pray for those who lead you

What I am sharing today is tied to what I shared yesterday.  We talked about wisdom and how different the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God is.  I have found loads of insight and strength in the verses from James 3.

Early this week I shared an article with our church leadership team that used these verses to encourage people to pray for their church and it’s leaders.  The article is titled “7 Ways to Pray for Your Leaders” and can be found at the DesiringGod.org website.  It is a great read.

I’d like to ask you to join me in pray and specifically praying for these 7 things.

James 3:17 NLT

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

Years ago I heard Pastor Johnny Hunt ask that people pray that he would remain “close and clean”.  That is a powerful request that falls in to this vein.  It is also a way that you can pray for me and other church leaders.

Pure - Pray that we would be pure in our conduct, blameless, meaning “above reproach”.

Peace-Loving - Pray we would love peace and seek it.

Gentle - Wisdom from above is gentle.  Pray we will have enough confidence in God to trust his will and ways, and play their part in his plan with patience and gentleness.

Open to Reason - Good leaders are good listeners … be quick to hear, open to reason, and easily persuaded by good sense, argument, and rationale.

Full of Mercy and Good Fruit - True wisdom is inevitably practical. It comes out in action.  The church ought to be the most mercied collective on the planet.  Pray we will overflow with fruit and His endless mercy.

Impartial - Impartiality is an especially important virtue for leaders.  The impartiality of God is a clear, and often overlooked, theme in the New Testament.  Pray we would be honest, far and clear as we deal with and even think of others.

Sincere - The term literally means “without hypocrisy.”  Pray we would be transparent people who live and lead with humility and sincerity.