📖 Pastors, Preachers Seek GOD in Prayer, Daily Devotion, Preparation, Intercession for Congregation, Study of Word, Lifestyle, Teaching, 1 Tim 4:16

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer is good and according to the Scriptures, and I join my voice to yours before God for these things.

I thank God that you desire pastors and preachers to seek Him first in prayer, in daily devotion, in careful study of the Word, and in a holy life. This is what the Apostle requires when he says to watch closely over life and doctrine and persevere in them, for in doing this we will save both ourselves and our hearers. A pastor must be sober, of good behavior and temperate, and must rule his own house well, for the Church is like a small household. If a man does not order his own house with gravity, how shall he take care of the Church of God. Pray therefore that God will keep those who preach from negligence, and that whether in hearing or in doing, whether at home or abroad or in the church, they may be faithful and give their hearers fruit and not only words.

I also join you in praying for your families and for all who visit and hear, that the Father who alone reveals the Messiah will draw them, as it is written that no one can come unless the Father draws him. Pray that they receive the implanted Word with humility which saves the soul, and that they do not come constantly and go away reaping no fruit, but that they understand the Scriptures as Christ opened the minds of His disciples. There are many who are scarcely seen in church once in the year, and we should mourn for this, for we are commanded not to forsake assembling together. Ask that God will give them a true hunger for the Word like newborn infants, and a spirit of revelation, and faith that comes by hearing.

You asked that the hands of those who intercede be upheld as Aaron and Hur upheld the hands of Moses while Joshua fought in the field. This is an ancient custom planted in the Church from the beginning, that we bear one another up in prayer. Remember also that our confidence rests above all on the Lord Jesus Himself, who is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He ever lives to make intercession for them. He does not die as the priests under the Law did, but He lives continually, and whenever there is need He intercedes for us. For this reason we can pray with boldness.

For protection, pray that God will guard your households from sin and temptation and from evil people and deceivers and from the evil one, and that you may put on the whole armor of God. And as you pray, lift up holy hands without wrath and without doubting. We must not come before God with malice toward those who have offended us, nor make our prayer a cry against our enemies, but forgive as we have been forgiven, for this with almsgiving and fasting and continual remembrance of our sins helps to obtain mercy.

So let us pray together. Father, You are our ever present help. We thank You for Your Anointed who was crucified for our sins and raised for our justification. Draw our families to hear Your Word tonight and tomorrow and whenever Your people gather for worship, for Bible study, for corporate prayer and fellowship. Grant to each one repentance and faith, the forgiveness of sins and newness of life. Give vision by Your Holy Spirit and open eyes to know the truth that saves. Keep us from lack of knowledge and from every deception, and deliver us from the evil one. Teach us to hunger for Your Word and to walk in Your truth by the anointing of Your Spirit. We ask this not by our worth but through Jesus Christ alone, through whom alone is salvation, trusting that when we ask according to Your will You hear us. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing this burden for prayer. It is right to ask God to keep those who teach and shepherd close to Him in prayer, in daily devotion to the Word, in careful preparation and in faithful intercession for the people entrusted to them. Scripture calls a pastor to watch his life and his doctrine closely, and to persevere in them, because in doing so he will save both himself and his hearers.

Your desire for families to be drawn and to continue meeting together is close to the heart of God. Jesus said no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him, and the Father still reveals His Son not by flesh and blood but by His Spirit. When the Word is received with humility and faith it is able to save the soul, and faith comes by hearing the message preached. Pray that there would be a real hunger for the pure Word, like newborns craving milk, and that the Holy Spirit would convict, teach all things, and open minds to understand the Scriptures. 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.

The pattern God has given for His church is seen in the early church in the book of Acts. They continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers, and the churches were established in the faith and increased daily. That was a powerful church because it stayed in the Spirit where it began. Much of later history shows what happens when love grows cold, when truth is compromised, or when the church tries to join itself to the world. A church without love loses the sense of His presence, and hypocrisy quenches power. The lack of power is not the Lord's failure. When leaven is purged and the church walks in love, purity and truth, the Spirit works freely. We should look to that first pattern, not to later failure, to see what God intends His church to be and to do.

You also asked for protection and for strength in intercession. The Spirit Himself helps us and makes intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered, and God calls His people to lift up one another as Aaron and Hur lifted the hands of Moses while the battle was fought in the valley. So we pray for the full armor of God over you, your family and all who gather to worship in spirit and in truth, that you would be kept from sin and temptation, from deception and from the evil one, and from a mere lack of knowledge of His Word. We pray for freedom to worship with the anointing that comes from Christ through the Holy Spirit.

We join you in praying that God would grant to each member of your household repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sins, forgiveness and newness of life, and a clear vision by the Holy Spirit. As with the jailer in Philippi, the promise is that salvation comes as each person personally believes, and then there is true rejoicing in the household of faith. May the Lord establish you in the faith, keep you in fellowship and in the breaking of bread as often as you gather, and make you a people marked by love and good works for His glory.

Father, draw each one, grant them to hear Your Word with understanding, create hunger for it, and bring them to saving faith in Jesus Christ alone. Keep Your people, guard them from evil, and fill them with Your Spirit to worship You in spirit and truth. Make Your church what You desire it to be, with Jesus Christ as Head, for Your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer.

We have continued to lift up your requests before the Father, that our pastors and preachers would seek God in prayer and daily devotion and preparation and intercession for the congregation, that they would be diligent in study of the Word and in lifestyle and sound teaching according to 1 Tim 4:16, and that they would be faithful to visit families and house churches. We have also stood with you in prayer that families would be drawn to church as in John 6:44 and not forsake assembling together as in Heb 10:25, that members and visitors would receive the Word in faith and humility which saves the soul as in Jam 1:21, by revelation of Messiah from the Father, through testimonies and evangelists and tracts, with freedom to worship in spirit and truth as in John 4:24, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit as in John 14:26 and 1 John 2:20, and with protection as in Eph 6:10 and upheld in intercession as Aaron and Hur upheld the hands of Moses as in Ex 17:8.

We have prayed with you for your family members to be drawn to hear and understand what the Lord is speaking to each one as in John 16:13, for faith and repentance and salvation and newness of life and vision as in Prov 29:18, for hunger for the Word as in 1 Pet 2:2 and for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation as in Eph 1:17, and for protection from sin and temptation as in Luke 11:4 and from evil people and the evil one as in Matt 6:13 and John 17:15, remembering that God desires that none would perish but all would come to repentance as in 2 Pet 3:9 and that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth as in 1 Tim 2:4, and that our households would be saved as in Acts 16:31.

If your request was answered and you have seen pastors strengthened and families drawn and attending as in Heb 10:25 and Acts 2:42, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice with you. If your request does not yet seem to have been answered, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

We pray together now, Father we thank You that You are our ever present help as in Ps 46:1 and we ask that You continue to draw each family member by Your Spirit, open their minds to understand the Scriptures as in Luke 24:45, convict and convert by Your Holy Spirit as in John 16:8, and give them faith that comes by hearing Your Word as in Rom 10:17. Keep them in Your protection and keep our pastors faithful in prayer and in the Word, that Your name would be glorified and the lost would be sought and saved as in Luke 19:10. We ask this in Jesus Name, Amen.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.