Hebrews 13:18 Commentary and Bible Study

Preachers must have the prayer of the church. God will not bless them without the prayer of their people, because God ties the two together. Otherwise preachers would become heady and the people would have no interest in the word and work. God has almost put pastors in the hands of the people. The effect of this is to humble pastors, and to unite pastors with their people. A church should have a gospel service but God will not bless it without the prayers of the church members.‘For we trust we have a good conscience.’ Why does he say this? Just as the people must pray for preachers and pastors, so also they must in a way deserve it. Pastors and preachers will do their utmost to ensure they are worthy of the people’s prayers. ‘We will do all we can,’ says the writer, ‘but you must pray for us.’The writer is away from them; he wants to be with them. He has a hard objective. Many of the Jews are being drawn back to Judaism and so he is having to reprove them. He explains that he does it for their good, not as a lover of argument, of contention, but because they need it and he does it with a clear conscience. ‘I must teach you things that may cause you to dislike me’, he says. There is hardly a subject that is not covered in this wonderful epistle. It is inspired, yes, but this writer is aware of all that needs to be taught about, and he knows he must live honestly, genuinely.