Pastors need the intercessory prayer of their people, perhaps never more strongly than on Saturday night. I don’t know how it is at your church, but the folks who hear me preach on Sunday mornings, seldom hear a sermon preached on a full night’s sleep. Saturday nights are filled with off-and-on sleep mixed with human anxieties, emotional roller coaster feelings, Satan motivated questions and doubts, worries about physical inadequacies. For me, sleep only returns as I pray my way through the problems. Then, I am often awakened by another set of concerns. I’m fortunate if I preach on four or five hours of sleep. When I was young, I wondered why my pastor-father always took a nap on Sunday afternoons. Now I know. A verse that I can quote better than I can live is Philippians 4:6: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” I am not usually anxious, but I confess that Saturday nights are different, at least for me. I’m sure there are others, more spiritual ones to be sure, who sleep like a baby on Saturday night, but not me. Anxiety often rules the night. It is an awesome thing to stand before God’s people (and some who are not yet God’s people) and deliver God’s message. I have served as Pastor of two churches and Interim Pastor of over twenty churches. Every church is different and preaching in every church has similarities and differences. The churches where God seems to bless my preaching the most are the churches where I know some church members are interceding on my behalf – starting on Saturday night. So, check with your Pastor. You may need to be praying on Saturday night.
(You preacher-types please feel free to add your comments to this “Memo.” Surely, I’m not the only one standing in need of Saturday night prayer. Also you can subscribe and receive Dr. Dan's Monday Morning Memo free via E-mail at www.discipleallnations.org.)
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