Praying for God's Church and It's Leaders to Boldly Proclaim the Good News of Jesus!

Are you praying for Christ’s Church? Are you praying for your pastor or pastors? Today, May 21, I sat and visited with friend, Jerry Simpson. Jerry is a member and an elder at Our Redeemer where I am now serving as vacancy pastor. However, Jerry is also the Executive Director of Alaska Mission for Christ, the mission arm of Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregations in Alaska. As we visited, I shared the following with Jerry. “I pray for you, personally, daily. I pray for you as you lead AMC, that AMC may ‘boldly proclaim the gospel’ of Jesus.” Jerry was appreciative. Truly, I have been praying for AMC and for Jerry for quite a few years.

Perhaps you know, or perhaps not, that St. Paul requested such prayers for His work as an apostle. In Ephesians 6, after encouraging Christians in Ephesus to “put on the whole armor of God,” (Ephesians 6:11) Paul then asks prayers for Himself. “. . .keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18 b-20) Paul knows the challenges and struggles of sharing Jesus and His Gospel. Paul knows that He needs help for this task. Paul, therefore, asks for prayers that God’s will be done through his work, that he “boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel”

The word ‘gospel’ comes from the Greek and means good report, or good news. God’s Good News is that Jesus, the Son of God, came to save us from our sin. Earlier in Ephesians God inspired Paul to describe ‘the Gospel.” THIS is God’s good news! “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:4-9) In other words, we were eternally dead because of our rebellion against our Creator and Lord, because of our trespasses and our sins. However, the Heavenly Father ‘made us alive in Christ.’ We did not earn this new life. The new life is a gift, it is grace, found only through Jesus. Jesus IS The Good News!

Paul also writes in 2 Corinthians 4:5, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.” God’s good news, His Gospel is all about Jesus!

In truth, when I pray, I do not just pray for Jerry. I pray daily for the whole Christian Church on earth to boldly proclaim Jesus’ Gospel. So, I have actually been praying for the new pope, Pope Leo, for faithful and bold proclamation of Jesus. I also pray for those who lead where I have served or serve, that their leadership may enable churches to boldly and faithfully proclaim the Good News of Jesus. Therefore, I pray daily for Matthew Harrison, president of the LCMS. I pray for Mike Von Behren, president of the Northwest District of the LCMS. And I pray daily for my brother, James, president of the Florida-Georgia District. I pray that these servants may lead congregations to boldly and faithfully proclaim Jesus and His saving work.

It is also good to let you know that, just because I pray for these leaders, does not mean I always personally agree with what these leaders do, or how they lead. Just because I pray for ‘bold and faithful proclamation of the good news of Jesus does not mean that they accomplish these goals. But, I do know that sharing of the Gospel is the desire of our God and Savior. I also know that humans in positions of godly responsibility need our Lord’s help and guidance. So, I pray for them.

Do you pray for the whole Christian Church on earth? Do you pray for your pastor or pastors? Serving as a spiritual leader is difficult, and our leaders do need God’s help. Please join me in praying for these leaders that God’s will may be done, that they “boldly . . . proclaim the mystery of the gospel.”