Pray for Your Pastor

I am a regular guy with a distinct call.

My responsibilities in life are as follows:

1. Love God will all my heart, soul, mind and strength

2. Love my neighbors as myself

3. Care for my wife

4. Raise my children according to the Word of God with the hope of the Gospel

5. Pastor a church and spread the glory of God throughout the world

As a pastor, I and my family face distinct challenges. These challenges are not unlike those of other leaders. The main difference is that the competition I’m working to edge out is an ancient evil. Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The upside is that my boss can’t be beat. So in Christ I win. 1 John 5:4-5 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

There are pressures a pastor and his wife face that are unique. Good men who have served well are falling into sin and being disqualified from service. Please pray for your pastor and ask God to provide a hedge of protection around him and his wife and children.

Here are some statistics to motivate you.

Pastors

• Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
• Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
• Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
• Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
• Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
• Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
• Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
• Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

Pastors' Wives

• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
• The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.