The School of Prayer Part 5: Praying for Spiritual Leaders

Thank you so much for joining us on the line of fire. Michael Brown, class is in session as we continue in our digital school of the Word and Spirit. The school of prayer is our focus these weeks. I'm praying it will be life changing for you as it is life changing for me to teach on this. Teaching on prayer in this conservative way, I haven't done it in this conservative way in a long time.

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If you're getting the frontline newsletter, enjoying it, tell a friend, encourage them to subscribe. Today, I want to talk to you about the importance of praying for your spiritual leaders. Praying for your spiritual leaders.

This is another way that we are co-workers with God. Praying for your spiritual leaders. Look at some of Paul's prayer requests. Romans 15, 31 and 32. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord's people there so I may come to you with joy by God's will and in your company be refreshed.

He doesn't just take it for granted that this is all going to happen. He said in the previous verse, join me in my struggle by praying to God for me and here he says, pray that I may be kept safe from unbelievers in Judea and he goes on from there. 2 Corinthians 1 verses 10 and 11.

After Paul survived something where it looked like it was all over, he said we felt this sentence of death on us. He said, 2 Corinthians 1, 10 and 11, he has delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us as you help us by your prayers. Paul and his team, some of the greatest men and women of God who have been on the planet in terms of perseverance and heart for the gospel, they were helped by the prayers of the Corinthians. Then he says many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted in answer to the prayers of many. God wants to move, God wants to bless, God wants to deliver so he moves on his people to pray or in our hearts we feel I've got to pray, I've got to do something, we work together with God. Philippians 1, 19, Philippians 1, 19, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I'm in prison now, I'm in prison in a Roman cell for my faith, I'm writing to you, I'm encouraging you to rejoice but I'm telling you through your prayers God will work out his purposes during my imprisonment.

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said in a message called Brethren, Pray for Us. It was based on 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 25. 1 Thessalonians 5, 25. And by the way, there are many other instances of Paul asking for prayer or encouraging prayer.

I just read a few samples there. Look at what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5, 25. Brothers and sisters pray for us. That's it, that's the verse. Brothers and sisters pray for us.

Listen to what Spurgeon says. This one morning in the year we reserved to refresh the reader's memory upon the subject of prayer for ministers and we do most earnestly implore every Christian household to grant the fervent request of the text first uttered by an apostle and now repeated by us. Brethren, our work is solemnly momentous involving will or woe, so blessing or judgment to thousands. We treat with souls for God on eternal business and our word is either a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Spurgeon said a very heavy responsibility rests upon us and it will be no small mercy if at the last we be found clear of the blood of all men. As officers in Christ's army, we are the especial mark of the enmity, the hatred of men and devils.

They will watch for our halting and labor to take us by the heels. Our sacred calling involves us in temptations from which you are exempt. Above all, it too often draws us away from our personal enjoyment of truth into a ministerial and official consideration of it.

We meet with many knotty cases and our wits are at a nonplus. We observe very sad backslidings and our hearts are wounded. We see millions perishing and our spirits sink. We wish to profit you by our preaching. We desire to be blessed to your children. We long to be useful both to saints and sinners. Therefore, dear friends, intercede for us with our God. Miserable men are we if we miss the aid of your prayers, but happy are we if we live in your supplications. You do not look to us but to our Master for spiritual blessings, and yet how many times has he given those blessings through his ministers? Ask then, again and again, that we may be the earthen vessels into which the Lord may put the treasure of the Gospel. We, the whole company of missionaries, ministers, city missionaries, and students do in the name of Jesus beseech you, brethren, pray for us. I remember as I worked together with our leadership team at Fire Church and Fire School of Ministry for many years that I didn't often like to ask for prayer for me because we had a whole team of leaders. And the team of leaders was multifaceted, and many of us were traveling out on special missions across America and around the world. Many others were laboring heavily in our city, in our school, and I thought to say, please pray for me, I'm doing this and that, it would be drawing attention to me. And I realized, wait, wait, wait, wait, this is not about me, this is not about the team, this is about the work, this is about God's work.

And I thought of this analogy. Let's say that you are with a group of soldiers. You've been trapped behind enemy lanes, behind enemy lines, and there's only one way to tell the rest of the army where you are so that they can help get you extricated.

And someone is going to have to sneak through enemy lines. They're going to have to go through a very dangerous route in order to get to a place where they can now safely communicate without the communication being intercepted, and then word can come so you can get rescued. So let's say you are chosen to go on the mission and you say to the others, pray, pray that I make it. Well, it's not about you, it's not that you're trying to save your life, it's that you want to save the lives of others.

It's that you want to get your fellow soldiers out of this deadly situation. So when you're saying, pray that I make it safely, pray that I get through, it's not for your sake, it's not for your good, it's not because you're trying to save your life, but because you're trying to save other lives. So when your pastor, when your leaders, when missionaries that you support, when they ask for prayer, yes, part of it is for them, maybe they're going through health struggles, maybe they're going through struggles in their family, but ultimately they're asking for prayer because of the mission, because of the dangers of the mission, the difficulties of the mission, because of the sacredness of the mission, because of the importance of the mission. And we all recognize without your help, without your prayer, we will not succeed.

Without your help, without your prayer, we will fall short. I covet the prayers of God's people. There are folks who regularly pray for me. There are two leaders in particular, two brothers that contact me weekly. One of them leads a house of prayer, another leads a missions team overseas, and once a week they'll contact me and they'll say, Dr. Brown, what can we pray for on a daily basis? I am indebted to them, they are truly armor bearers for me, and then they will get with their prayer teams and they will pray once a week together.

I was in Israel with one of these leaders and he showed me his phone, he goes, oh, here it is, and the alarm went off. It was a reminder to pray for me daily. And so many times around the world I run into people, I say, Dr. Brown, I pray for you every day. Sometimes it moves me to tears to hear that. People I've never met.

It's not because Dr. Brown is important. No, I'm nobody. I'm a worthless wretch outside of the grace and goodness and mercy of God.

My only value is in him and through him and by him. But I have a mission and that mission is important. I have a mission to reach Jewish people with the gospel. I have a mission to help spark revival in the church. I have a mission to help stir a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution. It's completely over my head. It's bigger than me.

It's impossible. But with the help of your prayers, I can see that mission fulfilled. Your prayers make a difference.

Pray for your leaders. We'll be right back. Let's hear what TriVita customers are saying. Dr. Brown, I can't wait to tell you, those supplements are absolutely amazing. My strength has gone up. I was doing weight that I haven't done since my 20s. I usually ride my bike to the gym and then on the way back after I've done my weight training, I'm huffing and puffing. And on Sunday, I rode my bike there and back and I had so much energy. I'm telling you, the combination of the nitric oxide with the mild health, amazing.

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1-800-771-5584 or online at TriVita.com. All right, we're going to press in a little bit more as to why your prayers for leaders are so important. Thank you for joining us on the Line of Fire.

I'm going to go pretty quickly through some points. But remember, everything's archived on our podcast, Courage in the Line of Fire. We can listen to all previous episodes and teachings for months and years of live radio. And now a whole series on getting to know the Holy Spirit. Now this series on prayer, all archived in the Courage in the Line of Fire podcast. So if that's how you're going to listen, just subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Or go to our YouTube channel, The Line of Fire on YouTube, and you can take in everything there.

All of the classes, our free classes are archived. So here are some further reasons why you should pray for leaders. This is kind of expanding on what Spurgeon said. We're talking in particular spiritual leaders, obviously political leaders, government leaders as well. But first and foremost, spiritual leaders. Even though there's no clergy laity distinction in the body, we are equally saved, we are equally cleansed, we are equally priest to God. We all have equal access to God through the cross. But there are some who are called to leadership roles.

James Jacob chapter 3 verse 1 says that those who are teachers of the word have greater accountability. I was talking to a former pastor whose full-time work now is doing teachings for internet. He spends many, many hours every week working on that. And his reach has expanded. When I first interacted with him a few years ago, I didn't really know who he was.

Now he's got a massive internet reach. And I said, how does that affect you? And he said, well, if being a pastor, a teacher of the word, you're accountable.

He said, how much more accountable am I now that I'm speaking to these massive numbers of people? That's a good reason to pray for leaders. Much has been given, much is required. A second reason that your prayers for leaders are so important is that the successes and failures of leaders have a ripple effect on many lives. If the leaders are thriving, many will thrive.

If the leaders fail, many will be hurt. So we are not invincible. We are not invulnerable.

We are like everyone else. We can be taken down. We can be taken out. We can be strengthened. We can be weakened. So we covet your prayers.

We really covet your prayers. Number three, we are uniquely targets of the devil since he knows that if he can get to us, he can get to you, thereby hindering or even temporarily thwarting God's work, ultimately bringing reproach on the name of Jesus. So Satan understands that. If he could take out Paul, think of the implications of that.

If he could take out Peter, think of the implications of that. If he could hinder or slow down someone that's really doing important ministry work, reaching many people in this world, that's a big win for Satan. So just as we are prime targets of Satan's attack, we love to be prime recipients of your prayers. Number four, we face unique attacks and pressures since we not only carry the burdens of our own lives, but also the burdens of the flock in the world. So all of us are connected to other people one way or another. So you're not just dealing with your own life. You're also dealing with the lives of others. And, for example, you may be battling sickness in your own life, and maybe you've got an older son.

Maybe you're in your 50s. You have a son. He's having real struggles in his business, and that weighs on you. And then you've got a daughter, and one of her kids is really struggling, getting adjusted to a new school and is depressed. So you care about all these things, and you pray for yourself and you pray for other family members. But when you're, say, leading a congregation, you're now aware of maybe hundreds or maybe thousands of needs. And you feel the weight of that and the responsibility for the well-being of the people within the church.

Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 11, 28 and 29, 2 Corinthians 11, 28 and 29, of the care that he felt for all the churches. So there's an extra burden on us. Therefore, your prayers help us carry those burdens.

Number five, you can join us in our struggle by praying for us. Say, Dr. Brown, you're really on the front lines. You know, you're in the culture wars. You're involved in Jewish evangelism, apologetics and debate. You're involved in church controversies.

Yeah, I am. I'm wired for it. I'm called to it.

Trust me, I couldn't do what you're called to do. We switch places, and I collapse, you collapse. We get in our right place.

We both thrive, and we love it. But yeah, I'm under attack day and night. You can join with me in the battle by praying for me.

And the same with other leaders that you support and learn from and benefit from. Whatever they're carrying, you can join with them in their struggle by praying for them. Romans 15, 30, 32 verses we looked at earlier. Peter made it because Jesus prayed for him. Oh, and Jesus intercedes for us.

That is amazing beyond words. Hebrews chapter 7. Luke chapter 22 verses 31 and 32.

That's how Peter made it. Jesus prayed for him. Peter's delivered from prison because the church prayed. Acts chapter 12. Paul knew that his welfare was greatly dependent on the prayers of the saints.

There's one note in the commentary, the expositor's Bible commentary to 1 Thessalonians 5, 25. Paul depended on his converts' spiritual support. So number six, it's not selfish for leaders to ask for prayer. It's a confession of our own frailty and a recognition of the need for the support of the whole body. And although leadership requests for prayer can at times be motivated by pride and a sense of self-importance, it's certainly prideful for any of us to think that we don't need prayer. You know, I may have an inflated view of my own importance. Pray for my calling. I have a very significant calling in the earth. I need your prayers. Come on, I'm just full of myself.

That could be the case. But it's also the case that we think we can do it on our own. Friends, I'm not too proud to say I need your prayers. Your pastors, your leaders, those that minister to you, they shouldn't be too proud to say we need your prayers. We're doing God's work. We're under pressure. We're under attack. We need your prayers. Number seven, prayer and intercession put a shield of protection around us. Oh, yes, your prayers make a difference.

Your prayers may be the key to weakening a fierce attack, revealing an ambush. I remember in, oh, let's see, the mid 80s, it's got to be the end of 83, 84, maybe a little bit after that, maybe into 85. But around that time, two friends came over, a couple that we were close with. And the wives were doing something.

Nancy and a friend were doing something. And the husband and I were downstairs in our house together. And we just were praying. And when we prayed, he was stunned. He was troubled. He was stunned.

What was the matter? He said, I saw an attack coming and one of us got mauled. He didn't want to say it was me.

I thought, well, maybe you. So Nancy came down and, OK, what's going on? And he told him, she said, well, who? And he said, well, Mike's going to come into real attack.

Mike's coming into real attack. And we prayed and the attack came, but it was blunted. It was an ugly assault by some believers that were against me.

And they tried to discredit and slander. And God had our backs and nothing came out of it. But there was an attack and it was a little difficult to go through, but it was greatly blunted. I know those prayers helped blunt the attack. So your key, your prayers may be the key to weakening a fierce attack or revealing an ambush. And I knew the attack was coming and then I went to pray.

It made a difference. Your prayers helped to hold up our hands. Exodus 17, Moses, the mighty man of God, when he holds his rod up, Israel triumphs.

Joshua's defeating the Amalekites. When his arm gets tired, he puts the rod down and now they're losing. So they sit Moses down on the rock, Aaron and Hur, on either side. And Moses holds the rod up with both hands and they stand on either side and hold up his hands. Oh, friends, it is such a powerful image. But your prayers hold our hands up.

I've had it happen over and over and over the decades. Your prayers literally hold our hands up. Your prayers help cover our families. Many times our spouse is under attack. We get the prayers, not our spouses.

Our kids are under attack. Your prayers help cover our families. Your prayers inspire us to greater service, greater devotion, greater purity. When I meet people praying for me, it further encourages me to run the race and to seek to set an example and to seek to honor the Lord all the more. So, my friends, my brothers and sisters, most of us will never meet in this world, but we are connected.

You are family and you are part of our school of the Spirit and the Word. I'm encouraging you. I'm urging you.

I'm beseeching you. Pray for your spiritual leaders. And if you see our faults, our weaknesses, our failings, pray that we'll be stronger. If you see our bad habits or things that could be better improved, pray for us instead of speaking against us. Pray, oh Father, help Pastor so-and-so, help Brother so-and-so, help Sister so-and-so.

Help them to be everything you've called them to be. It is with your help, with your prayers that we will see massive harvests come and we get to rejoice in it together. Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying. We continue next week.

This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the Word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to TheLineOfFire.org, TheLineOfFire.org and click donate.