Thursday, February 23, 2012

October has been designated as Pastor Appreciation Month. I realize we are way past that, but may I suggest that you remember the people who minister to you everyday?
Let me give you a look from the inside. I'm a pastor's wife who finds myself praying for my husband to have the strength and stamina to make it through his days. Not only physical strength and stamina but emotional and spiritual. On any given day (or night), he may spend several hours at the hospital, stop by the office to conduct counseling, be called back out because someone is being rushed to the hospital, and then return to the church in time to lead Bible study or preach a sermon that he could only study for late at night because of full days. Throw in weddings and funerals, and very little down time is available. Often church members only know a small amount of the time put in by their ministers. Time and lack of sleep put demands on bodies. Love and care for their congregation put demands on emotions. Personal grief must often be suppressed.
If you haven't made it a habit to pray for your minister everyday, why not add that to your prayer list? If you do pray for your minister, try asking if there are specific things you can pray for him.
The best way to show your appreciation for the ministers who serve you is to pray for them personally everyday. Minister's families wouldn't mind if you threw in a little prayer for them either.

No comments: