There is no greater gift you can give your pastor and the spiritual leaders of your church than to pray for them. Pastors cannot win the battle alone; they need committed intercessors to lift them up in fervent, specific prayer. Leaders are human—they face the same challenges that their people do, with some additional ones! They grow tired in ministry, are tempted to sin, and may find it difficult to balance their many roles and responsibilities. They need the encouragement and support of those they lead.

Prayer for your pastor and leaders is crucial to their spiritual health as well as the health of their families and your church. Let them know you are praying for them. Ask them for any specific prayer requests, and assure them you will pray accordingly.

Use this daily guide with accompanying scriptures that suggest practical ways to pray for those who provide spiritual leadership for the flock. If you would like prayer to receive daily reminders by email every morning in October, enter your email address in the box below.

October 6, 2016

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:23-33 (NIV) view whole chapter

Ask God to protect the marriages of your leaders, as a model of Christ’s relationship with the Church. Pray that husbands tenderly cherish and lead their wives and wives respect and encourage their husbands.