I am Praying for You
The practice of praying for each CrossPointer by name, out loud, is one of the most gratifying disciplines I have added to my daily routine in a long time. Yes, praying for you is a burden. Paradoxically, the prayer routine is also refreshing.
Praying for each member of CrossPoint is changing the way I lead this church. It is also changing the way I lead our staff.
The more I pray for you, the more God works on me. Here are a few examples of the way God is working on me.
The more I pray for you, the less I try to do for God what God wants to do for you.
To state it another way, the more I pray for you the more I let God do what He wants to do, and, hopefully, the less I get in his way. (See yesterday’s blog about doing for God what God wants to do for me or you).
The more I pray for you, the more I pray for you.
Pardon my redundancy, but it is true. The more I pray for you, the more time I spend praying for you. Praying for you by name, specifically, each day is a contagious discipline. I suppose you could say prayer is contagious.
The more I pray for you, the greater my burden is for you.
Pastors are always burdened for their sheep. The more I pray for you, however, the deeper my burden grows. That burden, I believe, augments my preaching for you each week. That burden compels me to be more faithful to the Scripture each Sunday.
The more I pray for you, the better I know you.
I know that sounds strange, but there is an intimacy that the Lord develops through prayer. For example, I saw a CrossPointer the other day in public. We exchanged quick greetings to one another and then went our own way. Soon after walking away from them, I prayed for them, their spouse and their children. I think it was a natural result of praying for them on a consistent basis.
One of our Bible study leaders showed me how he has made a prayer card for every member of His Bible study class, so that they can pray for one another. He has also added our staff to their list. He told me he did this because he was following our staff’s example. If you are not doing so already, I challenge all of our Bible study leaders to piece together a simple prayer list for their class which includes the name of the members on their roll. Distribute the list and ask your class to begin praying for one another. Give me a report as soon as you see the first results of your prayer.
Thank you for the privilege of serving as your pastor. Moreover, thank you for the privilege of allowing me to pray for you.
Praying for each member of CrossPoint is changing the way I lead this church. It is also changing the way I lead our staff.
The more I pray for you, the more God works on me. Here are a few examples of the way God is working on me.
The more I pray for you, the less I try to do for God what God wants to do for you.
To state it another way, the more I pray for you the more I let God do what He wants to do, and, hopefully, the less I get in his way. (See yesterday’s blog about doing for God what God wants to do for me or you).
The more I pray for you, the more I pray for you.
Pardon my redundancy, but it is true. The more I pray for you, the more time I spend praying for you. Praying for you by name, specifically, each day is a contagious discipline. I suppose you could say prayer is contagious.
The more I pray for you, the greater my burden is for you.
Pastors are always burdened for their sheep. The more I pray for you, however, the deeper my burden grows. That burden, I believe, augments my preaching for you each week. That burden compels me to be more faithful to the Scripture each Sunday.
The more I pray for you, the better I know you.
I know that sounds strange, but there is an intimacy that the Lord develops through prayer. For example, I saw a CrossPointer the other day in public. We exchanged quick greetings to one another and then went our own way. Soon after walking away from them, I prayed for them, their spouse and their children. I think it was a natural result of praying for them on a consistent basis.
One of our Bible study leaders showed me how he has made a prayer card for every member of His Bible study class, so that they can pray for one another. He has also added our staff to their list. He told me he did this because he was following our staff’s example. If you are not doing so already, I challenge all of our Bible study leaders to piece together a simple prayer list for their class which includes the name of the members on their roll. Distribute the list and ask your class to begin praying for one another. Give me a report as soon as you see the first results of your prayer.
Thank you for the privilege of serving as your pastor. Moreover, thank you for the privilege of allowing me to pray for you.
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