Ronnie Floyd

Archive for the 'National Day of Prayer' Category

October 9th, 2017

How to Pray for Your Pastor

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Every Christ-follower engaged in a local church has a pastor. These followers of Christ should pray for their pastor.

Pastors may appear as though they are so strong they do not need prayer. But I can assure you, any pastor genuinely called to the ministry knows he needs prayer; earnest, passionate, and effective prayer. “Pray for me” should be the number one personal request from a pastor of the church he serves.

Stand on God’s Word When You Pray for Your Pastor

I think the strength of prayer stands on the authority of Holy Scripture. You need to stand on the infallibility and truthfulness of God’s Word when you pray for your pastor. I want to challenge you to pray while standing on Colossians 1:9-12:

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

Paul was praying this for the believers in Colossae, and these words can be prayed for your pastor.

5 Specific Ways to Pray for Your Pastor

Pray for your pastor to be:

1. Filled with the knowledge of God’s will

Pastors face the same dilemma people faced in the first century, when these words were penned originally. The knowledge of the world pours into the minds of pastors, but pastors need to have the full knowledge of God’s will. The will of God does not inflate a pastor’s ego, but it enlightens us to do what God wills for us to do.

Father, give my pastor the full knowledge of Your will in all things at all times, personally and for our church.

2. Filled with all spiritual wisdom

Pastors will view life from one of two perspectives: The world or the Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit will always lead a pastor to the Word of God and the will of God. The Spirit of God will lead a pastor to view life and ministry from God’s perspective, not his own. His perspective will determine his decision making.

Heavenly Father, fill my pastor with Your wisdom and perspective about all things in his life, in our church, and in this world.

3. Filled with spiritual understanding

Pastors can operate and lead the church apart from information and facts, but not very effectively. Spiritual understanding is the experience of seeing the facts and hearing the needed information, but being able to put these things together biblically, spiritually, and practically. A pastor’s leadership and decision making will be determined by the level of his spiritual understanding about whatever is before him.

Lord Jesus, fill my pastor with spiritual understanding that will help him put facts and information together biblically, spiritually, and practically.

4. Walk worthy of the Lord

God wants his people, especially God-called pastors, to live in a way that is worthy of Him. Pastors represent the Lord everywhere they go. Pastors cannot say one thing, but live a different way. Walking worthy always leads to pleasing God and bearing fruit in every way in life.

Oh Lord, empower my pastor to walk in a way that would exemplify You to all persons, pleasing You in all ways, and bearing fruit in every way before others.

5. Strengthened with God’s power

Pastors should be full of spiritual vitality. Pastors need the spiritual strength to overcome the challenges of each day in ministry. Submission to God daily will lead to God’s power. This power is so strong that a pastor is able to endure stress and suffering that ministry brings. It is so powerful that he will refuse to retaliate in any way toward difficult people and circumstances. It is even so strong that he will live life and do ministry with true joy that overflows with thanksgiving to God. Every pastor needs this kind of power.

Oh God, strengthen my pastor with Your power that fills him with spiritual life daily, including the difficult days of life and ministry; and leading him to persevere with joy and thanksgiving.

A Brief Word

The people of God have prayed for me through all these days I have served as a local church pastor. It is rare that I would not say to my church with all sincerity, “Please pray for me.” I say it because it is the number one thing people can do for me. It is the number one thing you can do for your pastor. Pray for your pastor daily.

Now is the Time to Lead and to Pray,

Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
President, National Day of Prayer

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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the Senior Pastor of Cross Church, President of the National Day of Prayer, founder of the Cross Church School of Ministry, and host of the Ronnie Floyd on Life and Leadership Today podcast.

To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.

Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd

Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

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October 2nd, 2017

The Power of Prayer: What God Can Do Versus What We Can Do

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For far too long, the world has seen what we can do. It is time for the world to see what God can do.

The power of prayer is contagious. We need a pandemic outbreak of the power of prayer personally, nationally, and globally.

I believe that every Bible-believing Christian church, denomination, college, and ministry, as well as every Christian’s religious liberty stands on the shoulders of prayer for America. Furthermore, I believe prayer based upon Holy Scripture is the only thing that can bring our nation together and forward the Christian gospel and movement exponentially.

Yes, I believe in the power of prayer.

Congressman Steve Scalise On the Power of Prayer

On Thursday, September 28, the Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, Congressman Steve Scalise, returned to Capitol Hill. This was his first return since June 14, when he and some of his friends were gunned down at a baseball practice.

He stated, “I’m definitely a living example that miracles really do happen.” His colleagues welcomed him back to the floor of the House this past week. In his remarks to the House, he shared, “It starts with God,” and that while on the ballfield and could not move, “I just started praying.” Friends, this is a man who knew before going into this surprising challenge in his life, and now knows more than ever, following God is about the power of prayer.

The Power of Prayer Cannot Be Refuted

There is not one American, one skeptic, one cynic, or one atheist, or even one backslidden, carnal, professing follower of Christ who can refute the power of prayer to Congressman Scalise. Can anyone refute the power of prayer to those who cried out to God in the recent hurricanes when their lives were at stake and death was looming? Absolutely not! Try refuting the power of prayer to people like my wife, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1990, and experienced the healing power of God. It would be impossible!

For those who have seen God walk into their lives and intervene in a way that only He could, it would be impossible to refute that God answers prayer and that prayer is powerful.

The Churches of America Need to Recapture a Deep Belief in the Power of Prayer

There has never been a time in our generation more than now where the churches in America need to recapture a deep belief in the power of prayer. We are living in desperate days. The need is urgent.

The prayerlessness that fills worship services across America needs to be replaced with passionate, convictional prayers offered with the people of God. When a church believes in the power of prayer, the church prays. When you believe in the power of prayer, you pray.

Offering meaningless, repetitive, routine prayers in church worship needs to cease. Either we believe in the power of prayer or we do not.

There should be no place on this earth that the power of prayer is not just believed, but practiced in our presence more than the church. We should embody the fervency and fire when we believe in the power of prayer.

The Power of Prayer Shows What God Can Do

The power of personal testimony is imperative for the world to learn about the power of prayer. I have heard people from all walks of life, from all kinds of vocations, of all ages, talk about the power of prayer. It lifts me. It encourages me. It gives me hope!

I say it again: For far too long, the world has seen what we can do. It is time for the world to see what God can do.

When the power of prayer returns to our own life, it will return to the Church. When the power of prayer returns to the Church, it will return to our own life. These are dependent upon each other. These dynamic experiences will lead to the power of prayer returning to our nation and across the world.