I will Never Marry a Pastor!
by Janet Page
"I will never marry a pastor! Who wants that kind of life?" As a young girl, I said those words more times than I can count. I was born into a pastor’s family, and then I married a pastor who died within the first two years of pastoring.
Would you believe I turned around and married a pastor again! Several years after I married Jerry, he was asked to be a conference president. I did not want that to happen. I prayed the whole day the conference Executive Committee met, begging God not to let it happen. God’s answer was No.
Several weeks after Jerry became president, the annual 10-day conference camp meeting took place. People congratulated me and asked how it felt to be the new first lady of the conference. I didn’t like those words. I told them, "I wash his clothes the same way I always have. Please don’t call me ‘first lady.’"
By the last weekend, people started saying something different to me. "We attended a seminar on the Holy Spirit, and we learned it is very important that we pray every day for the fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives and on our families and our pastors. So we have committed ourselves to praying for you and Jerry every day." I would smile and say thank you, but I was thinking, "Great, so they are praying. What good does that do?"
No one knew how messed up my life was. I thought I was lost, that my sins were so great that God could never save me. I was depressed, miserable, and hopeless.
As a pastor’s wife, you don’t share these kinds of thoughts with anyone, right? You keep them inside and live life just going through the motions. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will tell you that my life was changed through the faithful prayers of those church members!
The Bible tells us, “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet ou with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Two years after that camp meeting—two years of people faithfully praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in my life—I was a new woman, excited about spending time with Jesus and sure of my salvation. Praise God for praying people! God turned my life around, and I never want to go back to the way it was.
The more time I spent with Jesus, the more I wanted. The Bible became His living word, just as if He was speaking personally to me. Bible texts that used to discourage me, especially the ones about righteousness, I read with new eyes as the Holy Spirit helped me understand. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ my Savior, I am covered with His righteousness.
Then God began showing me the importance of praying with others. Amazing things happened in people’s lives as we prayed for them.
You may have heard people say, "Well, we can’t just pray, we have to work." Prayer is work!
Since I first committed to pray for people and to pray with one or more other people, I have witnessed the impossible, miraculous, powerful things God has done. He’s just waiting for His children to come together, first with Him and then with others, in united prayer. Through us—you and me—He wants to change the world!
Janet Page enjoys serving in her local church with her husband in central California as well as loving on her six grandchildren.
World Church Prayer Requests
July 14 - 20, 2023
- Pray for pastor’s and pastor’s spouses. Many feel very alone in their work for the church as they can’t share their burdens with others. Pray that God will strengthen them and protect them from the attacks of the enemy.
- Praying for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on the pastor’s that you know personally. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon their families.
- Pray for the Inter-American division and a special couple’s retreat planned for 2024. Pray for the support and participation to grow for this very special event planned to strengthen marriages.
- Pray for the young people who are working with SECC Youth Rush literature evangelism over the summer. The California based youth literature program runs June to August. Pray for many books to be shared over the summer.