Prayer for Pastors on Sunday Morning

In my daily reading was this passage in Matthew:

At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Mat. 11:25-30)

First… Jesus prayed this prayer – so it’s important.

Second… The real message will be hidden from those who think themselves wise.

Third… We must be childlike to understand.

So, Lord, let me be childlike as I look at this prayer. Let me trust and absorb rather than examine.

My Father has entrusted everything to me.

No one truly knows the Son except the Father,

and no one truly knows the Father except the Son

and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

So Lord, what has been entrusted to you and who will you reveal it too? With child-like faith, help me to understand.

Help me to trust in what you are getting ready to say…

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you.

Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy to bear,

and the burden I give you is light.”

At times the lot of being a pastor is to carry heavy burdens.

Burdens for yourself and your family… finances, sickness, grief

Burdens for your church family… so many struggles within your church

Burdens for your community… reaching others for Christ

At times the burdens of being a pastor can be more than any one person can bear. Yet you are expected to step into the pulpit each Sunday morning or work within the congregation each Sunday morning and bring God’s Word as a message of hope. At times, it seems impossible.

But Jesus says, (With a warning to accept this with childlike faith.)

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.

This morning in the midst of my own burdens, I stopped analyzing and started to simply accept.

Jesus, I am weary and the burdens seem heavy. Help me to simply accept the rest you offer. Help me to accept your yoke.

Maybe this is a gentle reminder that the burdens I feel do not have to be mine alone just as the burdens you feel are not yours alone. As you step into the pulpit, may you know this morning that Jesus took on those burdens a long time ago.

So rather than analyze -- Take a moment and feel the presence of Jesus simply giving you rest, and shouldering the burdens along-side you.

As Jesus relieves you of your burden, he then says,

Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Jesus is walking beside me relieving me of my burden. He is teaching me through the example of his humble and gentle spirit and in the midst of that teaching…

I am finding rest for my soul.

I feel better already. I feel less alone. I feel a part of something so much bigger than… me.

For my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light.

Thank you, Jesus.

Today, like many of you, I will be stepping into the pulpit.

Today, I feel the burdens shift and grow lighter. I will teach the way Jesus would want me to teach: My burdens no longer heavy will no longer interfere with Your Word.

I pray for you… the same.