The battle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness rages relentlessly, as indeed it must. There can be no truce between these adversaries; one or the other must be destroyed. Thankfully, we are in no doubt about the outcome. The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Revelation 11:15).

As we saw in our last article, one of the victor’s weapons in this cosmic conflict is preaching. And the preaching that will prove lethal against the gates of hell, is preaching that is empowered by the Holy Spirit in response to the prayers of the people of God.

The Church Advances Best When on her Knees⤒🔗

The importance of prayer shouldn’t really surprise us. The great Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, envisioned a glorious dawning of a new age in God’s redemptive purpose when the Church, peopled by Jews and Gentiles, would have emblazoned on it “A House of Prayer for all Nations”. What’s more, one of the means to accomplish this goal is the goal itself.

For the righteousness of the Church to shine out like the dawn and her salvation like a blazing torch so that the nations will be attracted to her, the Church must not keep silent nor remain quiet (Isaiah 61:1-2). They must call on the Lord and give neither God nor themselves any rest until he fulfils his promises (Isaiah 61:6-7). The kingdom of God makes gains when the gospel of the kingdom is preached and when the Church prays. We might even say that the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ makes her most significant advances when she is on her knees.

So how should we intercede? What are the things that they should be praying about? There must be intentional prayer both for the preacher and for the listeners and in this article I will highlight some of the things we need to plead for our ministers.

Prayer for the Preacher←⤒🔗

Paul’s appeal to his readers to pray for him always encourages me. Scripture paints a heroic image of the Apostle.

He stood before kings and governors and even appealed to Caesar. He spoke before bloodthirsty crowds. Speaking before Governor Felix he discoursed so powerfully about righteousness, self-control, and the judgement to come that Felix was afraid and asked Paul to leave.

Indeed, Paul was a great man. But his greatness was not in himself. Paul admitted that he was a clay jar (2 Corinthians 4:7). He understood the temptations of the fear of man, the seduction to speak or act to please others. The attacks of the evil one plagued him and he was not ignorant of Satan’s opposition to the gospel. Paul, like every preacher, was a sinner given the tremendous task of being an ambassador for Christ. And he was not competent for the task.

What then was the secret to Paul’s strength? It was the power of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit was prayed down upon him. “Pray for me,” Paul writes in Ephesians 6:19. “Brothers, pray for us,” he pleads in 1 Thessalonians 5:25. “Brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured,” he asks of the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 3:1. “And pray for us,” he writes in Colossians 4:3. Paul, personally appointed by the risen Christ to be his ambassador, recognised how impoverished his ministry would be without the prayers of the people of God.

How Should we Pray for Ministers←⤒🔗

I want to suggest seven particular concerns gleaned from the letters of the apostle Paul that Christians should pray for their ministers.

Firstly, believers should pray that their minister would be a praying preacher. Ministers can be tempted to trust more in their ability than upon the power of God working through them. One can be diligent in work and negligent in prayer. The Apostles in Acts 6 wanted helpers so they could give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. This characterised the Apostle Paul’s ministry too. Not only did he teach and preach to the Ephesians he also prayed for them (Ephesians 1:16ff).

Secondly, the people of God should pray their minister would be kept from theological error. Doctrinal aberration is one of Satan’s best loved schemes to derail the Church of God. Paul says that an elder must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it (Titus 1:9).

Thirdly, the saints need to implore the Lord he would spare ministers from a hypocritical preaching. An ungodly life will either close the mouth of the minister or the ears of the hearers. The congregation will not receive the Word from a man who is not living it. Ungodliness in either the minister or his family robs the preaching of its power. This is why Paul insisted the minister must be blameless, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined, with his family well managed (Titus 1:7-8 and 1 Timothy 3:4).

Fourthly, Christians need to pray that ministers would be protected from laziness in their study. Ministers need the grace of God to do their best to present themselves to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). Because ministers often have little supervision over their time (other than the weekly deadlines) it can be a struggle to use time properly.

Fifthly, the congregation must intercede for their minister that he will not succumb to a scratching ministry. Paul warns in 2 Timothy 4:3 that a time will come when people will not endure sound teaching but will have itching ears and will gather around them teachers who will say what they want to hear. It is a great temptation for ministers to tailor the Word to satisfy the congregation. Paul knew this struggle as well.

In Ephesians 6:19-20 he twice asks for prayer so that he would fearlessly declare the Word of God. A minister’s confession must be the same as Paul’s to the Ephesians elders in Acts 20:20, “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.”

Sixthly, believers should pray that God would help ministers preach with clarity. Paul asked the Colossians to pray that he would proclaim the mystery of Christ clearly (Colossians 4:3-4). Preaching doesn’t need to come with eloquence or superior wisdom. Preaching must be simple, giving the meaning of the text and its application to contemporary life while holding forth Christ.

Finally, Christians must pray that ministers will preach with love. First of all, with love for Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul remarked that it was the love of Christ that compelled him to be the ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14). George Whitefield wrote that ‘we can preach the gospel no further than we have experienced the power of it in our own hearts.’ He who has no love for Christ cannot preach with conviction about Christ’s love.

But a minister must also have love for the people. Paul said, again to the Corinthians, we have opened wide our hearts to you and are not withholding our affection from you (2 Corinthians 6:11-12). Prayers must be offered so that God’s servants will preach with hearts full of love for Christ and Christ’s sheep.