I just finished doing some fairly heavy-duty intercession for a pastor-friend of mine. He's not in trouble. He's not at an important crossroads. His marriage is good, his congregation is thriving. he is enjoying God, and God seems to be enjoying him. But every Sunday I do serious intercession for him anyhow.

Why? For one thing, because I think pastors are huge targets of the enemy. Someone once said it's as if they wear giant bulls-eyes on their backs, just waiting for spiritual darts to come flying at them. They need spiritual protection. For another thing, they are weak human beings like the rest of us. Apart from Jesus, they can't do a spiritually worthwhile thing--just as we can't. They need the Holy Spirit to fill them and flow through them, and I believe my prayers can help open the way for Him to do that. Finally, praying for pastors is probably one of the most supportive, caring things we can do for them. I want my friend to know he's not out there on his own--that someone cares for his ministry and even for his soul.

There are lots of ways to pray for pastors; I certainly didn't invent the idea! But here's what I do: Pastor B gives me his sermon text ahead of time. Early Sunday morning I read through the Bible passage a couple of times, asking God what He wants to do with this particular congregation on this particular Sunday. I listen quietly for His response. Generally some ideas start surfacing. At this point, I start typing, in the form of a prayer addressed to God. I ask Him to do the things for this church and through this pastor that I sense Him speaking into my heart. Then I copy the prayer I've typed into an email and shoot it over to my friend.

Very often Pastor B tells me that the Lord uses my intercession to encourage him. Sometimes he says that what the Lord gave me to pray confirmed something he'd been thinking about doing or saying. And sometimes he says that the things God led me to pray were the very things he'd been asking God to do already. Always I feel privileged to know that I get to participate in my friend's ministry through prayer.

October is Clergy Appreciation Month. For ideas and resources about how to participate, check out the Pray! article, "Assignment: Lighten the Load" or take a peek at the prayer card, "Scripture-Based Prayers to Pray for Your Pastor".

Also, we’d love to hear from pastors out there: Are people praying for you? If not, do you wish they were? If so, what are your thoughts about and experiences with people praying on your behalf?

For a fascinating perspective on prayer in America, check out the New York Times article, The Right Way to Pray? that ran this past Sunday (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/magazine/20Prayer-t.html). It mentions names that many of us in prayer circles love--Jim Cymbala, Daniel Henderson, and Pray! magazine (!)--along with an assortment of others including Steven Waldman of Belifenet.com, Rabbi Marc Gellman, Catholic scholar Bradford Hinze, and more.

The article is not written from a Christian perspective--the author makes a point of distinguishing himself from the 75 percent of Americans who report that they pray once a week or more and says that even when twice it appeared he was gong to die, "I didn't give God a thought." However, it's still worth reading. 

Isn't it interesting that so many of us practice prayer, even though we may view it and God very differently? I'd love to hear about interactions you may have had with people outside evangelical circles who love to pray. How can we connect with them? How can we capitalize on what we agree on while sharing with them our passion for Jesus whom is the focus of our praying?

How do you hang in there and continue praying over the long haul? From her personal experience, Pray! author Virelle Kidder addresses that difficult problem in an article she wrote for us just before Pray! magazine ceased publication. We didn't get to print it for you then, but we're posting it on our website now. So if you're missing your magazine (as I still do!), and if you need some encouragement about the concerns you've been waiting on God about for a long time, here's a new, never-before-published article for you: The Keeping Room.  

Let us know what you think. And we'd love to hear your experiences of how you persist in prayer when the answers are a long time in coming. 

In my experience, nonbelievers and unchurched people are far more open to being prayed for than most of us realize. Do you agree? Do you have experiences of praying with nonbelievers? Tell us about them. Let's be like that church in Arizona and find more ways to offer Jesus to the people all around us.

I just heard the news that a mosque in Elizabeth, NJ is organizing a prayer day in Washington, D.C. on September 25. They  expect 50,000 Muslim faithful from around the world to assemble on Capitol Hill to pray "that people get along better, and move forward with more humanity toward each other." (See news article at Charisma News Online)

    • Acts 17:26-27: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined     the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps     reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."

    • Jeremiah 29:13-14: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,"     declares the LORD,"

    • John 18:37: "Jesus answered . . . 'For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'"

    • The story of Cornelius who devoutly prayed to God but did not yet know Jesus (Acts 10).

I also thought of the many stories I've heard of Muslims to whom Jesus has appeared in visions. Is this an opportunity, Lord? How do You want me to pray? I asked.

With these thoughts and questions in mind, I continued reading the article. I discovered that some Christians see the Muslim prayer day as a threat. As spiritual warfare. As a public relations effort for an Islamic agenda.

I suppose they could be right. I certainly don't know the hearts of the people who will attend this event. Fasting and spiritual warfare prayer may very well be in order. However, I also think there's another way to look at it. Souls--50,000 of them--will be seeking salvation from God. That's what their own press releases are saying: salvation! Couldn't there be among them some who are open-minded seekers of Truth?

So here is my prayer for this event: That as this great multitude of souls cry out for help to someone bigger than they are, that many will encounter the True and Living God. That the Holy Spirit will open truly hungry hearts and minds to Truth and salvation that comes through Isa, that is Jesus, who loves them and died not just for us, but also for them.

I hope you'll be praying about this day, too. Whether it's warfare prayer or prayer for the salvation of souls, will you pray that God will use this event for great good? What are your thoughts?

But what does praying "in faith" really mean? Does it mean believing that God will give me the exact thing I ask for in the precise manner in which I expect it? Some people said, "Yes, that's what it means." I'm still not sure. Granted, I have a lot to learn in this department. Who can honestly say they understand the mysteries of answered prayer? But I came across a quote the other day that describes what I think might be more accurate about the link between prayer and faith. It's by Andrew Murray: "The power of prayer depends almost entirely upon our apprehension of who it is with whom we speak."

 I can agree with that idea for sure. When my faith is in the character of God—His goodness, love, wisdom, perfection, understanding, attentiveness—I cannot lose. His answer to what concerns me will always reveal His goodness, love, wisdom, and so forth—all of who He is. So for me, I choose to put my faith in who He is more than in the answer I think I need.

Popular NavPress author Cynthia Heald has lots more to say about the connection between prayer and faith. Check out the free download "Praying in Faith" available on the homepage of www.praymag.com. (Note: Although the button says "buy now," you will not be asked for any payment information. Simply  click on the button and follow the directions an din seconds you'll have your free chapter on prayer and faith.)

Getting alone with God for a day or more has been my habit for many years now. However, until last year, the longest I'd spent on private retreat was two days. I'd heard of people who went for longer, but I never could seem to manage it. However, nine months after my husband died I realized that I had not taken adequate time to grieve. I'd had good counseling and loving support from my church family. I'd read helpful books and literature. I'd taken short retreats. But I realized what I needed most was some extended time alone with my Father, so I made plans for five days of ocean, quiet, and time alone with Him.

I searched the Internet and found The Spiritual Ministry Center in San Diego, CA.  Run by nuns from the Society of the Sacred Heart, this small center offered peaceful, reasonably priced accommodations, optional spiritual direction, and a two-block walk to the beach. It was just what I needed.

My retreat was silent, except for daily conversations with the sisters and occasional calls home to a prayer partner. I spent my days in prayer, walking the beach, listening to God, remembering, journaling, letting go, grieving, resting, and, as it turns out, dreaming.

I hadn’t expected to dream. My husband had been ill for 11 years and the demands of caring for him, working, and raising our son virtually alone, had taken their toll on whatever dreams I had once had. But one of the biggest surprises God had for me during that intimate time with Him was to restore my ability to desire and dream.

What do you really want? He asked me one day as waves lapped around my ankles.

I have no clue, I told Him. But He persisted. Over the days of that retreat, He continued to ask me the same question, inviting me, even daring me to dream. Eventually something freed up in me and I tentatively began writing. After a halting start, dreams began to flow—pages of them. And something that had died in me God raised to new life.

During those five days, the Holy Spirit proved to be a wonderful Counselor indeed. He guided me through relinquishing what I’d lost through my husband’s sickness and death and then filled those empty places with new dreams and hopes. In those five days alone with Him, He truly did restore my soul.

I just now re-read my journal from that retreat. I am amazed. Many of the dreams I risked expressing last November are being fulfilled! God is indeed giving me the desires of my heart.

He is a good Father. He gives us just what we need to love and trust Him—but for me, at least, sometimes it requires some extended time with Him for a good, long conversation.

I woke up the other day with a lot on my mind and heart. Lots of stressful situations over which I have no power. Sometimes when I'm dealing with a lot of hard stuff, the Lord invites me to lament. But this time He very clearly gave me a different direction: Thanksgiving. Without denying all the difficulties, He wanted me instead to focus on gratitude. Don't miss all the goodness and beauty and kindness I have for you in this day just because you have a lot of difficult things going on, He said, and told me to look for His goodness and thank Him for it. 

So I did. I thanked Him for my French roast coffee (black and strong!). For the beauty of Pikes Peak and the vividly colored flowers I enjoyed on a morning stroll. For music. For events I was looking forward to later in the week. For a reassurance He gave me in His Word.

I drove out of my driveway thanking Him for a job, for the great people I get to work with. For meeting all my needs.

And on and on it went. This is fun, Father! I exclaimed, realizing how just taking intentional time to notice His blessings had changed my perspective. And in that moment of pleasant reverie just then, I noticed the bumper sticker on the car ahead of me: “Wag more, bark less.”

I laughed out loud. Thanks, Father for Your sense of humor and for enjoying this moment with me. I get it! Sometimes my complaining and worrying prayers are like yippy-dog yapping to You. Help me remember to wag more!