II Timothy 1:7 - "Nobody"

A night of little sleep means a night of a lot of praying. My 'normal' Saturday night of praying for pastors was full of prayers. I prayed for...

• all pastors to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them
• Pastor Scott, the Lexington, and the Mansfield First congregations as they merge today
• Pastor Mike as he ministers to a friend with the loss of her husband
• a pastor with two board members who resigned this week
• Doc and my two pastor friends dealing with cancer to have God's supernatural strength
• a pastor who is not feeling well, with little voice
• pastors who are neglecting their family to have open eyes
• the pastor and congregation of the Hispanic Spartanburg Church of the Nazarene as they meet in other facilities due their church burning down
• military chaplains who are ministering to our service men and women
• pastors with people in their congregation that argue and push their political stance

Throughout the night when I was awake I thought about how the title 'pastor' means so many different things. Some people see the pastor as their spiritual leader. Others see them as someone who is there only when they are needed in a time of crisis. I desire people to see me as someone they can confide in, there in 'good' and 'bad' times, and loves them with Jesus' love. I love when my friend tells people in the assisted living home that I'm a pastor. She does not remember a whole lot but it seems like she remembers things that mean a lot to her. She knows I pray with her and others in the facility as God leads. She also knows I love her with His love. I'm not there in an official pastoral role yet she sees me as a pastor. That warms my heart. During the night the song Nobody kept going through my mind.

'Cause I'm just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me
You gave my heart a song to sing
I'm living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus

Yes! The desire of my heart is for people to see Jesus through my words, actions, and attitude. I desire for people to be in relationship with Him as I am. I'm just a nobody but God called me to love with His love. He called all of us to love with His love. I have seen many pastors who have allowed people in their life to take their focus off of God. My heart breaks for them. God is the Only One we should answer to. He is the Only One we should strive to please. We do not have to fear the 'what ifs' of people leaving the church, getting mad at us, etc. All we have to do is stand on II Timothy 1:7 and allow Him to empower us to be who He has called us to be. He will never let us fail as long as we are walking in obedience to His will. Failure can only come when we fall out of His will. We need to stay prayed up to make sure that does not happen. My heart was heavy during the night with church situations/pastors who appear to not be focused on God. As I prayed, God revealed to me some lessons I need to learn from these situations/pastors. The most important one is to not put people before Him. To do this, I must stay living in His presence. He also brought to my mind the importance of practicing His love through my words, actions, and attitude. Once again, to do this I must stay living in His presence.

Dear Jesus,

I don't understand why I had such a rough night with little sleep but I thank You for the time of praying You gave me. I also thank You for the lessons learned through our time together. Lord, may You be with all the pastors and situations I prayed for during the night. May You be greater than the 'junk' people bring into the church. May You be greater than people's self-desires. May more people realize the importance of living in Your presence. Lord, I pray for a cleansing in my spirit this morning so I can walk in obedience to Your will. I pray for You to ooze out of me in a new, different way today. Father, be with Scott and the two congregations as they become One Church today. May the transition be smooth as they walk in Your will. I also pray for many pastors who are not feeling well or dealing with a disease such as my husband to have Your supernatural strength. I pray for spiritual strength for the pastor dealing with board members resigning this week and for Mike as he ministers to one who lost her husband. May Your words be upon her lips. I continue to pray for the Spartanburg Hispanic pastor and congregation with the loss of their church. Lord, there are so many situations within churches. I pray for the Methodist Church with the turmoil they are having over something that is Biblically wrong. May they get back to the foundation of Your Word. Thank You Father for Nancy who prayed for me during the night! I am so grateful to know there are people lifting me up in prayer support. Thank You for being My Focus! Amen.