Pray for your pastor

Being ‘a’ pastor and not ‘the’ pastor, and serving as an elder in the church, has given me an invaluable glimpse into the privileges and perils of pastoral work.

Today, like many Sundays, I arrive at the afternoon physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. Spent. Yet there’s family time to be had. The work is costly. Yet there have been times when I’ve not been in ministry, and at these times I’ve often felt Sunday was a nothing day. I’m built to work on Sundays — to serve the people of God — but it’s a tenuous thing. And I find nowadays I’m supporting a pastor as part of a pastoral team. What’s it like for the pastor who bears ultimate responsibility?

I think that’s what it’s like for most pastors. And many may not truly get that. Not that this is about a pity party; it’s about reality. Pastors should be dissuaded from ministry, because it chews half of us up (statistically) and spews us out. Pastoral work teaches resilience because it requires resilience. Paradoxically, this is exactly what motivates most pastors to serve God. It’s not about them.

The more I think about it, the more tenuous the role of pastoral work is.

Pastors need to be prayed for.

Pastors need prayer for discernment. They can damage people without it. How many ‘jobs’ require such spiritual insight? Few! What needs to be seen needs to be seen. We must pray that God would lead pastors to see truth and mete grace.

Pastors need our prayers for courage. To call things what they are. But not prematurely; that’s where discernment is crucial. Many are the moments in so many jobs where we know we have to say or speak something when it feels like it’s a risk. For pastors, it happens so frequently they must get used to working under that pressure. You see it’s not just humanity who will judge a pastor. God knows when a pastor is nudged. We ought to pray that when pastors receive the nudge of the Holy Spirit that they have the composure and conviction to act. We need to pray to these ends.

Pastors need our prayers to know when to stay quiet and when to speak up. They need to stay quiet when someone is telling them a story that perhaps has never been shared before. When that person is taking a risk of trust. The moment is palpable, and the pastor knows they stand on hallowed ground. It’s someone’s story of abuse or trauma or mental illness or graven sin. There’s the opposite situation. When a pastor must speak up. To gently but firmly admonish. To report. To ensure they’re duly diligent. Pastors need our prayers to listen first and then to speak, and to discern to know when.

Pastors need us to pray for them that they would relate so well with their Lord that they forgive well, especially themselves. We’re all more-or-less constantly in error. It’s a dangerous person who refutes this. Pastors must model what it is not only to be full of integrity, but brokenness. Indeed, that is their integrity. Tough-skinned, yet soft-hearted pastors hold much redemptive power. But power can be used for both good and evil. Abuse occurs where sin is apportioned one way only in relational settings. The pastor can veto what should be discussed. The pastor who bears a grudge or who doesn’t attend to what is toxic is not being an agent for spiritual change he or she promised to be. We all need to be urged onward, and prayer is a force to this end. Given the pressure on pastors, staying soft-of-heart can be a major challenge.

Pastors need us to pray for their wellbeing — family, friends, finances. Most pastor’s families go without in some way due to the work, and it’s rarely compensated. This is not to say it’s not happening for most of society. But with pastoral workers, there’s a burden borne inherent in the work. What about their friendships. We ought to pray they have time and energy and wisdom to maintain connection. And nobody ever got rich doing genuine pastoral work (mega pastors who live luxuriously are not pastors in my view). Pastors need our prayers for their ongoing wellbeing as they pour their lives out as a libation continually.

What else do pastors need our prayers for?

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash