Romans 1:8-12
“8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all,
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the
gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my
prayers;
10Making request, if by any means now at length I might have
a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
11For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some
spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
12That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the
mutual faith both of you and me.”
I often wonder if other ministers do as Paul did in these
verses? Brethren, do we pray for the people we are about to go fellowship with
and/or preach to? Do we desire for the Lord to prepare the people for our visit
as He prepares us to preach His Word? Are we concerned not only for the souls
of the lost, but what of the feeding of the lambs and sheep?
I am not referring just to the congregation you may be
leading each week. But also to those Fellowship Meetings or Bible Conferences
you attend and participate in. What of those sick and elderly you may go visit?
Do you pray for these before you go? Do you seek God's will for your visit? I
am sure you pray before preparing your words to speaking. But what of the
hearers? Do you pray the Lord will give them the understanding of the message
He has given you? Do you pray the Lord will give you a blessing from them also?
As ministers of the God we must make a practice of praying
for these things. It is of utmost importance before going to preach/teach
others that we pray to our Heavenly Father for guidance and for liberty to
speak the truth. We should be praying the Lord uses the Words He gives us to
reach those who He has put in place to listen for His honor and glory and not
our own.
I encourage you to pray for the folks you are going before
to bring God's Word. Follow the example Paul speaks of in these verses.
Child of God, do you pray for the speaker before he comes to
speak? It works both ways. We should begin praying as soon as we find out a
visiting preacher is coming. We must pray God gives him the message we need to
hear and that the message God gives him will be a blessing to all in
attendance. As brothers and sisters in Christ we should desire to be a blessing
to the man God sends. Whether he is our pastor or if he is just visiting for a
special occasion.
As a minister and having traveled and met many of God's
people in many different areas, it is always a blessing to hear them say they
have been praying for your visit and that they will pray for you while you are
there and even after you leave. What a blessing to know others are praying for
you and your family!!!
Ministers, let the people know you pray for them. Brothers
and sisters, let the minister know you pray for him. Love one another as Christ
set the example. Pray one for another. We all need pray.
Praise ye the Lord!!!
Stephen McCool Sr.
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