ENJOY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBccNVXG_4

PRAY FOR YOUR LEADERS...

Hi people! i'm back in full force. Sorry for leaving you high and dry all this while but im sure the time was well suited for the last couple of posts to marinate in your hearts. For today though, this is what we have to talk about: PRAYING FOR OUR LEADERS

LUKE 1:10 "While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside praying." (NLT)

"And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense." (NKJV)

Its not a very long verse or what i would necessary call an obviously 'deep' verse but it's amazing what the Holy Spirit will teach you from just a one line verse. While reading through, i got to that verse and i got stuck on it...i couldn't move past it or ignore it. It kept coming back at me so i prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to give light to the meaning of that verse and the answer was astonishing.

We all know that it is important to pray for our political leaders because the Bible says in 1 Tim. 2:2 "Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity" but we sometimes seem to forget that we need to pray for our spiritual leaders as well. In Luke 1:10, Zechariah, the priest and father of John the Baptist, went into the temple to burn incense on behalf of the people but while he was in there, the people weren't just outside lounging. They we praying! It's impossible with human knowledge to know what exactly they prayed for but it's fair to assume that they were most likely praying about something they desired. However they may have been praying, one thing must not have lacked in their prayer and that is, that the priest come out of that temple alive.

See back then, when the priest went into the temple of God, they tied around his ankles little shackles with bell-like ornaments on it so that they would hear it ring as he walked into the inner sanctuary and a long rope was attached so that if the priest went in without being completely clean and was killed by the glorious presence of God, he could be dragged out of the inner sanctuary. Therefore, some portion of the people must have been praying that the priest make it out alive.

Here's the importance, if the priest died in the temple, the answer to their prayers would not have been received. So, while they needed him to go in for them, they also needed him to come out alive for them. Therefore, it is important for us to pray for our pastors, spiritual leaders and all who feed us with the incorruptible Word of God because if they in any way, stop hearing from God or stop "seeing" God, then they would not be leading us aright. If they stopped following the Master diligently, chances are that it would affect our walk with God.

You might think, "Oh but my walk with God should not be dependent on any person's walk with God" and you are absolutely right, your walk with God should be dependent upon the Holy Spirit but in life, we have people whom God has put in our lives to keep us on the right path (which would include our biological parents and spiritual parents) and if for instance, our parents do not yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit, they may give wrong advice or wrong counsel and that undoubtedly will affect our perspective of the world. It is thesame way with our spiritual parents. They feed us so it's our duty to feed them with our prayers (among many other things).

We must remember that they are human and therefore NEED our prayers. You might not like them but you NEED them nonetheless so you better pray for them. There are things they go through in life too that they need to come out alive from. If they loose faith in the middle of their trials, then they wouldn't have a message for us when we go through similar situations.

So today, while you make your supplications for yourself and your needs, remember that you NEED your spiritual leaders to come out of their own trials ALIVE. So, pray for them. Pray for all who God has put over you!