What image comes to mind when you think about shepherds and their sheep? Perhaps old memories from your years in Sunday school emerge. Or maybe you grew up in a rural area and thoughts from your family farm come to the surface. For many Christians, the image of shepherds and sheep calls to mind pastors and their people.

Yet, for Jesus’ audience in John 10, this rich biblical image that He employs was not simply a convenient metaphor to draw from an agrarian culture. Rather, throughout all of Scripture, the image of a shepherd and sheep was often used to describe the relationship between a king and his people. So when Jesus proclaimed, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11,14), He was declaring that He is Israel’s promised and anointed king who would shepherd God’s people towards peace, justice, and restoration (Ezekiel 34:23).

Jesus is our Shepherd King, or we could say, our supreme Pastor. And this remarkable passage not only reveals the beautiful relationship between Jesus and us as His sheep, but also equips us to pray for our “undershepherds,” the pastors that God has sovereignly placed over our lives. Here are four ways John 10:10-18 can help us pray for our pastors this month and beyond.

1. Express Gratitude for the Way They Have Reflected the Good Shepherd

Even though Jesus is our supreme Pastor and He alone is sufficient to guide and lead us in His ways, in His wisdom He has called us to be a part of churches that incarnate His character and goodness to one another and to the world. A crucial aspect of the church is pastors whom the Lord has called to shepherd God’s flock after the pattern and example of Jesus. Notice how Jesus doesn’t say that He is a good shepherd, but the Good Shepherd. He is the standard of goodness.

So ask yourself, in what ways has Jesus’ goodness been reflected, demonstrated, and incarnated to you through your pastor? Your pastor is a gift from God to you! Imperfect as they (and we) are, Jesus delights to show His strength and beauty through broken and weak vessels. So after you offer thanksgiving to Jesus for your pastor, actually share this with your pastor! Consider how you might finish this statement: “Pastor (name), I’m grateful for how you have reflected Jesus to me by…”

I promise you, this encouragement will not only have a deep impact but it will also bring great glory to God.

2. Pray that They will Daily Surrender to the Good Shepherd

Jesus made our enemy’s mission clear — he is a thief who “comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10a). While this is true for all of Jesus’ sheep, it is especially true for His undershepherds. Pastors have been and are under brutal attack. We know our enemy is ultimately not of flesh and blood, but the devices of the devil are woven into many systems in our society and expressed through the behaviors of people. I have often said that the enemy wants to steal our identity, kill our intimacy, and destroy our impact. Or to put it another way, the enemy seeks to use the weapons of comparison, loneliness, and despair in order to derail us from experiencing the abundant life that only Jesus provides.

So how are we to respond? Our strength and victory comes from surrendering all of these things to the Good Shepherd. Consider how you might finish this prayer for your pastor: “Jesus, help Pastor (name) daily surrender to You, especially when the enemy seeks to…” Then, as before, share with your pastor how you are praying!

The enemy seeks to use the weapons of comparison, loneliness, and despair in order to derail us from experiencing the abundant life that only Jesus provides. So how are we to respond? Our strength and victory comes from surrendering all of these things to the Good Shepherd.

3. Pray for Them to Clearly Hear and Obey the Voice of the Good Shepherd

One of the most powerful pictures described in John 10 is that of the sheep knowing, hearing, and following the voice of their shepherd (John 10:4-5, 16). Unlike shepherds in the West that drive their sheep from behind, shepherds in the Ancient Near East would lead their sheep by going out ahead of them and speaking to them. Jesus is employing the strong language of discipleship here. There are innumerable trends, voices, strategies, and expectations constantly shouting at your pastor. Pray that your pastor would have sensitive ears so that the Good Shepherd’s voice would cut through the noise and they can experience Jesus’ abundant life fully and follow His way faithfully. Pray that your pastor will prioritize solitude, prayerful reading of Scripture,  fellowship with other pastors, and seeking out mentors to help them discern Jesus’ voice.

Don’t forget — just as the Lord speaks to you through your pastor, so the Lord can, and often does, speak to your pastor through you. You can be a vessel for the voice of the Good Shepherd to your pastor.

Don’t forget — just as the Lord speaks to you through your pastor, so the Lord can, and often does, speak to your pastor through you. You can be a vessel for the voice of the Good Shepherd to your pastor.

4. Pray for Them to Have Courage in Their Calling

It’s often said that it’s easy to start well, but most difficult to finish well. The most important act of the play is the final one. Tragically, for numerous reasons, pastors are not finishing well in the ministry that God has called them to. Even though distractions and uncertainty abound in ministry, pastors can have a deepening conviction and courage in their calling. Their first calling is actually not to ministry in the local church, but to cultivate intimacy with their Good Shepherd. Jesus spoke of His authority to lay down His very own life and take it up again for our sake. Jesus punctuated His calling as the Good Shepherd by saying, “This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18).

Even though distractions and uncertainty abound in ministry, pastors can have a deepening conviction and courage in their calling. Their first calling is actually not to ministry in the local church, but to cultivate intimacy with their Good Shepherd.

Like Jesus, our pastors can have authority from their intimacy with the Good Shepherd to fulfill their charge from the Father. But we must help them with prayer!

Or as the persecuting-turned-persecuted preacher said, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

Imagine what would happen if we began praying for our pastors in this way for the next month and beyond. I suspect that both pastors and their people would more fully reflect the beauty of the Good Shepherd in their homes, churches, communities, and world!

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