II Timothy 1:7; Ephesians 6:10-20 - "Overwhelmed"

I love Saturday nights as God directs me to pray for pastors. I prayed before going to bed because I was afraid I wouldn't wake up with the way I was hurting. Silly me! He wakes me when He desires not when it works in my sleep scheduled. When He woke me, He told me to pray for all pastors to have the full armor on before going into the pulpit. He reminded me of the importance for everyone to have it on at all time but especially pastors. This morning I read the section of Scripture in Ephesians 6 that tells us what we are to do.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

During the night I was thinking about how God was stressing the importance of pastors having the armor on when going into the pulpit. It made me realize just because we are in a church it doesn't mean the enemy isn't lurking. He comes in various ways through people. We must be protected from the arrows sent our way through words, actions, or attitudes. The enemy would love nothing better than to tear down a pastor but we do not have to fear him. Instead we need to stand in God's love and empowerment given to us in II Timothy 1:7. Many people remember the armor as being: belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, shoes of peace, and the sword of the spirit. But there is another piece found in verse eighteen. Prayer. Paul asked in verses nineteen and twenty for prayer...that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. That prayer should be the prayer of all pastors. God has called us to declare the Gospel so others will come into relationship with Him. Being a pastor is not about preaching or teaching. It is about having fruit of saved souls. It is about loving with God's love in a manner that will have others desiring His love to guide their days. It is about not listening to people but to God. It is about not living in fear of the enemy but living in the knowledge that God knows the end of our story. We don't have to worry about when or how financially the building will be finished. God already knows. We don't have to worry about how we can get more people to come to church. God already knows. We don't have to worry about how upcoming events will turn out. God already knows. Plain and simple. God already knows. Woo hoo! During the night God reminded me of a service when we were in our first few years at Willard. One Sunday a month the older children stayed in from Children's Church. Those who did not have parents sat with different people. One particular Sunday I had a seven year old with special needs girl sitting with me. At the end of the service she just sat there staring up at the area above the pulpit. That was so unlike her because she was always on the go. I asked her what was wrong and she replied, "Did you see them?" She went onto explain how while Pastor Doc was preaching she saw angels over him. She told me they were so beautiful as they gathered over him. She said they stayed the entire time he was preaching. Wow, God! He gave a vision to this little girl of God protecting Doc while he preached. She talked and talked about it. I shared it with various ones to make people realize the importance of us praying for our pastor and for our pastor to make sure he was prayed up especially when he went into the pulpit. God desires to not only love on us but to love us enough to protect us from the enemy. All we have to do is love Him back with our obedience to what He calls us to do. Moving to South Carolina was scary in many ways in the human sense yet so exciting in the spiritual sense. Knowing we were walking in obedience was exciting but knowing He was with us every step of the way was more exciting. Walking by faith, trusting Him is the best way to live. Life has been challenging in many ways. Getting the congregation into a church building has been one of the biggest challenges. Now we are down to the completion of the rehab with not enough finances to complete. I know God is going to provide because He did not bring us here to fail. I also know we have to continue having His wisdom in all decisions and continue to allow Him to do His will in His time. As a human, it can be difficult to work in His time but we cannot manipulate one thing but instead continue to walk by faith knowing He knows what is best.

Dear Jesus,
Thank You the reminder of the importance of having on Your full armor at all time! Thank You for the privilege to pray for pastors last night! Thank You for the reminder of what little Serena saw one Sunday in the vision You gave her! Thank You for giving Doc strength to go to the wedding yesterday! I pray You will give him strength to not just go to church but to glorify You in the process. May You shine through the words You gave Him to preach in a mighty way! I pray the same for all pastors going into the pulpit today. I pray for those who will be filling the pulpit for those at Pastor's Retreat and for Pastor James as he is in the pulpit in Willard. I pray for my pastor friend who started back on chemo this week to have Your strength. I also pray for Steve as this is his last Sunday before returning to the pulpit. May You continue to strengthen him. Father, go before all pastors and give them what they need to walk in obedience to You. Thank You for being My Protector! Amen.