Weekly Prayer Thought

Strive together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Romans 15.30-32

There are many ways to look at this passage. Last week we focused on prayer for ourselves and our own needs. However, the original intent of Paul was to request prayer for himself as a leader in the church. This should help us to understand how to effectively pray for our leaders in the church, in our denomination and in the context of the larger Christian world. While praying this week consider praying for your leaders in the following ways- all taken from Paul's writings here.

• Pray for protection and safety. Our leaders are under assault by the enemy, Satan, on a daily basis. Pray that they will be "delivered from unbelievers" and kept from all harm to themselves and their families.
• Pray that their work will be effective. No one gets blessed by ineffectiveness. We need to pray that our leaders will have wisdom, be guided by God and committed to the Lordship of Jesus.
• Pray that they will be filled with joy. Nothing makes life more terrible than a lack of joy. Nothing makes ministry more of a chore than lack of joy. Pray that your leaders will find fulfillment and contentment in their service of the Lord, and their service to you.
• Pray that they will be refreshed. Every Christian, and especially leaders, need to be spiritually renewed regularly. In the old days we had revivals. That's what we need today. Pray that those who offer you leadership in spiritual matters will be refreshed, renewed and revived in their own spiritual lives and walk with the Lord.

Prayer: Lord God, I pray that you would work in, with and for my leaders. Keep them safe and in your care. Help them to do your will and to do in the best way possible. Fill them with your joy and renew their hearts in your presence. Amen.