Pray for Preachers
by Bishop Keith A. Butler

Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray for him. Do you pray for your pastor every day? Do you pray for evangelists, teachers, apostles, and prophets? Those who preach and teach the Word of God need prayer too! Don’t assume because they are strong Christians, well grounded in the Bible, and serving God that they don’t need your prayers!

When you pray for the lost and for those who proclaim the Gospel, you facilitate the loosing of Satan’s grip on those to whom the message is preached. Sometimes I’ve ministered the Word of God to a room full of people, but it felt like everything I said just hit a brick wall. The Word wasn’t able to penetrate their hearts because they were still bound up and blinded by the god of this world.

If you attend a church service that seems void of power, or if there doesn’t seem to be any response to the Gospel, instead of criticizing the preacher, you need to pray for him or her. Pray according to 2 Thessalonians 3:1, that the Word of the Lord would have free course. Pray that hearts will be opened to receive and that people will be loosed from the hands of the enemy!

Practical Application

Pray for your pastor and others who stand in pulpits throughout the world. Pray that the door of utterance will open to them (Colossians 4:3). Pray that they would open their mouths boldly to proclaim the Gospel, (Ephesians 6:19) and pray for the hearts of the listeners. Ask that their hearts would be good ground to receive the Word (Mark 4:20). Command Satan to take the blinders off of their eyes (2 Corinthians 4:4) and that their hearts of stone would be turned to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26) to receive the Word of God and to become a part of His kingdom!