The Lord woke me multiple times during the night to pray for pastors. There were different things He had me pray for but the one that kept coming back to my prayers was for pastors who would be in the pulpit this morning and the Holy Spirit would take over. First of all, He had me pray for the pastors to be open to this. Second, He had me pray for the people to respond. Third, He had me pray for the Spirit to not be quenched by the pastor or the people. When we say 'yes' to the Holy Spirit being in charge of our life, we have nothing to fear. II Timothy 1:7 reminds us that God does not cause fear but instead is the root of love and empowerment. The enemy is the one who causes chaos and fear in our life. He is the one to make us think others are against us. God does not have any part in negative. He is only a positive God. He may allow negative things to happen in our life but that is for our own good. When He is in control and negative things happen, our faith is taken deeper. We must remember that. We also must remember when negative things happen, they are not always from the devil. Therefore, we should not always give him the credit. One time when He woke me to pray, He gave me a vision of a pastor kneeling to pray before going into the pulpit. Prayer is key for all of us but especially for pastors. We cannot be the leader God called us to be if we are not in communication with Him. We also need to be the example for others by living such a life. When we allow God to have total control of every aspect of our being, we will be setting the right example for others. We are not perfect but people need to see us striving to be Christ-like. They need to see us living a life where every decision made is done through Him. They need to see us live out the storms of life with His peace and in His strength. The only way to live such a life is to confess our sins and ask for a cleansing in our Spirit. This needs to happen daily. God had me pray for pastors that are trying to minister to people when they are not in this kind of relationship with Him. He had me pray for ones who have taken on a life of feeling like they are 'ok' in their spiritual life just because they are a pastor. He also had me pray they will wake up before they fall. Some nights of praying are tougher than others and last night was one of them. There are times when praying for others makes me emotional and this was one of them. Maybe it's because I am a pastor myself that makes it that way. I know pastors seem to be watched more than others. I also know there are many pastors and their families who feel like they live in a fishbowl. Pastors and their families are just ordinary people but God has called them to be leaders which means they will be watched more closely. I pray every day for God to cleanse me so He can fill me. The desire of my heart is to live a Christ-like life. That does not mean I won't make mistakes. I am human so I will. But it does mean I will strive to not sin. It also means I will strive to love with His love. God had me pray for all believers but especially pastors to love with His love more. Dear Jesus, Thank You for a night of prayer for pastors! Thank You for loving me enough that You give me this responsibility of intercessory prayer! Lord, cleanse me so You can fill me with more of Your Holy Spirit. I know that is the only way I can strive to live a Christ-like life. Ooze out of me in a new, different way throughout this day. Father, I pray You will be with Doc today. I pray You will empower him to preach without issues and not just get through the service but to be bold in his spirit. I pray for people to respond to what he preaches. Lord, I also pray once again for all pastors to be open to the Holy Spirit to take over their sermons today. I pray for all pastors to be prayed up so they will be ready for whatever You have in store for them. Lord, I pray for Your love to ooze out of all pastors. May You be greater than our earthly bodies. Thank You Jesus for being The One Who Has Called Me! Amen.
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