In my message last week I talked about providing a prayer shield for the leaders of the church. This is something NECF has been encouraging Malaysian churches to do for many years now, but it’s not something which I have stressed. Partly because it’s so self-serving. Everybody needs prayer, not just the leaders. In fact, it may even be argued that the leaders should instead be praying for the members. Shepherds are meant to look after the sheep and protect them; not the other way round.

To use the words of a well known pastor, “This is true but inadequate.” Of course, all of us should be praying for one another. All of us have needs. All of us need the prayer support and prayer covering from the Body against the attacks of the evil one. However, clearly, the leaders of the church are the chief targets of the enemy. As I said last Sunday, if the leaders should be “taken out” by the enemy, the church will immediately be in serious trouble. The church may not disintegrate but it would be in disarray. It may even take a long time for the church to recover, even if new leaders are found to take over. In the meantime, the effectiveness of the church is gravely diminished, to the delight of the devil.

At the risk of sounding self-serving, I will still ask you to pray for your leaders. I encourage you to pray at least once a week for the Elders and myself, the Deacons and especially the Pastoral Staff (because we are ones at the forefront of ministry in PJEFC). I would also urge you to pray for the Ministry Leader under whom you serve and for your Cell Leader. And please don’t forget our families. Without our families standing by us, we’d be seriously handicapped.

There are a thousand and one things you can pray for us. The following are just some suggestions. Pray for our:
• Protection against physical, emotional, mental and spiritual attacks
• Protection from discouragement, distraction and disunity
• Deepening relationship with God
• Growth in spiritual passion and maturity
• Development in wisdom and ability to serve the Lord and His church
• Humility in leading and unity in the leadership
• Family members

Pray for us by name. And should the Lord speak to you about us, please feel free to share with us. We’ll certainly weigh up the word carefully if it is something we should act upon. Thank you for praying for us.

PrSH