Psalm 26-Prayer for Your Pastors and Elders: Supplication through the Scriptures

Psalm 26

Prayer for Your Pastors and Elders

But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 NASB


Our pastors and elders have a sobering and yet joyful task as they lead their local church. They are responsible to the Lord to faithfully shepherd His church teaching them the Word of God, living before them as an example, comforting the hurting, evangelizing the lost, and many other things. A faithful man who is striving to honor God in this role will feel the weight of these responsibilities and rejoice in this great privilege the Lord is equipping and has equipped him to carry out by God’s grace. As part of their local flock, let’s support them in prayer.

A Man Proven, Tested, and Tried

26:1-7 Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds. 

Heavenly Father, I pray for my pastor(s) and elder(s):

▫️He would walk with integrity and a clear conscience as he leads our church. 

▫️If he is receiving criticism, You would vindicate him where he is walking with You and honoring You, but he would also seek to grow in areas of weakness.

▫️Those who are ruling well would be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17). 

▫️He would be an example of wholeheartedly trusting in You for his congregation to imitate.

▫️As these current times have been difficult, he would not be tempted to give up or turn away from You or his calling to shepherd the church of God.

▫️He would examine his own life according to Your Word and be careful to confess and put to death any sin in his life, so that he may be ready to admonish and exhort his congregation to also flee from sin and cling to the Lord.

▫️He would faithfully preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, and to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and instruction (2 Timothy 4:2).

▫️As he faces his own times of spiritual refining through various trials, he would hold fast to the truths of Your Word and not grow fainthearted or weary. Strengthen him by Your power to endure the weight of suffering in ministry.

▫️Through the study of Your Word, he would come to know Your steadfast, faithful love that You have shown Your people throughout all generations and it would be ever before his eyes. You would equip him to communicate Your greatness to those who hear.

▫️He would recall to mind that Your lovingkindnesses never ceases, Your compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness, and he would walk in that faithfulness with confidence in You.

▫️You would surround him with brothers in Christ who will help to bear his burdens.

▫️He would be careful of the companions with whom he chooses to associate closely. He would avoid bringing into his confidence liars, deceivers, hypocrites, evildoers, and the wicked.

▫️Each time he stands up to preach the Word, he would recount to his hearers the wondrous deeds of the Lord and our proper response of gratitude and living for His glory.

▫️He would have a deep love for God, an intimate walk with the Savior, a humbleness and gentleness from tasting the goodness of the Lord, and a heart of compassion for the people of God.

Blessing the Lord in the Great Assembly

26:8-11 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes. But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.

Lord, I pray for my pastors and elders:

▫️He would love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells, and he would have a fervency for You and Your name to be proclaimed, not only in his own congregation, but throughout the world.

▫️You would guard him from those who would seek him harm in any way.

▫️You would keep him in Your ways, delighting in Your Word, and meditating on it day and night.

▫️Rescue him from any situation, person, discouragement, sin, distraction, or anything else that would hinder his service for You as an elder shepherding the people of God.

▫️You would make all grace abound to him, that always having all sufficiency in everything, he would have an abundance for every good deed (2 Corinthians 9:8).

▫️He would carefully guard his heart by Your help so that he would walk in integrity and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11).

▫️He would rest securely in You, the keeper of his life.

▫️Sunday after Sunday, he would faithfully bless the Lord in the great assembly.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


Though the psalmist is still suffering from some adversities, he knows that the one who loves him will not permit his feet to stumble…His confidence is in the Lord’s ability to keep him.

VanGemeren, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary


Psalm 26 quoted from the ESV.

Photo credit to cosmictimetraveler

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Mother’s Longing

Image
A Mother’s Longing “…in your faith you are standing firm.” 2 Corinthians 1:24 It is not surprising that 3 John 4 is so often quoted by Christian parents in their deep desire for their children, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (NASB). This is the deep longing of my heart as a mother. I want my children to truly know Christ, to walk in His ways, to love His Word, and to be committed to His church. I desire to be able to say to them, “in your faith you are standing firm” (2 Corinthians. 1:24). Am I being a faithful steward of my role as a Christian mother? Are my actions reflecting this deep desire to see my dearly loved children walking in the truth?  As we head into this new year, it is wise to both look back and look forward. The new year offers us many possibilities to grow and change and also to continue to persevere in the things that God, by His grace, has enabled us to carry out faithfully. If one of my deepest longings is to see ...
Read more

A Piercing that Drives Us to Our Knees

Image
A Piercing that Drives Us to Our Knees: to the mothers of the brokenhearted and the wandering Where there is a praying mother there is always hope. J.C.Ryle From the time our children are a positive line on a pregnancy test and then placed in our arms for the first time, our hearts as their mother are intricately intertwined with theirs. The first cry brings tears and joy, such inexpressible joy. And then they grow, and we love to see them exploring, learning, and developing their personalities. But the moment they come home having faced rejection for the first time, or they struggle with a mental illness that leaves us feeling deeply inadequate, or we get an email from the school that they’ve been caught cheating, each taste of sorrow and sin that they taste, we experience as well. The words spoken to Mary could be the gentle warning each mother must heed, “and a sword will pierce even your own soul”(Luke 2:35).  I’m not sure our children will understand until they become parents ...
Read more

Don’t Give Up, Mom: when mothering makes you weary

Image
  Don’t Give Up: when mothering makes you weary Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we never give up… 2 Corinthians 4:1 ESV, NLT Mothering can have seasons where weariness and discouragement lie right at the surface. Perhaps it’s a physically exhausting time, maybe spiritually you’re struggling or a child is, maybe it’s just busier than normal and it’s hard to juggle everything without feeling stressed out, or maybe it’s hard to even find a reason why you’re struggling. It can be so many little things, or big things and little things, and you just want to give up, even if only for a little while. You wish you could run away and rest, clear your mind and breathe. How can we faithfully persevere through motherhood, each of its season, and each season’s hardships?  As I studied 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, I wanted to see how Paul could say, “we never give up.” Studying this book, I have come to appreciate the tenacity of Paul and his steadfastness through so many diffic...
Read more