Intercession for Denominational Leaders

          The lists that I use in my daily intercession include the names of the global leaders of my denomination.  For many years, these were often just names to me and I did not personally know the people who occupied these positions.  However, in the later years of our ministry in the denomination, these people were also those we had served with during the course of our ministry or they were personal friends, whom we had opportunities to spend time with socially as we met with other leaders from various parts of the world in conferences. 

            I believe it is important to pray for those who are in denominational leadership.  They often have difficult decisions to make that can determine the destiny of people whose lives are impacted by those decisions.  What a huge responsibility that is.  Also, there is no guarantee that they will make the right decisions, even though the intention of their hearts may be pure and they are seeking divine wisdom for the choices they make.  They are still human and can make mistakes.  That is why they need our support rather than our criticism.  Praying for them helps us to keep a balanced perspective.  We do not expect them to be infallible, but we know that even if they err, God is still sovereign and can bring good out of the resulting situation.  It may even turn out to be more beneficial for the individuals concerned than if another decision had been made. 

            Another reason that we need to pray for our spiritual leaders is that they become the targets of spiritual warfare.   They clearly fulfill a mandate geared toward the building of God’s kingdom.  We do not talk a lot about spiritual warfare these days.  I will post a blog about it a little later, because it is also part of my daily intercession. At this time, I am bringing it up as another reason to remember in prayer those who occupy positions of authority in our ecclesiastical structures. 

            Personally, I choose to pray daily for the top three or four people who are responsible globally for our denomination.   I remember each one by name and pray for them in a daily rotation.  In addition, I pray for the national leadership of our denomination, and well as for regional and local leaders.  Having served in denominational leadership myself, I know how grateful I felt for the prayer support we received, so I am glad to do my part to encourage those who bear the burden of leadership today.