Pastors at Prayer

Prayer is an integral part of the Holy Ministry. It is part of the ordination vows. I cannot imagine how any pastor would fulfill this promise without a list. I realize that the ordination vow doesn’t mandate the frequency of the prayers not dictate that the prayers be specific or by name but I think that is the spirit of the if. I think the expectation is intercessory prayer, by name and need as they are known, and probably at least weekly. I don’t know how to do that systematically without a list. So the first think I think everyone who has made this vow needs is a list. If the list is too large to be prayed through daily, I think the goal should be to divide it by no more than seven so that it is prayed in its entirely at least weekly.

The next thing needed is a set time and order for the prayer. It needs to be on the calendar. Most of us will do better if this is a public event so that it can’t be as easily skipped. If, for example, the pastor has a public Matins service every day at 9:30 am wherein, along with other things, he prays through his list, the time will be guarded and since he doesn’t know if anyone wills how up it will be harder for him to skip it for the sake of Youtube videos or busy work.

That largely takes care of the ordination vow. But pastors also get a lot of additional requests for prayer. We have all agreed to offer these prayers and then forgotten to do it. We’ve likely also felt guilty about it — as we should. I was terrible at this in my early years in the Ministry. It is embarrassing and shameful to remember. Part of my problem, I think, was that I was overwhelmed with other things — trying to figure out how to preach, how to lead the congregation to a better place, etc. But part of it was also that I didn't have any sense that Christianity was a discipline. I had a misunderstanding of the Gospel that was close to thinking that the Gospel simply took care of everything. I think this caused me to undervalue prayer and to think that doing so was somehow freedom in the Gospel. Mea culpa!

Here is how I handle it now. I have a list of the whole congregation and school. That list is divided by 5 so that I am praying for everyone once a week on weekdays. That covers 95% of the requests and those requests do tend to come to mind when the name is read. The other requests are largely requests that go on the congregation's lists — of which we have two. One is for the announcements on Sunday morning and the other a longer, ongoing prayer list that includes all the shut-ins, etc. All the Sunday requests automatically go on the longer list. I typically take any prayer request as a request for public prayer and announcement unless the person is explicit or the fact that it must be private is obvious. I use the longer list for my personal prayers and Saturday Matins. The fewest prayers are actually said on Sunday.

Do I ever agree to pray for someone's sick aunt and then not do it? Yes, but not very often. The system isn’t flawless and I don’t carry it with me at all times. I think, though, besides my lists my attitude helps. Simply being very intentional and serious about prayer requests has helped. I am not making the promise flippantly. I also usually ask people to write down or e-mail me the prayer requests they are making, particularly when they ask in the receiving line after Church. Part of the burden lies on them. Prayer requests shouldn't be simply small talk or an afterthought.  

I am writing this, btw, in a hotel room on a laptop. I expect that means even more grammatical errors and typos and confusion than normal. Nonetheless, I hope it is of some help and encouragement for this important aspect of the Office of the Holy Ministry.