loved and trusted.
Pause to ponder; So, we learn that pastors pray for those in their care; but do we as fellow sheep, pray for them as they lead us in Jesus Name?
Psalm 134 demonstrates the power of prayer for the leaders chosen by God to serve in the Temple. The call to bless God possibly records a brief exchange between worshipers leaving the temple after the evening service and the Levites who kept watch through the night. The “servants of God” are priests and Levites who ministered in the temple 24/7. Their evening duties included keeping the lampstand lit and the sacrifices burning, as well as guarding the gates.
Commentaries on this chapter tell us that though the people must disperse, the Lord’s praise continues at the temple. Lifting the hands has long signified both praise and petition, symbolizing trust that God would fill empty hands with his blessings. What a blessed thought with reminders of God’s provision!
Psalm 134, The Message
A song of ascents.
1-3 Come, bless God,
all you servants of God!
You priests of God, posted to the nightwatch
in God’s shrine,
Lift your praising hands to the Holy Place,
and bless God.
In turn, may God of Zion bless you—
God who made heaven and earth!
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Praise God for our pastors and leaders!
May we never forget to pray for those who are chosen, anointed, and led by God to faithfully lead us!
May God’s love in us guide our prayers for each other!
Lord,
Thank you for pastors and leaders chosen to guide us by Your Holy Spirit to all that is Truth. Thank you for all the hours leaders give daily to hear from you then put your message into words about you so the congregations can understand and take in as food for our souls. May your message first permeate the hearts of those who will speak. May all that is said and done bring you all the glory, honor, and praise! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I thank God for our pastor and all the leaders who work tirelessly so that the world may know you with ways to follow you.
Help us all to love more like you every day.
In Jesus Name, Amen
