Partners in Prayer (cont.)Prayer! We know that pastors and leaders are supposed to spend a considerable amount of their time in prayer and intercession for their people. (1 Samuel 12, 23; Acts 6, 4.) But it is Paul who also charges his churches to pray for him, their pastor-apostle: Finally, brethren, pray for us ... (2 Thessalonians 3, 1.) The word pray in the original Greek is proseuchomai. It means to bring a request before somebody. In this verse it is set in the present tense, which in Greek denotes continual action. The Thessalonian church is exhorted to pray continually for Paul. How should they pray? Paul says: Pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; ... Paul's request is for opportunities to preach effectively, like he was able to do in Thessalonica. ... and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith (or faithfulness, or loyalty). Paul requests prayer for protection from perverse and evil men. Evil men are enemies on the outside. They are easily discerned, since they work and speak actively against the christian ministry. They are no christians and have no intention of becoming one. They are men like Demetrius in Ephesus, who incited a riot against Paul, because his souvenir business selling silver statues of a heathen temple tapered off. (Acts 19, 23f.) Everybody in Ephesus had become interested in Paul's Jesus, and that hurt the municipal economy which relied heavily on the temple and worship of Artemis. Demetrius turned against Paul because the new faith hurt his business. That made Demetrius evil. But the perverse men in 2 Thessalonians 3, 2 are different. They are atopos as the Greek says: they are out of place, or out of bounds. These are difficult people within the church who are out of sync with the pastor. They are the ones who are a pain to live with. Many times they have fallen into the trap of thinking that their pastor should be perfect. Many are chronically discontent and wander from church to church, spreading their frustration, garnished with bitterness and laced with contempt. Diotrephes was one of these. John, the mighty apostle and prophet, had to deal with him. Old Dio was an elder in one of John's churches. Dio's foremost problem was that he loved to be first among the congregation and that he didn't accept John's word, that is his messages. (1 John 9f.) He also slandered John with wicked words, unjustly. On top of that he tried to form a coalition against John within the church. He even tormented loyal members to the point of leaving the fold. No pastor likes to deal with situations like that, but everyone has to from time to time. This is why Paul asked for specific prayer for handling the Diotrepheses of life. Even Jesus had his Judas. But he also had his prayer partners. Frequently he took Peter, James and John, and withdrew to pray. On many occasions he prayed for so long that his companions fell asleep. That happened on the mount of transfiguration, where Jesus was glorified before their sleepy eyes, and where he conferred with Elijah and Moses. (Luke 9, 28f.) Let me interject this: you will probably have your greatest times with God in private prayer and not in public meetings. Because in private prayer you condition yourself to receive and hear from God. Then he'll come and bless you. In a public meeting on the other hand, you might just sit there. Miracles might happen right before your eyes, while your mind wonders if they are really happening. To his prayer partners Jesus bared his soul. In Gethsemane, after he took the three and led them to a secluded spot, he began to be very dietressed and troubled (he didn't let his guard down in front of everybody, just his prayer partners). And he said to them: My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch. (Meaning: watch out for me in prayer.) That night he couldn't rely on them, and his own prayer saved him. Nevertheless, I just wanted to show you how Jesus interacted with his most intimate prayer partners. As a matter of fact: many people throughout the centuries prayed for the Messiah and his ministry. Even before Jesus was born Simeon and Hannah spent countless hours in the Temple praying for him, together with many others. (Luke 2, 21f.) John the Baptist prayed for and preached about the soon coming Messiah. These were his prayer partners before he even was around. If anybody would volunteer to pray for me - as a pastor and christian leader -, what would I want them to pray? I would like for them to: 1. Pray for the spirit of wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of God, for opened eyes of the heart. (Ephesians 1, 17f.) This ensures that my view of God is correct. For there is a vast difference between information-knowledge and revelation-knowledge which comes by the spirit through this prayer. 2. Pray for me to know God's will in all wisdom and understanding. 3. Pray for me to do God's will: that I may walk the walk and be pleasing in his sight. 4. Pray for my productivity, so I don't waste my time, but rather bear lots of fruit in every good work. 5. Pray for the power of God in my life, that I may be strenghtened with all might according to the power of his glory. (Ephesians 3, 14f.) 6. Pray for the proper disposition in me, for my attitude, that I may be thankful, and that I may not get sucked into a negative mental orbit. These prayer-pointers are derived from Colossians 1, 9-13. I believe that covenanting in prayer with our pastoral leaders is one of the keys to success in our churches. Take five minutes out of your day to pray for your pastor. Wishing you strong covenant prayer partners, Gert Hoinle Copyright (c) 2000 by Gert Hoinle |
||