Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1, says this saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

And then what happens right after this in First Sympathy chapter three is Paul

lists out the qualifications of an overseer or an elder or a pastor. So these are words that are

used interchangeably in the New Testament, pastors, elders, overseers, those whom God has entrusted with

the responsibility to shepherd his people under his shepherding care. So we are under shepherds,

those of us who are pastors, elders, overseers in the church, that we have been entrusted by Jesus, the chief shepherd, with the

responsibility to care for the people in local churches that he has entrusted us to lead.

And so what I want to do is I want to lead us just to pray.

So from 1st, Timothy chapter 3, verse 2, all the way down to 7,

we see these qualifications. And I want to lead us to pray these things for pastors, elders,

overseers. So some of you listen to this, maybe a pastor, elder, overseer in your church.

And so it would be something you pray not just for yourself, but for others.

And for those who may not be pastors, elders, overseers, in your local church, that this would be a guide straight from the word to how to pray for your pastor, pastors, elders,

overseers in your church.

And as we pray these things for those who lead us, so think not just, okay, this is what

a pastor, elder overseer must be in order to become a pastor-elder overseer.

So yes, that's the primary intent of this passage.

At the same time, let this passage lead us to pray that pastors, elders, overseers would continue to be these things.

So, First Timothy chapter three, let's just straight pray the word,

verses 2 through 7. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach. God, we pray for pastors,

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