22 The Christian Reader November 2006
W ha t About Ted Ha g g ar d?
Eddie and Alice Smith Ask You To Pray For Ted and Gayle Haggard
How to pray for their church and family
By now no doubt you’ve heard the accusations against Pastor Ted
Haggard of New Life Church, in Colorado Springs, CO; also leader of
the National Association of Evangelicals. He is accused of abusing
drugs and paying for a three-year homosexual relationship. Ted
Haggard is my friend. I admire and respect him. Until he tells me he’s
guilty of any of these charges, I assume his innocence. I’ve written him
a letter of love and support. But today he and Gayle need our prayer.
And we need to learn important lessons in the process.
The accusation, true or not, should teach us what Alice and I wrote in
the second chapter of our book Intercessors and Pastors: Trust nothing
and no one but God. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and love your
neighbor. It’s simple. Trust God and love people. Love will cover a
multitude of sins. If by chance our precious brother is guilty of any of
these awful charges, his guilt is covered by the Blood of Christ. Jesus
died for the sins of the world...past, present, and future. One sacrifice
for all! So, the price has been paid. I can love and forgive him.
How do we pray?
1. Pray for the truth to be revealed, the lies to be exposed, and the
enemy to be defeated.
2. Pray for Ted and Gayle. Ask God to comfort Pastor Ted and give
him the moral courage to be bold if innocent, and humble if guilty.
Pray for his comfort today. Whatever the outcome, his life and ministry will never be the same. But God can and will use Ted for His
glory, as Ted responds biblically.
Pray for precious Gayle, his wife. Even if these charges are false, she
is suffering the pain of them today. If any are true, she will be wounded
even more deeply. The layers of emotional and mental turmoil for a
wife faced with what Gayle faces today are many. Ted is her husband,
her pastor, and the father of her children. Her pain is unimaginable and
without Christ, it would be unbearable. Please pray for Ted and Gayle
today.
3. Pray for their five dear children. I am a PK. We preacher’s kids often
relate to God through the image of our fathers. Ted is their father and
their pastor. He is “the image of God” to them. His spiritual influence
on them is complex. The enemy understands the generational issues
involved. He knows full well that the next generation is capable of
much more than the current generation. Pray that God’s plan and purpose for each of their young lives remains secure.
4. Pray for Ross Parsley, worship leader and now acting pastor of New
Life Church. Ross is a godly, talented man who will need remarkable
wisdom to step into this difficult role. Pray also for his wife and family. This new responsibility will impact them all.
5. Pray for New Life Church. NLC is an amazing congregation, the
largest in Colorado-more than 14,000 members! I’ve walked through
similar challenges to much smaller congregations. These tragedies
have many complicated effects on people’s lives. Pray for the church.
6. Pray for the fallout? None of us
knows for sure what the damages
will be. Pray for the immature
believer, who will be wounded or
angered; for the mature believer
who will be broken-hearted; for the
youth whose faith will be challenged; and for the lost, some who
were on the brink of believing for
their eternal salvation who will now
be tempted not to believe.
7. Pray for your pastor(s), and for
all pastors. Men in ministry are little more than boys dressed in
business suits. We are totally vulnerable to any temptation and
absolutely dependent upon God for our strength. None of us are worthy to serve God and His Church. Any who think otherwise are
destined to fall. God’s strength can ONLY be perfected in our weakness. To the degree that we feel capable, we are dangerous and we are
in danger. Pride always comes before a fall.
8. Pray for issues like drug abuse, homosexuality, and “homosexual
marriage.” Homosexual marriage is the ultimate oxymoron.
9. Pray for the election, especially the local Colorado Springs election
which is extremely close. Pray that God’s people will be moved to the
polls.
10. Pray for yourself. We must pray for ourselves and “take heed lest
we fall.” Thank God that he is preserving you blameless and will present you faultless. What a God!
11. Pray for Mike Jones, Ted Haggard’s accuser. He admits to advertising for homosexual partners on the Internet. It’s difficult to believe
(as he says) that he was regularly involved with Ted for three years and
didn’t know who he was until he saw him on telev