From Justin Taylor’s blog, 9 Ways to Pray for Churches and Pastors.

1. Expositional Preaching: pray that more pastors will commit to preaching the whole counsel of God, making the point of the passage the point of their sermons.

2. Biblical Theology: pray that more pastors will preach about the big God from the big Story of the Bible, protecting the church from false teaching.

3. The Gospel: pray that pastors will faithfully proclaim the gospel every chance they have. Pray their churches will ask for nothing more than the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

4. Conversion: pray that more churches would grasp the doctrine of conversion rightly, and shape their practices to promote born-again believers, not nominal believers.

5. Evangelism: pray that churches will be bold and faithful in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus.

6. Church Membership: pray that churches will take the biblical call to church membership seriously, and encourage the whole body of Christ toward holiness and active participation.

7. Church Discipline: pray that churches will grow in purity and holiness as they seek to warn, rebuke, and admonish lost sheep.

8. Discipleship and Growth: pray that Christians will grow in their knowledge of the Word, and their commitment to discipling one another.

9. Biblical Leadership: pray that God will raise up many faithful shepherds to guard, teach, and encourage his flock.

“Sin is the mother of all sorrow, and no sort of sin appears to give a man so much misery and pain as the sins of his youth” (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 15).

Isaiah 33:22, For the LORD [lit. Jehovah] is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

John Calvin said, “Let us only yield to his [God’s] authority, hear his voice, and obey him; and, on the other hand, he will shew that he is our protector and most faithful guardian.”

John Calvin on Isaiah 33:22 (abstracted into bullet points):

• On the one hand
• Yield to God’s authority
• Hear God’s voice
• Obey God
• And on the other hand
• God will shew that he is our protector and most faithful guardian
• i.e., “God will save us”

“Custom is the nurse of sin. Every fresh act of sin lessens fear remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination” (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 11).

“He [Devil] will paint, cover with gold, and dress up sin, in order to make you fall in love with it. He will deform, misrepresent, and fabricate true Christianity, in order to make you take a dislike to it. He will exalt the pleasures of wickedness–but he will hide from you the sting. He will lift up before your eyes the cross and its painfulness–but will keep you out of sight the eternal crown. He will promise you everything, as he did to Christ, if you will only serve Him. He will even help you to wear a form of Christianity, if you will only neglect the power. He will tell you at the beginning of your lives, it is too soon to serve God–he will tell you at the end, it is too late. Oh, do not be deceived!!” (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 13).

“Habits have deep roots. Once sin is allowed to settle in your heart, it will not be turned out at your bidding. Custom becomes second nature, and its chains are not easily broken” (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 10).

Thom S. Rainer reflects on current trending for how Christians are thinking about church-buildings.

“The Bible is very plain about how godliness does come. Paul wrote about godliness to Timothy. In his first letter to that budding young minister, he said, in contrast to all the ways that will fail (mentioned in the first part of the verse), “Timothy, you must discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (I Timothy 4:7). Discipline is the secret of godliness” (Jay E. Adams, Godliness Through Discipline, 2).

“Get close to God’s covenant people. Get to know your neighbors, and those with whom you transact business. Be a neighbor, as Christ has commanded. Get out of the rat race. Find a sense of place, and when you have, you will know that you must never leave. . . . Put your heart where your home is, and you will never be sorry” (R.C. Sproul Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 30).

“Young men, do not be deceived. Don’t think you can, at will, serve lusts and pleasures in your beginning and then go and serve God with ease at your latter end. Don’t think you can live with Esau, and then die with Jacob. It is a mockery to deal with God and your souls in such a fashion” (J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 9).