Praying for the Hungry Preacher

First priority prayer, the highest order of intercession is designed and decreed to make way for men, to aid and assist all men in seeking after godliness. Piety, a reverent anticipation, a solemn aspiration for heavenly realities to register in man, in all men, holds the first position in the life of an intercessor. If not, words and prayers and longings are in vain. If godliness is found to be a secondary issue among those who declare willingness to stand for God, prayer answers will tarry. Godliness is the heart of the matter from all points of view. Godliness is the driving force in a life of prayer. Piety holds the place as its main desire, its source and will be its main outcome as God answers according to His heart.

First priority prayer willingly and eagerly surrounds, covers, embraces leadership wherever it is to be found. The shields of the earth belong to the Lord. A king is to be prayed for, the president needs prayer, emissaries and ambassadors need prayer cover, regional governors are included, leaders of every kind and category must be targeted in prayer. They all need intercessors engaged in the keeping of their role and office open to things pertaining to godliness. Intercessors are appointed to keep these men hungry, hungry for righteousness; intercessors are set apart to keep these men healthy and fed, fed with the presence of goodness and godliness in the land; intercessors need to keep themselves in position for the sake of a true cover and protection of the inroads into these men’s hearts.

Godliness reveals itself in the hunger for godliness. The intense desire for piety, the tender longing for righteousness declares already the presence of these precious virtues. The godly man finds himself in the balance only to become painfully aware of the deficiency, but the inward deposit, the spiritual values carried in such a vessel can be seen by all men but by the vessel itself.

The preacher finds himself to be the one who carries the heaviest burden in this realm. A hungry preacher is alive to heavenly realities. The hungry preacher is a man of God in the making. God has begun the process of moulding and formation – the hunger in such a man’s heart is the very testimony of the fact. The hungry preacher is a vulnerable man, a man taken through tests and temptations – the intercessor is there, made ready to come to his defence.

The praying man, gatherings of praying men, orders intercession and the very expressions of worship according to the prevailing hunger for godliness to be able to assist men in authority wherever they are to be found. Conditions and circumstances are of minor importance. Name, world view, religion, by what means they appeared in position, friend or foe, is of secondary importance. Godliness is the primary issue. Godliness is the heart of the matter from all points of view. Godliness adhered to and established is the only item worthy the agenda of the praying people.

The praying man, gatherings of praying men, orders intercession and the very expressions of worship according to the prevailing hunger for godliness to be able to assist the preacher. He is a man marked for a major role, a man positioned in a sensitive position. Support given to such a man in prayer, cover arranged for such a man in prevailing prayer will find its answer in categories and measures according to the very source in which it had its beginning. The love expressed in godly communion, in prayer, towards the hungry preacher assists him as no other service during the painful formation of his character and outlook. Intercession which fully expresses unity in position and ambition with such a man opens for the Lord to fill his cup. He is the man to lead on in the presentation and establishment of godliness.

Let us engage in prayer of the highest order. Let us pray together for the hungry preacher. Let us pray for the man of God, for him to find a place of rest and recovery, a place in which he will find a table arranged to satisfy his true desires, his thirst for a living word, his hunger for righteousness and his longing to see God.

Let us engage in prayer of the highest order. Let us pray for men in authority, for them, not against but for them, for the sake of godliness to become an item to be considered as a valid option. Let us pray for godliness to be seen and recognised among them as a force foremost among motivational forces, a virtue to be pondered, an outlook in life and a way of living to be counted upon. Let us pray first priority prayers.

Godliness is the heart of the matter from all points of view. It is the source of prevailing prayer. It is the one thing impacting and registering in the heavenlies. It is of God’s own order. It registers on earth as the one thing recognised by men in authority. It bears fruit for eternity. Godliness is the very condition of Heaven. It is meant to be seen on earth. Praying men, preachers and God’s peacemakers carries a hunger for this order of godliness.

Lars Widerberg