Angie said, “why do people think God listens to pastors’ prayers better?”
She said I should write about that. I’m just cranky enough today to do that.
It could be because people love the book of 1 Chronicles where David outlined the job of the Levites:
The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on Sabbaths and at New Moon festivals and at appointed feasts.
People figure that it’s our job to pray, we get paid to pray, and so God listens to us better.
That’s silly.
God doesn’t listen to me more than he listens to you. He doesn’t take my words and put them into a scale and put yours into a scale and say, “Yep, Jon’s are three times as heavy as Helen’s. I’ll listen to Jon.” He doesn’t say, “Yep, Jon’s ordained. I love Reverend praying. It’s way better than little kid praying. Or aching-hearted mother praying. Or Dad with daughter dying praying.”
If you want, you can ask me to talk with God about you. And I’ll do my best to remember. But don’t do it because anything about me counts more.
Because it doesn’t. I’m sure. Go ahead, ask him. He’ll tell you.
300 words a day 
Becky McCray
I don’t think your prayers weigh heavier, but I do think you’re in better practice. You might even be listening better for a reply, especially if I’m in distress and not listening very well. And I ask you because you do reply out loud. I get frustrated about and tired of praying because it’s not a real conversation. I know what you mean when you assure me it is a real conversation, but you know what I mean when I tell you it’s not.
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Jon Swanson
ah, thank you friend Becky for making me think. What I think when I read this is that it’s our friendship that’s being reflected here. What I mean is that you aren’t mostly asking me because I’m some generic pastor, you are asking me because we are friends and because “praying for” sometimes means, as you say, “praying because I can’t at the moment or can’t think clearly enough or am so busy focusing on holding on to a slipping rope that I can’t find words beyond ‘help'”.
and yes, I know exactly what you mean.
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Rich Dixon
One great blessing of my life is to have known a couple of pastors well, deeply enough to see the cracks and flaws beneath the polished veneer. I know it’s possible to absolutely love Jesus and absolutely doubt and mess up and do the stuff we mere mortals do. The “blessing” is that I never put pastors or other leaders on pedastals, because they’re just folks.
That said, I agree with Becky. I sometimes seek pray with a pastor or another wise follower, not because their prayer carries more weight with God, but because they hear what’s behind my pain and know the words to say to me.
You know, better than most folks, how to be Jesus in blue jeans. That’s the wisdom your experience, humility, and gentleness brings. Please don’t discount the value of that, even when you’re feeling cranky.
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Jon Swanson
Rich, I’m smiling as I read this sitting in my office wearing my jeans. And thank you both (Rich and Becky M) for your gentle reproof. What you are both reminding me of is the reality that one of the ways that God converses with us IS through each other. There are a couple situations where an angel shows up and says, “God has heard your prayer, here’s the answer.”
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