Dear Small Church Pastor,
You are not alone. The devil will do everything he can to make you think you are. However, whether you remember it or not, you are not alone.
The enemy of Christ’s kingdom will use any method he can to try to isolate you physically or mentally and convince you that you don’t have any help in pastoring your small congregation. He will try to make you think being God’s pastor has put you into the position of having no friends, no trusted confidants and no allies in the war against evil. He will cause people to betray your trust or even desert you in a crisis. He will do his best to convince you that nobody is responding to your sermons, nobody likes you anymore, nobody takes you seriously and nobody is willing to stick around during the hard times when nothing seems to be going the way you had hoped it would.
Any time you begin to feel alone in your calling, get alone with your heavenly Father. Ask Him to renew your calling. Ask God to revive your spirit with His power. Ask for wisdom, fresh anointing and a new vision. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you just how many are working beside you to accomplish God’s will in your life. Ask Him to remind you of who “The Boss” is.
Remember the great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12:1? There have been millions who have gone before you who have served God. You’re not the only one in town who is serving him today. Remember how God had to remind the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19:18 that he wasn’t alone? You’re not the only one who has had betrayals, troubles, threats or persecutions. Wake up to these realities and pray until you have defeated Satan’s attempt to put you into a pity-party.
Probably the most important thing you can do when you begin to feel alone is to remind yourself that Jesus has called you into His service. He knows what you can do for His kingdom, and Jesus is depending on you to do it. Remind yourself that Romans 8:26-27 states the Holy Spirit intercedes for YOU. Remind yourself that Jesus Himself is at the right hand of God making intercession for YOU. (Romans 8:34) Remind yourself that in John 17:20 Jesus prayed for all those who would believe in Him because of the message His disciples would spread, and that includes YOU. Simply put, remind yourself that Jesus is on your side, and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31)
There are millions of fellow disciples of Jesus around the world and in your own community today fighting the same battles you are. You are not alone.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit are on your side and are interceding for you. You are not alone.
You are not alone.
Sincerely,
A Small Church Pastor