This week, Doug and J.R. continue their conversation with Josh Meyer.Resources:Categories from Josh’s doctoral dissertation on what helps sustain pastorsHonesty – Pastors need places to share with others about the pastoral role.Intimacy – Pastors need rhythms to intentionally connect with God.Community – Pastors need connections outside of the church.Eternity – Pastors need reminders that their calling serves a purpose beyond this life.===Monday: A Prayer of Relinquishment (Richard Foster)Today, O Lord, I yield myself to you.May your will be my delight today.May your way have perfect sway in me.May your love be the pattern of my living.I surrender to you my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions.Do with them what you will, when you will, as you will.I place into your loving care my family, my friends, my future.Care for them with a care that I can never give.I release into your handsmy need to control,my craving for status,my fear of obscurity.Eradicate the evil,purify the good, andestablish your kingdom on earth.For Jesus’ sake, Amen.Tuesday: Disturb Us, O Lord (Sir Francis Drake)Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves;when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little;when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possesswe have lost our thirst for the waters of life;having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity,and in our efforts to build a new earth,we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.Disturb us, O Lord, to dare more boldly,to venture on wilder seas where storms will show your mastery,where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes,and to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.Wednesday: The Merton PrayerMy Lord God,I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end – nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,though I may know nothing about it.Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.Thursday: John Stott’s daily prayerHeavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more.Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.Holy, blessed, glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy on me.Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, I worship you.Lord Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord of the world, I worship you.Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the people of God, I worship you.Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever.Amen.Friday: The Romero PrayerIt helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.No statement says all that could be said.No prayer fully encompasses our faith.No confession brings perfection.No pastoral visit brings wholeness.No program fully accomplishes Christ’s mission.No set of goals or objectives includes everything.Instead, this is what we are about:We plant seeds that will one day grow.We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.We lay foundations that will need further development.We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not Messiahs.We are prophets of a future not our own.THE GREAT GIVEAWAYJ.R. is giving away 25 copies of his book, Fail: Finding Hope and Grace in the Midst of Ministry Failure to the first 25 people who write a review on our itunes page. To get a free copy of J.R.’s book, all you need to do is write a review, and then email Jane@Kairospartnerships.org your address and we will get it out to you.