Financial. There is the financial prison of "lack" that Pastors find themselves in bondage to. This should never happen. The church should properly take care of its pastor. Paul told Timothy that if the elder works hard at preaching and teaching they should be worthy of double honor and the context shows that he was talking about finances (1 Timothy 5:1-18).

It was only after the Philippians had given to Paul's ministry in prison that he said that God would meet all of their needs (Philippians 4:17-19). To the Romans he said, "if we become partakers of some ones spiritual things, then our duty is to minister to them with our carnal things" which is money (Romans 15:26-7 & Corinthians 9:7-14).

The church should make sure the pastor is well taken care of. Pastors have expenses many do not have. Make sure they have a good salary. Figure out what the average salary of each family in the church is and pay them at least that much. There should be other benefits as well. Housing expenses should be on top of the salary. This should be the goal at minimum. On top of these basics show your appreciation by taking up offerings for them at special times like birthdays, Christmas, before vacations, etc.

If you make sure your pastor is adequately blessed God will satisfy you with the abundance of all His goodness. On this point, let me leave you with this, "I will fill (saturate) the soul of the priest with abundance, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:14 NKJV).

 Battles with the flesh. The minister is often viewed as being above the fleshly desires of others but the opposite is true. It was written to the Hebrews that "every high priest (is) taken from among men." It is not because they are so spiritual, but that God simply chose to call them. "The flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh" (Galatians 5:17). Not my Pastor, he's too spiritual!

My overseer in ministry, the late Dr. Paul E. Paino, often said that the more spiritual we become the more our flesh fights us and the stronger it becomes. It bothers me when people get on their "spiritual high-horse" after a minister goes through some difficulty or failure. Usually, if the truth were known, they probably went through it because they had reached heights in God that few have. If you want to see how strong the flesh is try praying for an hour (Luke 22:39-46)!

 Condemnation. Most people in the ministry struggle, at least at times, with condemning themselves. Paul said frequently, "unto me who am the least of all saints is this grace given" (Ephesians 3:8). He also said he was not worthy to be called an apostle (1 Corinthians 15:8-10). Ministers battle with things not going as well as they had hoped, they or their ministry doesn't seem to be far enough along, etc. Once discouragement sets in, they often begin to beat up on themselves (at least inwardly). Encouragement helps immensely. You never know when they may be battling with this.

Next... Pastoral Prisons Part 4