Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: Regardless of your leadership role—pastor, teacher, Sunday School leader, lay leader, youth leader, missionary—adapt this to your situation.
Plan your intercession for your people.
You will be sure to fail God and your people unless you have a regular prayer plan for your intercession times. If anything in life is worth planning, surely this is. (Google image, Man with uplifted hand).
a. Reserve a special daily time for your intercession.
This is as important as setting apart time for preparing your messages or for visiting your people. This should be daily time, choice time, when you are physically alert and able to intensive intercession.
In addition, God will bring your people and their needs to your attention at special times at the particular moment when someone needs your prayer. When God thus specially prompts you, as far as possible put other work aside instantly and pray.
God will also bring your people to your prayer attention as you work, travel, as you have moments when your mind is comparatively free. As their leader, your people should constantly be on your heart, even as they were on the heart of Paul.
b. Have a place where you intercede for your people.
If you have a private room, you can make that your prayer closet. It is an added blessing when you have a special place to pray.
When I visit John Wesley's house in London, I always treasure the the time I can spend praying quietly in his prayer room at the top of the stairs.
c. Have prayer lists of your people.
God greatly blesses the use of prayer lists. There is strong evidence that Paul used them. You will also want special lists—of unsaved people you are seeking to win, of leaders of your nation, of missions needs (nations, people, ministries), a prayer-partner list (people in whose ministry you want to share by prayer), a family list. Your major responsibility, as shepherd, is your prayer list or lists for your own people.
Jesus said the good shepherd calls his sheep by name (John 1:3). If a shepherd knows the name of each sheep, how much more should the spiritual shepherd pray by name for each one of his flock.
Hudson Taylor, founder of the China inland Mission, used to pray for every mission station, every missionary by name, and every specific need and circumstance of which he was aware. His prayer lives on in China today.
It may be that the greatest change that could come in your life and ministry would be for you really to learn to pray for your people and for your ministry among them.
d. Plan how you will cover with prayer the needs of your people.
If your congregation is too large to pray for each one personally each day, plan ways to include regularly all for whom you are spiritually responsible and accountable to God (Heb. 13:17).
You may need to segment your list so that you pray for a portion of your congregation each day of the week. Perhaps you will want to have a list of family names so that you do pray each day for each family by name.
You will want a constantly changing "need list" on a separate sheet of paper with the special needs of your people as they arise. This would include sickness, accidents, bereavement, unemployment, special discouragement, or trial. As your people begin to realize how personally you pray for each of them, they will gladly share their needs as they arise so you can more effectively be their prayer shepherd.
e. Have a prayer plan for major needs of your people and community.
Special concerns and major needs weigh heavily on the heart of every pastor. If your congregation is small, perhaps you can pray for them all each day. If it is large, you will need to plan your prayer with separate topics for each day of the week.
Among your major prayer concerns for your people as a whole are unity, integrity, godly living, a praying people, witnessing people, revival, a growing church impact, a worldwide church impact, God's presence in your services.
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#76 Suggestions For Your Prayer Role (original posting)
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 231- 234) ZondervanPublishingHouse
Father, thank You for the hard times because they have made us stronger, wiser, and more compassionate toward others. Help us not to waste what we’ve been through, but to use what we’ve learned about You through the struggles to help someone else get through theirs. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Today's quotes-
696-700 one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-
696- Job 16:5 "But I would strengthen you with my outh and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief."
697- Ps. 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer."
698- Ps. 111:4 "He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion."
699- Eph. 2:18 "For through Him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father."
700- Ps. 143:5 "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works, I muse on the work of thy hands."
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