Praying for your pastor

Mark Ryan outlines five key prayer themes that will help you pray for your church leaders effectively.

There is no doubt that the cultural landscape presents many challenges. Your pastor will be faced with many different and difficult decisions to keep your church moving towards its intended vision. It will take more than good programmes and services to establish health and life in your church.

A key part of your church doing well this year will also rest on the health and well-being of your ministers. As congregation members we can be unsure of the best way to pray for our church leaders. We often pray in general terms and wish them well, but how can we pray with intensity and effectiveness to make a difference in their lives and their ministry?

We need to create a prayer shield around them. We are praying for the effect of their ministry and not just that they do good things. The apostle Paul was not afraid to ask for specific prayers for his speaking ministry so that it would be sharp and effective, he said “Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,” (Ephesians 6:19).

When the early church thought they had lost Peter to prison their response was to earnestly pray until his release came (Acts 12:5). As members of the church we are to be the prayer shield that our pastors need.

But how can we do this without just falling into general ‘bless them’ prayers? Here are five key prayer themes that will help you pray for your pastor effectively…

Presence
Your pastor needs the presence of the Holy Spirit in their ministry. But rather than praying this generally, pray that the messages your pastor brings will carry anointing and authority. Anointing to make them effective, and authority to break through any resistance.

Wisdom
Ministry is filled with agendas and decisions that need to be made. The decisions your minister makes will often impact the lives of others.

Your pastor needs wisdom to discern the right paths, the source of the spirits around them, and what the plans are that have the touch of God on them. Wisdom is needed more than knowledge.

Revelation
You have more than likely heard most of the stories in the Bible and you already know lots of the theological content of Christianity. Your leader does not need to simply repeat what you already know, but to speak the words you need to know at that moment! This only comes with revelation from God.

Protection
There is a fresh onslaught on all church leaders. Spiritual powers want to take your pastor out! Pray for the well-being of your church leader, and particularly that they not be assailed by stress or worry.

If they have a family, remember them too, because even if the pastor is coping with the stresses and strains of ministry, there can be times when their loved ones are going through struggles of their own.

Prophetic
Pray the promises of God over your minister and speak life over them in the Spirit. Declare the things you want to see in their lives – not from your personal preferences but from a grasp of what the Bible teaches. If you feel led to share any personal prophetic word with them always do so in grace, remembering that Paul told us the general rule of prophecy is for strengthening, encouragement and comfort, (1 Corinthians 14:3). And if you do want to share, choose your timing – just before Sunday service is not usually a good time!

Praying in this model will help you escape from the general ‘bless them’ prayers and keep you from praying in ways that would be unhelpful.

Your minister is a gift to you and the church, so let’s surround them in prayer for the challenges of 2025.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.