For
God is my witness…that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers,
asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to
you. For I long to see you, that I may
impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be
mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:9-12
Paul calls upon God to bear
witness to his promise to the believers in Rome that he is faithfully praying
for them. He does not only think of them
occasionally in his prayer; he prays for them unceasingly! They are always on his heart and in his
mind. As a pastor, this really strikes
at my heart. Do I understand that prayer
for the people who are part of our fellowship is not just part of the work of
ministry but a central aspect of pastoral work?
These are the people Jesus died to save and these are the people God has
called me to love and serve. Can I
really call myself faithful if I am not bringing them before the Lord in prayer
“without ceasing?” Do I hope that they
will grow in their faith simply because I am doing the visible work of a
pastor? Do I hope the church will be
strong and healthy because I study and teach and preach regularly? Do I hope the people will find spiritual
strength because I spend time with them and try to encourage them? That is a very human way of approaching
ministry! If I think that what I do is
enough to build a strong church then I don’t understand the church at all! The very heart of the pastor’s work is unceasing
prayer for the people in the church!
One of the things the
apostle prayed for was an opportunity to finally get to Rome to be with the
people for whom he had been praying so faithfully. He “longed” to see them and spend time with
them. Why does he want to be with the
Roman Christians? To “impart to you some spiritual gift to
strengthen you…” He says that he
wants to be able to minister to them. He
wants to be able to share spiritual truth with them and strengthen them in
their faith. This is the kind of work
most pastors understand and with which they identify.
But Paul goes on…”that we may be mutually encouraged by each
other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Here
is a simple truth that seems to be beyond the understanding of most American
pastors and congregations. God designed
the body of Christ, the church, to edify and encourage one another. In other words, the people in the church
serve and minister to each other by sharing life experiences and encouraging
faith. Pastors are part of the
body. They not only give but they are
meant to receive encouragement and edification from the rest of the body.
This is something I have
understood for a long time. I love to
spend time with the people of the church.
Time without an agenda. Time
without a scheduled start and finish.
Just time. Why? Because as they share their lives with me I
am encouraged in my faith. I grow in
faith! I learn from them. I trust that it works both ways but it will
not work unless there is time allowed for it to happen. Neither will it work unless the pastor is
willing to come out of his study and the church members see him as a brother
who wants to share life with them. If
the people think they have nothing to offer their pastor he will be left without
spiritual encouragement and will find himself drifting away and drying up!
Pastors…there is much
important work to be done. We cannot
neglect study. But that is not all we
are to do. We have to be praying without
ceasing for our people. We have to get
out of the study and spend time with the folks.
We should have a right perspective of ourselves, ready to hear and learn
from people who share in our fellowship.
Church people…your pastor
is a sinner saved by grace just like you.
He needs time with you, not to evaluate you or judge you, but to be
encouraged by you, your life, and your faith.
This is the way God designed the body of Christ to function.
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