October is designated as Pastor Appreciation Month. Its origins go back to the early 90’s as H.B. London with Focus on the Family saw the need to encourage battle-weary pastors. The reality is the origins of pastor appreciation can be traced back to Bible and how they cared for their spiritual leaders.
Pastors experience high levels of stress. They lead the charge against evil within the frontlines of spiritual attack. The expectations can be unrealistic. They struggle with feelings of inadequacy, discouragement, and even depression. The dropout rate among pastors is alarming.
Think about it, people who work in a business can go home and leave their work there. However, a pastor and his family find themselves on call and relentlessly living the role every single day. Loneliness and burnout are both real. Many pastors are just plain tired, beat up, passionless, or overworked. It shouldn’t really surprise us how many pastors have been leaving the ministry or succumbing to temptation.
How can we change that disturbing trend? It’s as simple as praying for your pastor and his family.
One pastor said, “Your prayer support is my lifeline.” I can relate to that statement. There were friends of mine such as John Lowry and Fred Shumake, who weekly came by my pastor’s office with no other agenda but to pray for me. I cannot put into words how much that meant and looking back, it still means more than words can express.
Monty Walters was another godly man who became like a Jonathan to me praying with and for me on a weekly basis.
I could talk about my friends, Ray Willis or Carl Watkins, who pray for me daily. They ask for specific things to pray for and they’re some of my most faithful prayer warriors. These men remind me of a story in the Bible when Joshua and the troops were fighting in a valley.
“Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’s hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So, Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword” Exodus 17:10-12.
Moses had Aaron and Hur up on the top of the hill and those two men were tasked with holding up Moses’ arms. When they did so God’s people would prevail in the battle in the valley below, and if his arms grew weak then, the enemy prevailed. I’m extremely thankful for the Aarons and Hurs in my life.
How could you be an Aaron or a Hur in supporting your pastor? Practically speaking, use this list to pray for your pastor: Pray for humility, wisdom, health, spiritual armor, provision, positive relationships, protection, rest, anointing, yielded heart, effectiveness, fruit of the spirit, holiness, integrity, accountability, personal growth, strong marriage and family, evangelistic opportunities, and global missions mobilization.
Check out these resources “Praying for Your Pastor” by Eddie Byun or “Partners in Prayer” by John Maxwell. And remember to pray for your pastor’s wife and children.
Ponder what author C. Peter Wagner wrote: “I’m personally convinced that the following statement is true: ‘The most under-utilized source of spiritual power in our churches today is intercession for Christian leaders.’” Seek to be a consistent Aaron or a Hur. Praying for your pastor is one of the best ways to show appreciation for your pastor.
Bob Burton is Associational Mission Strategist for Salem South Baptist Association.