OT: I Need Prayer

Jerry Bush said:

My heart is heavy for many reasons - some I understand and some I don't

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Beloved Pastor Jerry, I have prayed for you,I give what the Lord has put in my heart. 2 Tim 4:17

Jerry,

Asked God to give you a sense of His presence in and with you, a reaffirmation.

Asked God to encourage you and to give you a renewed sense of His direction.

Asked God to empower you and to utilize you and the gifts He has entrusted to you to make measurable impact on the people around you.

Asked God to open doors of opportunity to share your faith and assurance with those who need Christ and asked God to give many of those folks saving faith and to move them to transfer their trust to Jesus and be born again.

Asked God to give you health and strength, to renew and build up your relationships, to fill you with His Spirit, to open His word to you and give you renewed understanding and new insights to encourage you and share with others, and to draw you close in your walk with Him.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Jerry,

I am praying for you as well. I too am a Rural Pastor (coming up on 25 years at the same church) and know the struggles. If i can do anything else let me know, but most of all I will take you before the Throne.

In Christ,

Nord

My thoughts and prayers are with you Jerry.

Jerry Bush said:

I am a Pastor in a rural, small-ish church (175 or so on Sundays

While much younger I was a second staff person in a church that size.

There were many crisis and difficult challenges that faced the Senior Pastor.

I realize that today there are many mega-churches, But 175 at worship on a sundau is "not" small.

It can produce "many" difficult challenges.

Be assured of my prayers and heart felt concern also.

All the best

 

Jerry, I too am a small church Pastor. Our church is not a "mega church" like 175 average on Sundays; rather we average between 30-40. Two weeks ago I was ready to resign. In fact on Monday morning I was going to call the chairmen of our deacons to set a meeting and let him know. But I had no peace in my spirit and knew that it was not God's will. As I opened His word he led me to several different passages but the first chapter of Colossians really jumped off the pages (okay the computer screen[;)]).

I ended up preaching a message last week from verses 27-29 of that chapter and my congregation will never know how much that message was for me. I encourage you brother to let God direct you and comfort you in your time of discouragment and difficulty. Let His word overtake and consume your emotions.

Feel free to email me at fhchap At the standard gmail address.

 

Its been a rough summer for me. I've had many thoughts in my mind but this I know; If everyone in the NT who had rough times followed through on some of the thoughts I have had, there would have been no one to write the NT.

I can't say God is or is not calling you to anything other then obedience and His character (yes, that is a vastly simplified list). For the rest of the details I will certainly pray you have wisdom.

Jerry Bush said:

I am not asking for pity, just prayer, and I will surely appreciate it.

I just got home from the hospital. I will have several days of bed rest time so I will keep praying for you. My prayer needs are only physical and pale in comparison to the spiritual burdens many pastors must bear sometimes. I will certainly remember you through the day as God reminds me (--maybe with a personal pain or two for prodding.)

Matthew C Jones said:

Jerry Bush said:

I am not asking for pity, just prayer, and I will surely appreciate it.

I just got home from the hospital. I will have several days of bed rest time so I will keep praying for you. My prayer needs are only physical and pale in comparison to the spiritual burdens many pastors must bear sometimes. I will certainly remember you through the day as God reminds me (--maybe with a personal pain or two for prodding.)

Brother Matthew ,I am praying for you as well.

Jerry,

May God richly bless you. at the end of all these thoughts, which I imagine many of us in ministry have shared at one point or another, as weighty as those thoughts are, we are still left in the same place as Peter in John 6:66-69. Having come to know the Truth Tarshish may be a temptation, but it doesn't seem like an option.

Jerry Bush said:

You all have ministries and burdens of your own; please don't pick up on mine - just pray for me.

Many praying hands can lift the weight of a heavy burden. Nobody could say it any better than Tes in any language:

Tes said:

Pastor ,we are members of the Body of Christ.We don't see one another,but to your surprise I don't have this kind of feeling.I feel as if I know every body ,specially with those ,  who are active in  the forums I consider as if I can call them by their name when I see them in the street.You are our brother, we have the love which we have all shared from our Lord Jesus.We have one Father ,our country is heaven,where we will live there eternity.I wish  I could say some more,but the limitation of my English language doesn't allow me farther the thread "we have become friends through the forum", has a big meaning for me, it helps me to see through my mind where and who is ,that is a kind of contact for me.So,beloved I am praying and will pray until the Lord wills.

Just remember Elijah after Mt Carmel and the promise in Hebrews 13:5
You are not alone.

Richard DeRuiter said:

Jerry Bush said:

Being non-denominational, there is no support that way. I often feel alone. There are no major problems at home; my wife says she is happy but I feel pretty disconnected.

Jerry, I hear this frequently from pastors, even those within denominations. I hear it as a call to pastors to reach out to fellow pastors. Yes, God is always with us, and Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us, and the Spirit is within us. But sometimes we need someone with skin on. It's not good for the pastor to be alone. I have come to firmly believe that it takes a pastor to pastor a pastor.

To my other pastor colleagues on this forum, I encourage you to reach out to other pastors in your community. Become friends. Pray together. Share your lives. Study together. You may not be in a place of need now, but a fellow pastor might be -- and you may have need of a friend somewhere down the road. (Been there.  Done that.)

Yes, I know this is a bit off-topic for these forums. So extend a little grace for a pastor who's heart is often broken for his fellow pastors.

I second this suggestion (for Jerry, for whom it might be hard to start up now when already in the midst of a crisis, and for anyone else in pastoral ministry as a preparation for when -- not if -- these kinds of struggles occur). Ask around among other pastors in your community to see if they'd be interested in starting a group to meet together and support each other mutually in prayer. There will of course be theological differences across different denominations, but as we're learning here on these forums, we can still uphold each other in prayer and not major on what separates us but what draws us together, which is our common sense of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and a shared sense of call to shepherd others in their spiritual journeys.

My church is a lay-run congregation so we have no pastor, but I'm our church's representative to the neighborhood ministerial group. It's been a blessing to be able to have other pastors to collaborate with on three joint ecumenical worship services per year as well as minister to each other and pray for the neighborhood. I feel more like a pastor than I really am (I have no MDiv and am not ordained), just by being part of this group.

Dan DeVilder said:

Are you familiar with the Pastors Retreat Network?  do the www search by that name dot org, to find some fantastic respite for your soul.  I have been to Valley View and Cedarly retreat centers. 

Jerry, first of all, I'm praying for you as well. Second, I highly recommend Pastor's Retreat Network. My wife and I spent a week at their Cedarly retreat house and it was "just what the doctor ordered." At the time, the retreats were free. I believe there's a cost involved now. But, still well worth it.