Praying For Your Pastor From Head to Toe

"I want to pray for my pastor, but I don't know how." Does this sound familiar? It was my dilemma, too, until I learned to pray from head to toe. Here's how it works.

Head. "Father, continually renew my pastor's mind, resulting in a transformed life. Help him bring every thought into captivity to Christ. Give him a greater understanding of Your Word." (Ps. 119:15, Ro. 12:2, 2 Cor. 10:5)

Eyes. "Lord, keep opening my pastor's eyes to deep spiritual truths. Guard him against looking at worthless things." (Ps. 119:18, Ps. 119:37)

Ears. "Father, let my pastor hear Your voice clearly. Protect him from listening to anyone who is out of step with You. Help him not to be affected negatively by what others say." (Is. 30:21)

Nose. "Lord, help my pastor discern between good and evil. Give him the ability to determine what is of You and what is not." (1 K. 3:9, 1 Jn. 4:1)

Mouth. "Enable my pastor to speak the truth in love. Help him to be swift to hear and slow to speak. Give him the ability to confront when necessary. Let the words he speaks be Yours, not his own. Help him speak words that bring grace to the hearers." (Ps. 19:14, Ps. 119:13, Ps. 141:3; Eph. 4:15, Eph. 4:29; Jas. 1:19)

Heart. "Give my pastor a heart that seeks hungrily after You. Teach him to guard his heart with all diligence. Help him deal with anything in his heart that is not pleasing to You. Enable him to lead Your people with integrity." (Ps. 78:72, Ps. 119:10–11; Prov. 4:23; 1 Thess. 3:13)

Hands. "Lord, I pray that everything my pastor does would be done with his whole heart, serving You rather than man. Help him not to ‘dirty his hands' by doing things that are not pleasing to You." (Ps. 24:3–4, Col. 3:23)

Feet. "Help my pastor walk in a way that is pleasing to You. Help him walk with the wise. Cause him to go where You want him to go." (Ps. 25:12, Ps. 27:11; Prov. 13:20)

2006 by Rebecca Livermore, a Christian speaker and writer from Denver,
Colorado. Her passion is helping people grow spiritually. To read more of
her articles on Christian living, and to check out her always growing
selection of Christian resource materials, visit
http://www.rebeccalivermore.com.

Imitating Christ in Prayer

When Jesus prayed, He always prayed first that if it be the Father's will then may it be done. This is the most beautiful way to pray. I have adopted this way of praying because it is an imitation of the way Jesus prayed.

When we know that we are like children, we also know that we cannot see as high as the Father. Only the Father knows what is coming our way. If we pray for something, we should understand that although we can ask God for material things, this is not why we should pray. On the contrary we should pray so that we know the will of the Father. If we know this, we can never ask for something that goes against His will. So then our prayers stop becoming beggar prayers of asking for favors, and they become prayers of thanksgiving.

We ask God for spiritual things when we want to do His will, material things become inconsequential. For what good is it to store up things? Food perishes, gold can get stolen, diamonds fall off from their clasps, books get worms, so what is the point of asking for these things. Our bodies require food, no doubt, but do we need to advise God about this? He is the one who created us, would He forget that we need these things to survive?

But we foolishly want more than we can consume. We want bigger houses, faster cars, more food, and we go on making these more important than they really are. For what good is a big house if we become lazy and our muscles atrophy? What good is a big house if we are the only ones in it? What good is a big house if we never get to experience the freshness of the morning, and the freedom of the open skies? What good are all these things if they hinder our way to our Heavenly home? It's only when people forget that they are destined for eternity that they behave like stubborn children who must have their way. They crave after a sand castle, when their Father is offering them a mansion of joy that will never end.

Therefore our prayer has to be like the prayer of Christ, it has to be in conformity with the will of God.

I'm a Catholic from India. Through my writings I want people to understand the love of Christ and His thirst for us.

http://lydiadavidson.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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