Pray for Your Pastor

Daily Reading:  Acts 12

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. (Acts 12.5)

Devotional Thought: Persecution once again reared its ugly head.  James was martyred, and Peter was arrested for trial. 

Acts 12.5 says, "Peter was kept in prison."  There are many things that imprison the people of God.  Fears, attitudes, selfishness, addictions, doubt, disobedience are among the internal factors.  But – as with Peter – there are also factors external to us that imprison us: political powers, unjust laws, economic situations, illness, anger and hostility against us.  These things and others can restrict us from living out God’s will and from doing God’s work.  We need to pray for one another as we experience these imprisonments.

The scripture doesn’t say that Peter was thrown into prison, but rather that he was kept in prison.  He spent some time there.  He didn’t want to be there.  He was not effective there.  And as we see from the subsequent account, it was not God’s will for him to be there.  I want you to know that there are times when your spiritual leaders are “kept in prison.”  When that is the case they need your earnest prayers.

It is tempting to think that spiritual leaders are immune from being kept in prison.  Yet, here we find Peter, a man of great faith, in prison.  And even when God was in the process of breaking him out, Peter still  held onto the idea that he was in jail.  For some reason, those chains were hard to break.

Would you to commit to pray for your pastor?  Even when he or she can’t seem to shake the feeling of being in prison, remember that he or she is God’s anointed leader, and God greatly desires that you pray earnestly for him or her.

Prayer: Lord, I pray for my pastor and others in positions of spiritual authority - that they may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.  Grant them all courage and boldness in your work.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 72:17-20

17 May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him,and they will call him blessed.

18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

19 Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.

20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.