Pastoral Prayers
What is a Pastoral Prayer?
This can be defined as a prayer of a church service that typically includes thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and other elements. The prayers of the church are important for the spiritual growth of the church.
Wait, you write your Pastoral Prayers before the church service? Aren't Prayers supposed to be made up and spontaneous?
I do often write my Pastoral Prayers ahead of time and yes, sometimes prayer can and should be spontaneous. But, we find our ultimate outline for prayer in the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ found in Matthew 6:7-13 (ESV):
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Because this prayer is written for us in scripture, it is best to pray the way that we are taught by Jesus. Oftentimes, Pastoral Prayers follow the pattern of this prayer. Sometimes the Pastoral Prayer focuses on an attribute of God. Sometimes they work through a particular area of theology. Sometimes they are trinitarian. Rest assured, that if your pastor is reading a prayer he wrote ahead of time, he labored over it like he did for his sermon, and it should be edifying for you and the church.
And as always, praying through Scripture is a wonderful way to commune with the God who formed you!
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