Brian Croft - Pray for the Flock: Ministering Gods Grace Through Intercession

Praise forPray for the Flock

It is a commonplace that prayer is possibly the most difficult discipline of the Christian life for a pastor to maintain. Busyness of ministry, the hurry-scurry of our culture, the inundation of social media, along with our Enemys recognition of the vital place that prayer occupies in the advance of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, make any sincere attempt at being a prayerful pastor a battleground. This book, because it is so grounded in the Scriptures and the experience of the pastorate, is therefore welcome. Like a desert traveler coming upon a well-placed spring of water, drink in the wealth of timely insight and wisdom here!

Michael Haykin, professor of church history and biblical spirituality and director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

This is a little gem of a book, and smaller books may have a great impact. All believers know we should pray more and desire to pray more. Brian Croft and Ryan Fullerton, two veteran pastors, stoke the fires of prayer by showing us from the Scriptures the centrality of prayer. Prayer reveals our trust in and desperation for God. We are also given concrete practical advice on prayer. This book is convicting and encouraging and deserves a wide reading.

Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and professor of biblical theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

As pastors, we cannot change the hearts of the people we shepherd. But God can. God has called us to talk to him about them. He has chosen to use our prayers to accomplish mighty changes in the lives of those in our churches. In this book, Brian Croft and Ryan Fullerton challenge, encourage, and instruct pastors to energetically engage in the privilege and responsibility to pray for the people in our churches.

John Crotts, pastor of Faith Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Georgia, and author of Loving the Church: Gods People Flourishing in Gods Family

ZONDERVAN

Pray for the Flock

Copyright 2015 by Brian Croft and Ryan Fullerton

ePub Edition June 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-51938-6

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pray for the flock : ministering Gods grace through intercession / Brian Croft and Ryan Fullerton.

pages cm (Practical shepherding series)

Includes bibliographical references

ISBN 978-0-310-51937-9 (softcover)

1. Intercessory prayer Christianity. 2. Pastoral care. I. Croft, Brian, author. II. Fullerton, Ryan, 1974 - author.

BV215.P75 2015

248.3'2 dc23

2015006626

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design and illustrations: Jay Smith-Juicebox Designs

Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Ryan: To my beloved, Christy, who prays with the gift of faith

Brian: To my beloved, Cara, who prays with a deep sincerity I long to one day experience

CONTENTS

by Don Whitney

(Brian Croft)

(RYAN FULLERTON)

(Brian Croft)

(BRIAN CROFT)

(Brian Croft)

(Brian Croft)

(Ryan Fullerton)

PEOPLE KNOW WHAT a doctor does. Because they can see and feel the benefits of a medical professionals work, they are willing to pay a doctor well for the services provided. People know what a mechanic generally does, as well as a plumber, a flight attendant, a salesman, and a teacher.

But much of a pastors work is unseen. Even those laypeople closest to their pastor often do not know the basic contours of his day beyond sermon preparation and some counseling. You know your pastor works long hours; are you confident you can describe how most of them are spent? Probably not.

Yes, sermon preparation usually receives the largest share of a pastors time during the week. Even here, the time required may surprise those most aware of their pastors schedule. Many presume that because of their pastors knowledge of the Bible and giftedness in public speaking, preparing to preach is quick and simple work. The truth is, men devoted to the expository preaching of Gods word commonly devote fifteen to twenty hours or more each week to this task.

At the same time, Gods shepherds not only feed his sheep; they also protect them through prayer. Faithful pastors, away from the eyes of the flock, often spend much time interceding for them before the Father. Here they pour out their souls for Christ to be formed in each member of the flock (Galatians 4:19) and to present everyone fully mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28). Here they weep over the backslidden, grieve about conflict, cry out for Gods blessing on the church, and plead for the salvation of the lost.

The kind of pastor Jesus described as the hired hand and not the shepherd (John 10:12) may do the necessary public work of ministry and get a paycheck, but true shepherds love Gods flock. True shepherds love the flock when present with them, and they love the flock when present with no one but God. And one of the ways they show this love is by bringing their needs known and unknown, tangible and spiritual, individual and congregational to Jesus the Good Shepherd in prayer. Thus do the two pastors who have authored this book, my friends Brian Croft and Ryan Fullerton. And so we know that faithful pastors pray for the flock, but what, exactly, do they pray? Or better, what should they pray? Pray for the Flock helps answer that question.

This book is essentially a pastoral theology of prayer. Divided into two sections, it is a blend of both the theological and practical aspects of praying for Gods people. It will provide you with biblical instruction on prayer, as well as help you organize pastoral praying rather than pray randomly about the flock. Those new to or preparing for pastoral ministry will find it particularly helpful.

In short, Pray for the Flock, written by two praying pastors, will teach you about praying for Gods people. If you are in pastoral ministry, youll want to consider this book. If you are a church member, consider giving this book to your pastor. Anyone should feel blessed to know that a pastor was praying for him or her in these ways. I know I do.

Don Whitney

Brian Croft

PRAYER IS THE most difficult aspect of pastoral ministry to maintain. When I became a senior pastor, my life and ministry suddenly became very busy busier than they had ever been before. I knew what I was