Supporting Prayer
Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
This is the time of year when a lot of folks will be stressed to the max. Trying to plan get togethers, shopping, wrapping, planning events, etc. It can be very hectic and downright chaotic. It’s possible you might even have a job or even a life that it could be that chaotic year round. Have you ever thought about the stress a pastor is under? I believe we will pray for God to give them the message we need. Pray for their discernment in a service. Hopefully we even pray that God just watched over them. Have you ever thought about the stress they are under on a daily basis? If you have a good pastor as we do here at Immanuel he is always concerned about his congregation. A church of any size is going to have all kinds of things going on that not everyone will know about. He might have a couple going through marriage problems, have members facing addictions or money issues, even have some facing sickness or disease. That’s not taking into account his own personal family. Then on top of that he has the responsibility of leading that church where God wants them to go in every aspect. A pastor who truly cares and leads is under more stress than we realize. Why do I bring this up today? You might say you do pray for your pastor and you are concerned about him. I heard something this week that said the average person will lose 4-7 good friends in their lifetime. They could lose them for a variety of reasons. That friend could turn on them, lose touch or lose them through death. It then said the average pastor can lose 4-7 per year! Think of what that could do to the man of God at your church. If people have turned on him, or moved away. Even people who he might’ve leaned on for years has passed on. What could that do to a pastor. It could leave them feeling alone and facing even additional stress. I encourage you today to let your pastor know you care. Let him know you’re praying for him and that you stand behind him. It could be the very thing that gets him through a stressful or chaotic week!
God bless you today! Bro. Josh Richardson
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