I have been sharing the Top Ten
Things Every Pastor Wished Their Congregation Knew, but Was Afraid to Tell
Them. Here is number 3:
I am not always spiritually on top of
things. Pray for me! – 2Cor 1.8-11
As I indicated earlier, pastors are not supermen. Not only do
we get weary, not only do we need some time alone, not only do we not always
hear clearly from God, but sometimes God has us walking through a valley of
despair that others never see. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11,
[8] For we
do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in
Asia. For we [that’s Paul and his companions] were so utterly burdened beyond
our strength that we despaired of life itself. [9] Indeed, we felt that we had
received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves
but on God who raises the dead. [10] He
delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have
set our hope that he will deliver us again. [11] You also must help us by prayer, so
that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through
the prayers of many.
What an amazing passage. Pastors are not always spiritually
up. Pastors have down days, and sometimes down weeks, months, and even years.
Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist pastor in London England known as the “Prince
of Preachers,” struggled much of his life with depression so severe as to leave
him bedridden at times. Yet God used him powerfully, and continues to use his
sermons and writings to this day.
You have a responsibility to pray for your pastor. If you are going to call a man to uproot his family and move to this community to be your pastor, then you had better be prepared to pray for him on a daily basis. Keep your pastor in prayer before the throne of God. As a pastor I am not always spiritually on top of things. Pray for me!
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