For the past two weeks I have been focusing on the leader and prayer. First we focused on the importance of prayer in the life of the leader. Then we identified some reasons why the leader needs to pray. I want to conclude the topic this week with some practical suggestions leaders can apply with the aim of improving their prayer life.
Make time for your personal prayer life.
Last week we looked at the importance of prayer in the leader’s life. Jesus – God in human form – modeled to us the centrality of prayer in following the Father’s will.
Jesus, the God-Man, faithfully and consistently modeled a life of public and private prayer for his disciples and for us. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to pray, then we too need to pray. Prayer is our lifeline; without prayer, we have no spiritual life.
Prayer is vital to godly leadership. At the risk of stating the obvious, let me suggest some reasons why prayer is necessary.
Every leader I know aspires to be a good leader. They want to lead their people to the best of their abilities with the direction of God.
Many attend school for years to learn how to be a good leader. Then once they begin their roles as leaders, they continue their training by attending workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats and special events, all in an attempt to be a good leader.
Some become part of a group of leaders that meets regularly to help each other be good leaders. Some leaders have a mentor or hire a coach to help them be good leaders.
If you spend any time talking with a leader in ministry, it will not be long before you hear of all the things they are doing as they try to lead their people well. You hear about books or blogs they are reading, podcasts they listen to, twitter feeds they follow, all in an attempt to stay relevant and be effective as a leader.
There is one topic, however, that I hear too few Christian leaders talking about as essential to their leadership: prayer.
Last week I asked the question, “Are you doing too much?” We looked at some signs which may indicate that you are doing too much. This week I will explore how you can take back control of your life and begin to live at a more manageable and healthy pace that will renew your passion for ministry and leadership.
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. Think of it this way, when a baby, or for that matter twins, join a family, does that family get any more time added to their day to care for the additional family member(s)? Obviously, the issue is not a matter of “enough time” but of managing time effectively. How can you best use the time available to you and avoid becoming too busy? Consider the following.
I recall a time in my life as a leader when I bought into the myth that being busy was normal, even necessary. I was on call 24/7 and felt I was needed; that gave me a false sense of value, power, and control. In the process, I neglected my family, my health, and my spiritual and psychological well-being.
In today’s world, it is common to think that unless you are crazy busy, you are somehow neither effective nor normal. Unfortunately, we have bought into the myth that busy is expected and necessary.
Let me suggest some red flags to look for as signs that you have probably bought into the myth.
As you look forward to this new year, what are you taking with you from the past year? That may sound like an obvious question, but in reality many of us don’t take time to reflect on what we are taking into the new year from the previous one.
While you may be making plans for what you would like for your life in the coming year, I want to challenge you to take a look at what you are carrying with you from the past year. If you do not take inventory of what you are bringing but focus only on what you want to achieve, you may find yourself struggling to achieve your goals for 2017 mainly because they are being sabotaged by things you brought with you from 2016.
As you celebrate this Christmas let’s not forget the reason for this season of celebration: it is God with us. God became flesh, reaching us with His love, mercy, and grace. It is very easy to get caught up with all of the cultural trappings and commercialism, and miss the real meaning of Christmas.
Hanging the lights, decorating, shopping, giving and receiving of gifts and all the goodies to eat is certainly part of Christmas celebrations in North America. But these are not the reason for Christmas; the Lord Jesus Christ is. If we are not careful, we could celebrate Christ’s birth without Him being present.
How can we make sure we celebrate Jesus?
We frequently hear about the many requirements for being a successful leader. Characteristics such as gifts, talents, and personality are often highlighted. Many books have been written with the intention of guiding leaders and potential leaders in developing these aspects of their lives so that they can succeed as a leader.
A leader could be at the top of her game in gifts, talents, and personality, yet still not succeed. We are familiar with the leader who is smart, motivated and talented but seems unable succeed. For many such leaders, the missing element consists of just two words: THANK YOU!
One thing you know about having a checking account is that before you can make withdrawals, you must make deposits. Sometimes you may make a withdrawal for more than you have in the account and with most banks, rather than refuse to honor the withdrawal they will charge you a fee for exceeding the amount in the account. Other banks will refuse to allow you to exceed your balance.
This same concept may be applied to your role as a leader. Leaders who lead well are aware of these principles at work in the relationship with those they are leading.
They know that getting followers to support them and help achieve the goals of the organization, they must first invest in relationships, especially with those she/he works most closely.
Here are some ways you can make deposits into the relationships with those you lead, so they will trust and follow you.
Business team listens to suggestions for solving a problem.
Last week we talked about the difference between a thermostat and thermometer. A thermometer merely reflects the temperature while a thermostat can both read the temperature and adjust it. The concepts of how they work can be used to describe the way some leaders lead. Effective leaders would be thermostat leaders who can read and set the temperature of the organization rather than thermometer leaders who only read the environment but do not change it.
This week, let us look at the qualities that a leader should have to be a thermostat leader.