📖 Pastors and Preachers Seek GOD in Prayer, Daily Devotion, Preparation, Intercession for Congregation, Study of Word, Lifestyle, Sound Teaching

[Chrysostom]

I thank God with you for this prayer and join you in lifting it before the Father who is our ever present help. Your desire for pastors and preachers to seek God in prayer, in daily devotion, in preparation and study of the Word, in intercession for the congregation, in a godly lifestyle and in sound teaching is good and right, and I pray that the Lord will strengthen every shepherd to be faithful in these things, to watch over souls and to visit families and homes with the Word of truth.

I also join you in praying for every family and every visitor, that the Father would draw them according to His promise, for no one can come unless the Father draws him. We do not rest our hope of salvation in flesh or in family ties or in outward religion, but in repentance and in faith. As the Scripture says, we are saved by grace through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. We did not first draw near on our own, but we were called because it seemed good to Him, not because we were worthy. Even the faith by which we are saved is not of ourselves, for faith comes by hearing the message preached.

So I pray that God will give to your family members and to all who come tonight and tomorrow a hunger for the Word, like newborn infants longing for pure milk, and that the Holy Spirit will open their minds to understand the Scriptures. Flesh and blood does not reveal the Messiah, but our Father in heaven. May the Spirit convict of sin and teach all things and guide into all truth, and grant that godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted. That repentance is not in vain, for though there is only one sacrifice, the one offering of Christ crucified for our sins by which He has perfected forever those who are sanctified, there remains full propitiation through repentance for those who turn to Him. There is no second cross needed, for the one cross is sufficient.

May each one confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in the heart that God raised Him from the dead, for this is the short and near word of salvation that brings both righteousness and life. And may those who have believed continue to wash away every stain by repentance, by prayers, by tears and by works of mercy, walking in newness of life and in purity of conduct.

I pray that the Lord Jesus, who ever lives to make intercession for those who come to God through Him, will save to the uttermost all who call upon His name, that none would perish but all would come to repentance and to the knowledge of the truth. May He protect them from the evil one, deliver them from lack of knowledge, and grant them freedom to worship in spirit and truth under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. May He give them a vision for His purposes and a steadfast commitment to not forsake assembling together, but to continue in the apostles teaching, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

We ask this trusting that when we ask according to His will He hears us, and that our salvation is His glory, for it is the glory of the Friend of man that those who are saved should be many. In the name of Jesus, amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer reflects a biblical heart for both those who shepherd and those who hear. It is right to ask that those who teach would first seek God themselves in prayer, in daily devotion, in careful study of the Word, and in faithful intercession for the people entrusted to them. Scripture shows that healthy oversight in the church comes from spiritual men who watch over the flock in this way, giving themselves to sound teaching and to a manner of life that matches the message, and who care for families personally and not only from a distance.

It is also right to pray that families would be drawn to gather together to hear the Word. Jesus said no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him, and that the knowledge that He is the Messiah is not revealed by flesh and blood but by the Father in heaven. Faith comes by hearing the message preached, and it is received with humility and meekness as the implanted Word which is able to save the soul. That is why we ask for the Holy Spirit to anoint the teaching, to convict of sin, to guide into all truth, and to open minds to understand the Scriptures, so that hearers do not merely listen but receive the Word in faith.

The pattern we see in the book of Acts is the pattern God intended for His church, a people established in the faith and growing daily because they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers, worshiping in spirit and truth. Much of what has been called church history since then has been marked by failure, formality, compromise, or striving for recognition, and where love grows cold the presence of the Spirit is grieved. What restores power is not method or promotion but purifying the heart, returning to the Word, and walking again in love and truth.

So we join you in praying that God, who is near to all who call upon Him and who is our ever present help, would give a real hunger for His Word as newborn infants long for pure milk, and the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Christ more fully. We pray that He would grant repentance and faith, the forgiveness of sins through the cross where Christ was crucified for us, and newness of life, and that He would give vision and understanding where there has been lack of knowledge. We ask that He would keep your loved ones from the evil one, who thrives where the Word is not known or obeyed, and that He would lead them to value not forsaking assembling together.

We also remember the promise concerning households, that when the Lord works, whole families can believe and rejoice together, each one personally trusting Christ and following Him. God desires that none should perish but that all should come to repentance and to the knowledge of the truth, and He hears us when we ask according to His will. He is the One who seeks and saves the lost.

May the Lord strengthen those who preach to speak His Word faithfully, and may He draw each member of your family by His Spirit to hear, to understand, and to respond with saving faith. We ask that as often as believers gather to remember the Lord in the bread and the cup, it would be with faith and thanksgiving, and that your home would be filled with testimonies of His grace, whether through the preaching of the Word, the witness of friends, or the simple tract that puts the gospel into a hand.

We pray this in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen, trusting that what we ask in His name according to His will, He hears and will accomplish for His glory.