Confession Feb. 7

Hello Prayer Warriors!

This week we are exploring the second kind of prayer in our ACTS acronym:
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication


POWER VERSE:

"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I John 4:20)

QUICK START PRAYER POINTS:

1. Pray that God will reveal any and all bitterness from the past against the church as a whole or individuals in the church. Pray that it will be confessed and cleansed from our pastors' hearts, as well as their family's.

2. Pray that anything that is currently going on in the church that could lead to a broken relationship between our leaders and the church would be dealt with in a healthy way. Pray that God would show all parties involved any part in the problem that may be due to their own sin, and that they would humble themselves to confess that sin.

3. Pray that our pastors will humbly lead our congregations in corporate confession, by example as well as direction. Pray that repentance would be the seed of revival in our churches as our leaders courageously speak the truth in love.

FULL PRAYER GUIDE:

What would you do if you were in a restaurant and the waiter began to publicly dress down your spouse? This person who is serving you in exchange for a wage feels they have the right to talk rudely about and to the one you love?  Would you stand for it? Or would you stand up to it?

Just as we are married to our physical spouse, Christ is eternally joined with His Bride, the Church. Just as we would be hurt and angered at someone who spoke poorly about or to our spouse, Christ is not pleased when His Bride is slandered.  If we don't love the church, in both our actions and our words, we hurt the heart of her Savior-Husband, Jesus Christ, the One we claim to love and serve.

This week as we focus in on confession, I would like us to pray that our pastors and their families will have a clean slate in their relationship with the Bride of Christ. It is impossible to freely love Christ while one harbors bitterness toward His Bride. Past hurts, current conflicts, and the pressure to ignore public confession of sin within the church in favor of a feel-good message are all issues that we need to pray about in regard to our pastors this week.

First, it is clear in scripture that until we release hurt and anger, or our "right" to hold a grudge for things done in the past, we will never move fully forward in our relationship with the Lord. Mark 11:26 says, "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."  Colossians 3:13 also commands, "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

As we pray for our pastors and their families this week, pray that they will know their own hearts in this area. Pray that the Lord will reveal any bitterness or envy toward the church. Spouses of those in ministry often feel jealous of the church as it eats so much into their family time. In studies compiled by the Schaeffer Institute, 80% of pastors' spouses believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. (www.expastors.com/why-do-so-many-pastors-leave-the-ministry-the-facts-will-shock-you/)

The longer someone has been in ministry, the more times they have had to "forgive and forget" things done against them.  Many pastors leave the ministry as the burden of pain becomes too great.

Bo Lane, founder of ExPastors.com, said this: "Although there were many aspects of serving in full-time ministry that I loved, there were more things that happened along the way that made a negative impact on both myself and my family. It took many years of forgiving and getting plugged in to a healthy church before I really began to heal from the hurt." (www.expastors.com/why-do-so-many-pastors-leave-the-ministry-the-facts-will-shock-you/) 

Pray that our pastors will keep their hearts clean when old memories surface, and be truly set free if there are deep hurts that haunt them to this day. Along with the healing that only God can bring, pray that they will find others who can come alongside them either professionally or personally to help them work through any issues from the past that may be holding them back in their ministry.

Not only do our pastors deal with things that have happened in the past, but often they are mired in conflicts of all different sorts at any given moment.  Bo Lane says this, "Many pastors are lonely.
70% do not have someone they consider a close friend and 40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month."

While every profession has bad days, holding the title of pastor seems to come with the added feature of a huge bull's eye on the back. In the process of trying to bring out the best in people, pastors often become the target of the worst in others: irrational anger and sometimes, just plain bizarre accusations.

Knowing this, let's pray compassionately that our pastors will have the wisdom of Solomon as they handle the various kinds of conflict that a church deals with on a regular basis.Pray that they will know when and how to respond to whatever may come.

As we are focusing on confession, pray especially that they will be able to root out the sin that is always at the foundation of interpersonal strife.  If they are in sin, pray that they will have the discernment and courage to face that inside of themselves and deal with it in a Biblical and healthy way.  On the other hand, if the conflict is purely an attack of the enemy or an error on somebody else's part, pray that the sin will be revealed and the pastor will be able to lead that person to the cross to be made right with God. This is so important in ministry, whether dealing with adults, teens, or children.

Lastly, let's pray together that our pastors will have the courage to risk offending their congregations as they seek to lead in confession of sin at a corporate level.  This is not popular today, and there may be no stronger evidence than the alteration of a favorite, traditional hymn that has been gaining popularity of late. Elizabeth Prata of the blog The-End-Time said this: "I heard "Amazing Grace" this week by a new artist. The lyric had been changed. This is what she sang-

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a SOUL like me...

"When I was lost, I liked the hymn. I thought it was pretty, and had a good message and stirred me somehow. Except one part I hated. When it got to the lyric that said, "saved a WRETCH like me." When it got to that part, I closed my mouth and refused to sing the line. 'I'm not a wretch' I'd think to myself. 'I'm a good person! How ridiculous to have such low self-esteem!'...Now that we are in such an apostate world, no one likes to believe they are a wretch. But unless we understand how very great of a wretch we are, we will not understand how very great a Savior we have." [Emphasis added]

We must pray that our pastors have the courage to name sin as sin, or the power of the Gospel is lost. Along with that, it should lead us to pray that we and our fellow church members are open to the message of confession and repentance, else our pastors become discouraged in trying to lead us to it. The pressure, both spiritual and social, to ignore sin and pretend that things are great is no small thing in the life of a leader.

As long as the enemy can keep us making excuses and rationalizations for our sin, the longer he can keep us in bondage to it. But Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."  When we don't confess sin, personally or corporately, we allow ourselves, like the Israelites of old, to be led away into bondage. This is not God's plan for us, and the solution is so simple, yet so easy for our pastors to ignore because it is uncomfortable to do.

The beauty of confession though, is not in the confessing. We do not earn forgiveness by confessing our sin, although the Bible clearly says that we are forgiven when we do. (I John 1:9)  The beauty of confession is just as Prata stated above: it is not until we understand the full extent or our crimes, and allow them to truly break our hearts before the Lord, that we can comprehend just a little more the immense, immeasurable love and mercy of our God.

When we bring Him our confessions, and receive His unconditional love, our hearts are filled with love in return. When our hearts are filled to overflowing with that kind of peace and joy, knowing we are accepted through no fault of our own, then we can truly live the abundant life that will rock the world of people in our sphere of influence.

This is our prayer for our pastors this week. Join me in lifting them up, as we ask God to gently break their hearts for any unconfessed sin in their lives. We are not asking this out of malice, spite, or self-righteousness. We ask Him to do this because our heart's desire is to see our pastors living out their full potential, free from the yoke of bondage to sins from the past, conflicts in the here and now, and the pressure to leave things unconfessed in the church.

May the Lord set them free this week, that they "May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Eph. 3:17-19) Out of His love for us flows our love for Him. In our love for Him, we also must love His Bride, the Church. As we love His Bride, leaving nothing to scar or sever that relationship, we will see His Name glorified.

Adoration

Welcome to the Month of February!

    I want you to know this month that I am praying for you. You, who are willing to set aside time to pray for your pastors, who have made a commitment knowing it will be difficult to keep. Why should a few minutes a week be so hard? It sounds simple enough. But you and I know that the enemy will fight tooth and nail to keep you from this time of prayer. Not only does he want to keep us from praying for our pastors, knowing that prayer is powerful in the war between his kingdom and the Kingdom of Heaven, but he also wants to discourage you and convince you that you can't keep this commitment. The phone will ring. Your body will feel tired, sick, or in pain. The kids or neighbor or boss will suddenly need you. Do not be discouraged, my friends. We live with an eternal perspective, and a deep belief  in God's grace.
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ..."

Onward Christian soldiers
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before!

With that said, let's get started...

The goal for Operation P4P is to spend time in focused, intentional prayer for our church pastoral team.  One way we can learn how to pray with intention for any subject is by using the common acronym ACTS, which stands for:

Adoration,
Confession,
Thanksgiving, and
Supplication.

This month, in honor of Valentine's Day, we will be looking at each of these four types of prayer through the lens of marriage, and what marriage can teach us about how to pray for our pastors. The Bible says, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."  Eph. 5:31-32  Join me as we explore together this great mystery in praying for our pastors and churches.

POWER VERSE:
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. ..." Matt. 22:36-40

QUICK START PRAYER POINTS:
1. Pray that our pastors will not succumb to the temptation to let their love grow cold, and in so doing lead their congregation into "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof". (2 Tim. 3:5)
2. Pray that our pastor's personal times with the Lord be intimate and powerful, filled to overflowing with love and adoration for their Savior and Creator as they spend time in His Presence.
3. Pray that this overflow of love and adoration will spill out into their preaching, teaching and worship ministries, inspiring their listeners to want that same level of intimacy, passion, and purpose.


FULL PRAYER GUIDE:

    What is the number one thing you use to evaluate a strong versus a weak marriage? I think most of us look to one thing: How much do they love each other?  We look at all kind of indicators to make our judgement. How do they look at each other? With adoration, ambivalence, or animosity? How do they serve each other? Is it done joyfully, out of habit, or only for appearances? How much time do they spend together? Do they go out of their way to be together in meaningful settings? How do they talk about one another? Is it obvious from your conversations that they think of one another often with fondness, rarely at all, or only as a perpetual proverbial punching bag?

It is no secret, and no mistake, that in both the Old and New Testaments, God the Father is seeking one kind of person: One who will love Him with all their heart and soul. This week's Power Verse sums it up for us. Just as the bedrock of any good marriage must be a passionate, committed love, so must it be in our relationships with the Lord. And just as the depth of our love determines the quality of our service to our spouse, so does the depth of our pastor's love for God determine how he or she will serve Him.  And as shepherds of their flock, it is often the depth of their love, for better or worse, that will be caught by their congregation. We, and unbelievers, watch them to gauge how much of our lives this love for God is really supposed to involve, and how we are supposed to act as somebody in love. If all ministry hinges on this one thing, then it follows that this must be our first and most important prayer for those who minister to us.

    Jay Knockenhauer, in a March 2014 article on ReformedWorship.org, said this: "Pray that becoming a professional at spiritual things does not drown out love and devotion and joy. That trafficking in holy things does not render them common.  Pray that your pastor takes down the oxygen mask first before helping you with yours." (www.reformedworship.org/article/march-2014/how-pray-your-pastor/)  Being in ministry takes time, and time is limited. The temptation to prioritize the never-ending task list of ministry before spending meaningful yet frustratingly "unproductive" time with God is a real one.

But what happens when this compromise is made, and a pastor doesn't spend time truly seeking the Lord? The prophet Jeremiah said this, "For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered." (Jer. 10:21)  The word used here, "brutish", is from the Hebrew "baar", meaning senseless, stupid. Sometimes it is translated as "dull hearted". It is a verb derived from the word "beir", meaning beast or cattle.  It is our love for the Lord, our very ability to love Him, that gives us wisdom, and sets us apart from the beasts of the field.

When a pastor stops seeking Him, they become no better off than the beasts whose sole purpose is to labor from sunup to sundown to ensure survival. He becomes like an old man who has settled into the routine of the business of marriage and forgotten the purpose of it, which is to glorify God in his sacrificial love for his wife.  He loses sight of his higher purpose by losing sight of the object and origin of his love.  The result is failure in ministry, and ultimately the loss of precious sheep to that prowling lion who is always waiting in the shadows for leaders to fall. We must pray diligently that our pastors in every kind of ministry do not allow their ministry or anything else to overshadow their personal time with the Lord.  It is their personal edification as they spend time with our Heavenly Father that must be the wellspring of all their ministry activities.

    Pray, then, that when our pastors go into a place to pray and search out the scriptures, or choose worship songs, they are not just searching for something to share with those they minister to.  Pray that they are able to drown out the baaing of the sheep long enough to just simply spend time with the One their hearts desire. Pray that the Spirit of God will be poured out wherever our pastors find themselves. That the Presence of God in that place will fill them with such awe and reverence that they will be rendered speechless as new levels of comprehension of His glory fill their soul.

Dr. William Smith said in his 1901 Bible Dictionary that, "The highest form of adoration is that which is directed immediately to God Himself, His kingly attributes and spiritual excellencies being so apprehended by the soul that it is filled with rapture and praise, and is moved to do Him reverence. A classical instance is the vision that initiated Isaiah into the prophetic office, when he was so possessed with the sovereignty and sublimity of God that he was filled with wonder and self-abasement." (Isaiah 6:1-5).  (www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/adoration)  

May the wonder of His love fill them to overflowing! Pray like Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19,  "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." In addition, may the power of His holiness bring them to beg for His purifying work in their lives. Pray that the consuming fire of the Lord's Spirit will burn away any chaff that is polluting the harvest, that the washing of the water of the Word will replace any wrong ways of thinking with truth, that the blood of Christ will wash every sinful stain that would come between our pastor's souls and their Savior. As we pray that they will be empowered and their hearts prepared by God Himself, then we can begin to pray for the work that they must actually do.

   Elizabeth George said, "It is as your soul is constantly dwelling on the God you love and serve and on His awesome, holy presence that your behavior will show forth your reverence for Him and evoke the same in others...Your state of worship causes others to think of God, too, and will move them to worship right along with you. In other words, they will not be able to be in your presence without thinking about God." (A Woman's High Calling, Pg. 24)  This is the kind of persons we want to be in places of leadership and ministry in our churches, is it not?  We can pray that anybody will be blessed in their personal devotions, but we pray this intentionally for our pastors because we know that they will fulfill God's calling on their lives in the highest degree when their ministry is simply an outpouring of the fullness of Christ already in them.

So pray that when our pastors preach, the enthusiasm for God's Word is not contrived, but deeply experienced and communicated in all sincerity, inspiring us to go home and dig in to the riches His Word contains for our lives.  Pray that when our children's ministers teach the next generation, they teach with real joy and a heartfelt relish of the goodness of God that quickens these precious little ones to want to know Him, too.  For our youth pastors, pray that their passion and zeal for the Lord will pour out on our teenagers in power, equipping them to go into their schools and take a strong stand for the Lord, no matter what.  Youth pastors, especially, need prayer that they will be real with their teens, who seem to have a special radar for insincerity and are turned off by it in a moment.  Worship leaders need deep, deep places to draw from as they seek to lead us into the very thing we are discussing: the intentional adoration with words of our Creator, King, Savior and Friend. Pray that our worship leaders will be so anointed in their practice times that when service time comes, their spirits will already be in such a state of worship that we, as a congregation, won't be able to help but follow them into the Presence of the Lord.  Every ministry needs the Spirit of God to breath life into the work of the Kingdom, and His life is transmitted through those He has called to serve.

    We all long to see revival in our churches, and our country.  Our hearts burn within us to see the Holy Presence of God changing lives for His glory. This is why we pray. God has placed those He has chosen in the roles He desires, in order to bring this about.  This is why we pray for them.  "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (Jn. 4:23) God is seeking leaders who will worship Him, who will fall on their knees in adoration, filled with supernatural love.

 "...a deeper study of worship shows that it is more a thing of the heart and mind than a physical action or position. Jesus says worshippers worship Him in vain when "their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8).  Perhaps we can say worship means having a bowed-down head and heart as we adore and revere our Maker! It is an attitude of totally and unconditionally surrendering to the One we call our Master, our Lord, our God." (www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/CGG/ID/4781/Adoration)

 Pray that the hearts of our leaders will not be far from God, but closer than they have ever been. Then we will see the power of God flowing through them as never before in preaching, in teaching, and in worship.

Amen

 

 

 

Something New is Coming

Welcome to a new week, and a new(ish) year!

   First of all, I want to take a moment to welcome some new members to Operation P4P. I am so excited that two more churches here in Snohomish County are taking on the challenge to bless their pastoral teams with regular, intentional prayer! So, welcome to our prayer teams from First Baptist Marysville and Seven Lakes Baptist. God is going to do great things in our churches and communities as we pray. I have ZERO doubt, because His Word says He will!

   I also would like to apologize for not posting anything the last two Sundays. We were on vacation and it just didn't come together. (My pointer finger thanked me, however, for not trying to write a blog on my smartphone screen again.)  Thankfully, I am home now and with the Lord's help, will be consistent from this point forward.

With that, how can we pray for our pastors this week?

POWER VERSE:
Isaiah 43:18-19, 21 says, "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert...This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise." (KJV)

QUICK-START PRAYER POINTS:
(For those with limited time.)
1. Pray that our pastors will put the past behind them, both their successes and failures, and dream big dreams for something truly new to change our churches and communities.
2. Pray that God will bring all the "newness" that He wants to, in and through our pastors.  That every desire He has placed in their hearts will be clearly fulfilled, and they will be encouraged as they walk by faith and see the fruits of their labor.
3. Pray that our pastors and our churches (including ourselves) will "shew forth His praise" effectively and powerfully as He brings about whatever changes are needed.  Pray that He receives all the glory, for "every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights..." (James 1:17)

THE FULL PRAYER GUIDE:
(For those who have time to go more in depth.)

    Change is always a little frightening, isn't it? But it is, at the same time, exciting.  As much as most of us dread the unknown, we also dread the thought of doing the same thing over and over, year after year.  As we dig in to this new year, having had three weeks now to get used to the idea that yet another has flown by under the bridge of our mortal lives, it is a good time to think about doing something new.
Our pastor announced this Sunday some big changes coming to our church. Most pastors do something along these lines this time of year, don't they? So much so, that it almost becomes routine. Another January. Another time of talking about big changes, while not really expecting anything to change, or, dare I say, expecting to change anything we do in order to bring about said change?

    Yet in Isaiah, and all throughout God's Word, it is clear that change is in the heart of God. It is He who pushes us to be ever-changing, showing us new things about Himself so that we don't stagnate and think we know it all.  He loves doing NEW things, all the time. And if we are to show forth His glory to this world, we must be open to that part of His character being displayed in our lives, through...gulp...change.  Once our hearts are ready to accept the challenge to truly seek something new this year, then we can pray effectively and fervently. We can pray that this year will not be just another where we talk about change, but one in which we watch for it expectantly, and see as it actually unfolds before our very eyes.

     I believe that in this passage from Isaiah 43, we can find three things to pray about relating to any new vision that God has placed on the hearts of our leadership teams. First of all, in order to move forward, we need to pray that the past will fade away and not hinder the new thing that God is doing. Secondly, we can ask God to bring the full and complete work of change that needs to happen in order to bring new life to our church. And lastly, we can lift up our leaders and congregation as a whole, asking for help to "shew forth" God's praise as we ought to.

    Discouragement is a huge hurdle for our church leaders. Every year, they dream about God doing something big, something different, something that will really impact our community and change lives in the church. And without a doubt, every year the enemy is right there, telling them that the piddly amount of change they saw last year was a dismal failure in God's eyes, that they will never do anything significant for the Kingdom of Heaven, that they may as well just quit because surely someone else could do a better job than they ever could. Let's pray for our pastors this week that past "failures" will not hold them back from walking forward in full faith that God can and will do something truly NEW this year. Pray that they will "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old." Pray that God will remind them of the good things that have happened in the past as they have walked forward in faith and obedience. Ask the Lord to fill them to overflowing with a bold kind of courage that inspires them to conquer the urge to dream small and pray cautiously for little changes, in order to avoid disappointment and feelings of failure. Pray that they will have the faith to pray wholeheartedly for huge, out-of-this-world, unimaginable, amazing, miraculous, life-changing, community-changing, heart-changing things to happen in our church and community this year.

    The next thing we learn to pray from this verse is that God will accomplish every purpose He has in mind.  "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert..."  He does not say that WE will do something new. Thank Goodness, He doesn't say that it is up to us or our pastors to create rivers in the desert. No, the miraculous things that we long to see happen can only happen by His hands. The beautiful thing is that He wants to do them! I wish I understood how our prayers are connected to changes in circumstance, but I don't. All I know is that, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." (I John 5:14-15) We know it is His will and His heart to create life, because life is new, and always a miracle that only He can do.  So, let's ask with boldness for God to make pathways on rock-hard dirt, and rivers in the dry and lifeless desert. If there is any place that seems impossible to our pastors, that never changes year after year, pray that this year they will see a miraculous transformation, by the hand of our God.

   Lastly, let's pray this week that our pastors, our churches, and our own hearts will "shew forth" His praise. This is what we are created to do. This is what we are saved to do. And this is the purpose of the church. We are not asking for God to do something new simply because we are bored. On the contrary, we are begging for God to do something new because we recognize that we have become ineffective. We are in desperate need of His help if we are to live out our purpose as a church in our communities. Our pastors long to see believers growing and transforming into the image of Christ. They long to see unbelievers coming to know Christ. The newness of these events is a testimony to the world of God's love and intervention in the lives of men. And when the eyes of men turn to God, as they begin to comprehend His love, power, and mercy, He is ultimately glorified. Pray effectively and fervently for these things to happen, according to all that God has placed in the hearts of our pastors. Pray that He is glorified in worship, in the preaching of His Word, in the hearts of our youth, and in the lives of our children, down to the youngest toddler only beginning to comprehend the greatness of our God.
   
    Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (KJV)    God has a really big imagination, and He wants us to know He can do more than our biggest thoughts, our wildest imagination. Just look at what He created in one week! And He is always doing new things. It is His character to do so. When we move forward as a church toward creating something new, when our leadership has it on their heart to shake up the old way and try a new thing, it is showing forth the character of God.  As you pray this week for the past to be forgotten, for God to do all He has in mind, and for His people to show forth His praise, watch expectantly for His hand to move. Pray with power this week, my brothers and sisters in the Lord. God is moved when we pray with great faith. And yet, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matt. 17:20) So pray, with great or with little faith, and see what God can do!

So, How Does this Work...Exactly?

In a nutshell, here is the structure of Operation P4P:

What is it?

Operation P4P is a plan to bring structure and informal accountability to a concerted, united prayer front for the benefit of our pastors and, by extension, the Kingdom of God.

Secondarily, it is a plan to bless our pastors with tangible evidence of the love and support of their congregation. My plan for 2016, in my home church, is to present our "prayers" in October as part of Pastor Appreciation Month. But this can be done in any way, at any time.

Who does it?

Prayer Team Leader(s): Any layperson who has a heart to help bring a stronger, more effective prayer covering to their church leadership. The Prayer Team Leader will spread the word, covertly, to everyone they feel will be able and willing to commit to regular prayer. After recruiting as many prayer team members as possible, the leader's role is then to be the point person whom each prayer partner will report to. The leader will keep track of prayer times reported in 15 minute intervals, and keep a physical representation through some tangible medium. This could be a jar of glass stones, pebbles, small seashells, pennies, or anything that seems appropriate or meaningful for your church. At the end of a specified time, these collective and anonymous "prayers" are presented to the church pastors, to show them tangible evidence of the loving prayer time that has been given for them.

Prayer Team Members: Any layperson (non-pastor or pastor's spouse) who is willing to commit to pray for a specified amount of time at regular intervals. The role of Team Members is then to keep that commitment to the best of their ability while allowing grace and flexibility for, well...life.  Each time a Team Member prays for at least 15 minutes, they report their times to the Team Leader(s). This can be done in person, through an anonymous punch card system, or electronically, depending on the leader's and team's preference.

Prayer Recipients: Any person in your church who is fulfilling a specific, recognized leadership role, their spouse, and their children. Examples would be head pastors, associate pastors, children's pastors, youth pastors (oh my!), and worship pastors. This may be a whole team of people, or one person filling multiple roles in a smaller church.

When do we do it?

Operation P4P is not another program or meeting. The time allotted for prayer is completely determined by each team member as they feel led. I highly encourage each team member to find a partner who will help you keep your commitment by praying with you at a specific time, for a set amount of time, at regular intervals. 

For example, you could pray with a friend every Tuesday morning on the phone for 15 minutes. Or, you and your spouse could pray for five minutes every night before bed. You and your kids could pray for 15 minutes in the car together on the way to church. Or you could meet with a group in person for an hour once a month. It's really, truly up to you.

Each 15 minutes of prayer/person is then reported to the leader. The leader will be the only one keeping track, and only for the purpose of encouraging our pastors with the tangible gift when the time comes. This part is really important to the whole project, so please don't hesitate because you don't want to 'brag' about your prayer time. The leader will not be reporting any specific names or times: only collective prayers will be seen as little glass stones, each one representing 15 minutes that somebody spent in prayer for our pastors. 

How do we pray?

My goal is to post something once each week, hopefully by Monday morning, that will help guide and give ideas for things to pray about in relation to our pastors. With that said, the prayer guide is only meant as a supplement to whatever it may be that God is laying on your heart to pray for your specific church's pastors and circumstances. When you read the prayer guide each week at your own convenience, please take a minute to report in your prayer time to your team leader for the week or month as well.

Where do we pray?

As I said, the location you choose to pray in is completely up to you. Most of it will be done in your home, possibly over the phone, or in a friend's home if you are blessed with time for that kind of commitment. 

I am prepared, however, to invite prayer team members from my church to join me in times of group prayer in my home or at the church as needed. I have no specific plans for this at the moment. If I do send out an invitation, it will be completely optional, but I wanted to throw the idea out as a possibility at the start.  Your Team Leader may or may not do this as well.

Why is this needed?

Prayer is an intangible yet such a vitally essential part of the church. It is something we all know we should do, yet so often it gets pushed aside. Praying for our pastors gets pushed aside right along with everything else that life crowds out. Yet we all long to see God move in our churches in power, and we all know prayer is the key. I want to do everything I can to help us all be a part of the magnificent things God has promised to do as we pray, specifically as we pray together. That is why this plan is here.

Questions??

This is all very simple and clear in my mind, but I do realize the distinct possibility that I am not communicating some very vital components for those who can't read my mind. If something is not clear, PLEASE ask me to clarify. 

Thank you for prayerfully considering your part in Operation P4P! May you be blessed as you obey whatever it is God leads you to do.

Welcome to the Operation P4P Team!

What is Operation P4P?

A dream.
A vision.
A secret mission.
A hope for the future of the Bride of Christ. A response to a need I've observed.
An act of obedience.
A step of faith.
Above all, a blessing to those God has placed in positions of leadership in the church, and through them, to the Kingdom of God.

     Operation Pray For Our Pastors grew out of a time when my husband, kids and I were having serious discussions about our church. After five years, was this still where God wanted us to be? Or was there another body of believers somewhere we were being called to? Were the things we wished were different in our church reason enough to pull chocks and start over again? Or was it time to get serious about investing in this group of people we called our church?

    In the end, diving in deeper won out. And because of how God made me and what He's been teaching me in, about and through prayer, I'm jumping in headfirst with a plan that is all out. My goal is to see God radically transform our churches through focused, intentional, secret prayer by lay people specifically for our pastoral teams. I don't know of any other activity or program that asks so little for what can only be a transformational outcome.

    If you are reading this, it is because somebody invited you to join us on this mission. Do you believe that God's plans for His church are good? That He has placed the people who lead our churches where they are for a reason? Do you believe their specific blend of giftings are exactly what is needed? And do you believe that without prayer support, it is possible that they will never realize their full, God-given potential as leaders?

    I don't know how prayer works, but it is only logical to conclude that if things truly do change when we DO pray, it must also be true that things that COULD change WITH prayer will NOT change WITHOUT it. Maybe you already pray for our pastors regularly. I sure hope so, and look to you as an example to follow. My intention with this blog is to humbly support and enhance that time.

    If, like me, you have great intentions of praying for our pastors but never seem to make it a habit, my prayer is that this blog will get us started, together, as a team. And as we stand united in prayer over this next ten months (and beyond), we will see God move in miraculous ways in our church. I know those who sacrifice their lives to be in ministry want to see that happen. And I want to help them in the most powerful and effective way available: by prayer.

Join the Team?