Pastors are often the run-to persons in any given church. Many congregants come to their homes, knock on their office doors, and send them messages asking for help in various ways: be it prayer, counsel, a word of wisdom, or insight.

Still, with the many things that pastors do for their flock, there's one thing church members shouldn't expect them to do for them.

They shouldn't expect the pastor to develop their relationship with God for them.

An Impossible Request

As I go around various places to share the love of God to people, there are occasions when somebody will just come and tell you, "please pray to God for me."

Whether you go to schools, local communities, business places, and church facilities, there are people who would suddenly pop up asking you to pray for them.

Of course, we are tasked with praying for each other. But one thing that every Christian should understand is that while a minister, pastor, or brother in the Lord can pray for another, one's relationship with God can only grow via a personal connection. In other words, it's impossible to rely on somebody's prayers or help to make your relationship with God flourish.

Truth is, when it comes to our relationship with God, it's every man for himself.

'But I Don't Know How to Get Close To God!'

I've heard some people approach a pastor for prayer, saying, "You got God's favour on you, so I'm asking you to pray for me."

While pastors will gladly pray for their flock, that idea's just plain wrong.

Every Christian who's a genuine Christian and saved by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross and has been given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their adoption has God's favour on them. It's not about how many hours you clocked in the church, nor about the number of disciples you have, nor about the number of ministry teams you volunteered yourself into.

It's simply based on the truth that if you're in Christ, you're God's child (see Ephesians 1:5). And if you're God's child, you have the same Holy Spirit that God has deposited in each and every true believer (see Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:16; Romans 8:11).

There's no one that's more "favoured," more "anointed," and has a "greater destiny" than another – but there are those who are more obedient to Him, and that's what matters.

Obeying God is Loving God

Friends, how your relationship with God grows actually depends on you. I've seen people go to big churches without growing in obedience to the Lord. Yet I've seen people who seem silent in church but have grown in their character and can easily say "no" to sin in obedience to God.

It's not about who your pastor or small group leader is. It's about your personal relationship with and personal obedience to God.

Ask yourself: Have I invested my own life in building a strong relationship with God through prayer, walking in the Spirit, and obeying the Word of God?