When to Pray for a Pastor

I read the following blog entry, and have to agree with it so thought I would re-post its ideas here. It's from Perry Noble at NewSpring Church in the USA.

When to Pray for your Pastor

Perry suggests there are three times when a pastor needs prayer:

#1 - Sunday Night/Monday Morning

If a pastor EVER feels like giving up–it’s either on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Perry says that 99% of the worlds population doesn’t really have a clue as to what pastors endure emotionally, physically and spiritually. If they are going to be under a heavy spiritual attack…it’s usually during this time. If they are going to have a sleepless night, even though they are exhausted–it will be on Sunday night.
If they are going to battle discouragement…it will be on Sunday night. Trust me on this folks…I am saying what most pastors won’t tell you (either because of insecurity or some sort of Messiah complex!)

When a pastor preaches a message he has SEVERAL adrenalin rushes–ever had one of those? Sure you have! Let’s say you are riding down the road in a car and another car runs a stop sigh and you manage to avoid a collision by mere inches.

BAM…you get an adrenalin rush that studies show it takes between four to six hours to recover from.

NOW–take under consideration that most pastors in today’s world preach more than one sermon per Sunday…and with the shots of adrenalin the body produces to keep the dude going…it completely kicks his butt–I promise. That is why it is so essential to lift him up during this time–he feels like a used washed cloth!

For me, Sunday afternoon/evenings can be tough! It's only been a few weeks but after church in the morning I can be exhausted, and not having someone to debrief with can be tough too. So, pray for me on a Sunday afternon/evening.

#2 - On Saturday Nights

If pastors are going to have a sleepless night, other than Sunday night–it’s Saturday.

Pastors have a hard time shutting their minds off on Saturday night–we think about the message, the music, who is and is not going to be there…and about one million other things. We can literally drive ourselves crazy.

#3 - Anytime The Holy Spirit Brings Them To Mind

If you are riding down the road and your pastors name pops into your mind…pray for them. It really is that simple.

If you are in your living room and watching television and his or her name pops in your mind…pray for him or her.

If you are riding down the road and you see a dead squirrel splatted all over the place and your pastors name pops in your mind…PRAY FOR YOURSELF, you have issues!!! :-)

The Holy Spirit knows when people need prayer…and I can’t tell you the number of times He’s brought someone’s name to my mind, I’ve prayed for them and then later found out that at the exact time I prayed for them was at a time when God was doing some serious work in their lives.

So there you go! Some very wise words from Perry Noble! Pray for me!