Praying For Your Team The Way Jesus Prayed For His Team

Praying for those the Lord has entrusted to us is often neglected by Christian leaders.  Christian leaders often assume the protection and growth of their teams, followers and even their families.  So how does a Christian leader pray for his team members?  In John 17, Jesus prays for his team, the twelve disciples, in four different ways.  Jesus prayed for their:

1. Protection - John 17:11 & 15  "Protect them from the evil one."
2. Sanctification - John 17:17  "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."
3. Presence and Glory - John 17:24  "I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory."
4. Unity - John 17:21 "That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be in us."

It is interesting to note that as Jesus prayed for His follower's protection, He stated that none of them had been lost except for the son of perdition doomed to destruction.  Jesus prayed for His followers and did not assume their protection.  I have watched many followers of Christ fall away in churches.  In one church, the leaders of the church often profiled young believers during the worship services to hear their story and motivate the body to grow in an area of faith in their lives.  Sometime within the next three months I no longer saw many of them at church.  Having given their testimonies they became targets of the enemy's attack.  So when I pray for those whom the Lord has entrusted to me I pray the following four ways as Jesus prayed for His followers:

1. I pray for the protection of those the Lord has entrusted to me through the themes of Psalm 91.  As I pray through the themes of Psalm 91, I pray that:

• They will rest in the shadow of Shaddai as they dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
• God will cover them with His feathers and wings,
• God's faithfulness will be a shield and outer wall of protection for them,
• God will send His angels to protect them and their families,
• God will lift them up to a high place out of the reach of the enemy because they acknowledged His name, Yahweh. 

2. I pray for the sanctification of my team through the themes of Psalm 19:7-11 & Hebrews 12:7-11.  As I pray through the themes of Psalm 19, I pray that as my team reads God's word they will:

• Make them wise,
• Revive their souls,
• Give joy to their hearts,
• Give light to their eyes,

As those the Lord has entrusted to me endure the hardships of life, I pray through the themes of Hebrews 12 that they will share in God's holiness and that a harvest of righteousness and peace will be yielded in their lives. 

3. I pray that those the Lord has entrusted to me will experience God's presence and glory, by praying the prayers of Paul in Ephesians 1:15-19 & Ephesians 3:14-18.  As I pray Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1, I pray that they will be given the Spirit of wisdom (knowing who God is) and revelation (encounters with God) in order that they may know God in a deeper experiential way.  As I pray Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, I pray that the Spirit will strengthen them with power in their inner person so that they will know the presence  and love of God in an experiential way. 

4. I pray for the unity of my team, by praying through the themes of unity Jesus prayed in John 17.  It is interesting to note that as Jesus prays for protection for His disciples His stated purpose is unity.  Then again as He prays that His followers experience His presence and glory He is again praying for unity.  In His prayer, Jesus states that He gave His followers the glory the Father gave Him that they might be one.  So when I have prayed that my team experience the presence and the glory of Jesus I am praying for their unity.  Finally, Jesus prays for oneness of His team as He prays that they will abide in Him and in the Father.  So as I pray for the protection of those the Lord has entrusted to me, I am praying for oneness.  As I pray for Jesus' presence and glory I am praying for oneness.  As I pray that the teams the Lord has given me abide in Christ and the Father I am praying for oneness.

What would happen, if Christian leaders prayed for their followers regularly?  Fewer followers may fall away from the faith.  More followers will see transformation in their lives. More followers will experience the presence of Jesus.  Fewer churches and teams will experience divisiveness.