How often do you pray for your pastor?
Eddie Byun, lead pastor of Crossway Mission Church in Seoul, South Korea says not only does your pastor benefit from your prayer, but you and the entire congregation will as well.
“I can actually testify that once we got all of our church members committed to praying for me and the leadership of the church every day, people said they completely could tell a difference in our Sunday gatherings. They really did start to sense the presence of God in a more tangible way.”
Eddie says he also recognized a difference in his personal life as well.
“I just started feeling a lot more in rhythm to what I thought God was asking us to do. There was a lot more clarity to my thinking, even my sermon preparation was stronger.”
According to Eddie, his church isn’t unique. Other churches around the world have testimonies much like his. He explains that a research group in Arizona commissioned prayer groups to pray for local pastors in varying degrees; they discovered shockingly similar results.
“Some prayed daily, some prayed weekly, some prayed monthly, and all of the pastors that were prayed for noticed heightened sensitivity to God’s work in their lives. They noticed greater fruitfulness in their lives and in their ministries.”
They also found out that the pastors that were prayed for daily saw the greatest increase in the effectiveness of their ministry.
“They concluded through this study and this experiment that prayer impacts and prayer matters in the lives of people, but also daily prayer matters even more than weekly or monthly prayers. We know God is present everywhere, but we’ve seen in Scripture that God draws near people and places that are prayed for. Where there is prayer the presence of God is there in a special way.”
Eddie Byun is lead pastor of Crossway Mission Church in Seoul, South Korea. He is also professor of practical theology at Torch Trinity Graduate University and the author of Justice Awakening: How You and Your Church Can Help End Human Trafficking.
Key Scripture: Acts 20:24
Featured Songs: The Lion & the Lamb – Leeland; The Great Day – Michael W. Smith; How Love Wins – Steven Curtis Chapman
Praying for your pastor
