Teach
Me To Pray
For
My Military Chaplain
By
John Wagner |
 |
| Personal
evangelism is a spiritual work and nothing lasting happens without prayer.
As I wrote in our article on "What Is Prayer?"
I said prayer is humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging our utter
dependence on Him for all our needs. It isn't simply "thinking good
thoughts." During prayer we fellowship with Him and receive encouragement
and direction for our lives. We bring the needs of others to Him and receive
from Him the things they need. Prayer, in and of itself, has no power!
It is God who is all powerful and who responds to our prayers.
Jesus'
disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. In this part of our web site
I would like to give you some suggestion on how to pray more effectively
for your base or post chaplain and for us. These ideas are not completely
original with me, I've adapted them from an excellent brochure entitled
"Praying for Your Missionary" and written by Bill WIlson. The brochure
was published by Overseas Missionary Fellowship.
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| For
My Chaplain's Relationship With God |
| The
first suggestion is to pray for your chaplain's own relationship with God.
Too often we assume that our chaplain or any minister is really close to
God. we think it just kind of goes with the territory. We think they don't
have needs in regard to their walk with God. But this is a minister's primary
area of need.
On
behalf of your chaplain pray for his or her:
1.)
Feeding on the written Word of God
2.)
Prayer life
3.)
Being filled with the Holy Spirit
4.)
Maturity and growth in grace
5.)
Victory over the world, the flesh and the devil
When
praying for the spiritual life and growth of a minister an excellent way
to pray is to use the very words of Paul's prayers (Colossians 1:9-12,
Ephesians 3:14-21, Philippians 1:9-11). Open your Bible to one of these
passages and pray through them phrase by phrase, applying it all to your
chaplain or any other minister you know.
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| For
My Chaplain's Physical and Emotional Life |
| Pray
for your chaplain's physical and emotional life. Often Satan attacks these
important areas of life. As chaplains attempt to meet the needs of
their congregation they ignore their own health needs. Ask God to help
your chaplain spend time every day in some kind of exercise. This is an
excellent way for them to work off excess stress or anxiety and to keep
their bodies in shape. Physical, strenuous exercise is also a great
way to fight off depression and keep mentally alert. Preventative prayer
is absolutely vital! Too often we will pray up a storm if a chaplain has
had a heart attack or other illness or is involved in an accident. It would
be much better to pray before something happens.
Pray
for their physical safety as they travel from place to place. Unlike ministers
in a civilian community chaplains are often in harms way as they minister
in combat settings around the world. Death or injury in combat are very
real issues faced by military chaplains. In the U.S. Navy chaplains are
often transported from ship to ship in the middle of the ocean using a
highline and bosun's chair; these are dangerous maneuvers too.
Chaplains'
spiritual expectations are often very high. When these expectations aren't
met discouragement and depression can become a real struggle. Because of
their unique position as a spiritual shepherd and leader, chaplains are
often very lonely and isolated - even in the midst of crowds of people.
They don't feel at liberty to share these needs because they are supposed
to be the strong one who everyone else goes to for help. These are vital
areas of need in your chaplain's life.
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| For
My Chaplain's Ability To Communicate Effectively |
| We
have the message of God's love for mankind to proclaim. Pray for your chaplain's
ability to communicate the Gospel message clearly. The chaplain must be
able to speak clearly and articulately. But beyond merely using good grammar
and being articulate is the need to be understood by those listening to
the message. Pray as they attempt to communicate the Gospel that they will
be able to adapt the message to the military men and women to whom they
are speaking. |
| For
My Chaplain's Family |
| Pray
for your chaplain's family. Often Satan attacks in this important area
of his or her life. As chaplains attempt to meet the many needs of the
military personnel at their command they sometimes ignore the needs of
their own families. Pray for their husband/wife relationships. Preventative
prayer is again absolutely vital! Pray for their children - for their salvation
and growth in the Lord as well as their health and education. Pray that
God would give them courage and wisdom as they live with extremely high
expectations people put on the chaplain's kids.
Chaplains'
spiritual expectations are often very high. People in the chapel and in
the community outside often expect the chaplain's family to be perfect
and problem free. When these expectations aren't met discouragement and
depression can be a real struggle creating additional pressures on the
chaplain and his family.
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| For
My Chaplain's Ministry |
| When
you pray for your chaplain remember to pray for the ministry itself. This
probably seems like the most obvious suggestion. But it is really important
when you look at it in all of its parts. For most chaplains there are the
witnessing, visiting, teaching, preaching, singing, counseling, and training,
aspects of the ministry; each with their own challenges and requirements.
Pray
for boldness, for open doors of opportunity, open minds and hearts. Ask
God to help them deal with rejection from those who are not interested
and don't want to hear about Christ and who may not want the chaplain's
help, even though they may need it desperately.
For
instance, God told us through Isaiah 52:12 that "...the Lord will go before
you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard." That said to me that God
would go before us and prepare the people we would speak to, and that He
would continue working in those individuals' lives after we left. Sometimes
it is difficult to believe that what we do makes any difference at all.
So I pray often that God would prepare the people before we get to a particular
base and continue working after we leave; and to help me believe it!
Chaplains
wonder, at times, if their presence at a base or post makes any difference.
It takes faith to continue ministering week after week in the same place,
sometimes seeing very little change in the people being ministered to.
But as you pray for them God will open opportunities for them to share
Christ. Your prayers will have an effect in the lives of your chaplain
and those to whom he ministers.
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| For
My Chaplain's Relationship With Other Ministers |
| When
you pray for your chaplain remember their relationships with other ministers.
None of us are really working by ourselves. We are all part of a team.
We work with other chaplains, evangelists, military ministries, pastors,
missionaries, and individual believers.
It's
sad to say, but Satan often gets in and causes havoc in the area of interpersonal
relationships between ministers. So pray that a deep, solid relationship
of warm fellowship in the Lord will be developed and maintained.
It
is often very difficult in the day and age we live for ministers to trust
each other. It is hard for a chaplain, for instance, to trust a minister
he or she doesn't know or has never heard of. What kind of doctrine will
they bring? Will they bring some bizarre activity or will they be boring
and a waste of time?
Ministers
are often some of the loneliest people in the Kingdom of God because of
their inability to trust and establish meaningful relationships with others.
Pray for your chaplain's relationships.
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| For
My Chaplain's Government Officials |
| When
you pray remember the government officials in your community. 1 Timothy
2:1-4 says "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions
and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority,
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior who wants all men to be saved
and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
In
the civilian community, many Christians, don't even know the names of the
governing officials which often affect the freedoms we have in proclaiming
the message of Jesus Christ. School boards affect the freedoms of Christian
children to pray, carry and read their "Bibles, or witness to their friends.
City Councils have tried to curtail the distribution of religious literature
in some towns or the display of nativity scenes at Christmas. Often the
individual states Supreme Courts make decisions negatively impacting Christian
values and beliefs. The list could go on and on.
In
the military community there are additional things impacting the chaplain's
ability to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. These include military
regulations, commanding officers working to implement those regulations,
and even military chaplains in supervisory positions from different religious
persuasions.
Government
and military officials from the local all the way to the national level
affect our lives and we need to know who they are and keep them in our
prayers regularly. Find out who these people are in your communities and
at your bases and posts and begin praying for them, by name, so
that we might in fact live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and
holiness. |
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