Prayer as a Tool for Leaders

As a Christ-centered leader, who has the responsibility of choosing people for leadership positions in your church, you have the opportunity to assist people in becoming who God has created and gifted them to be. As a leader, you help identify the gifts, strengths, talents, and faith of persons and then assist them in using those gifts, strengths, talents, and faith in ways that reveal the love of God in every situation and circumstance of their lives.

Too often, either because it is not a priority or it seems unnecessary, leaders don’t always invest the time or energy in identifying and developing the leadership strengths and talents of the people entrusted to their care. Yet, choosing leaders and assisting them in their development is one of the most significant aspects of your work as a leader.

Your Effectiveness & Prayer

Your effectiveness is experienced in the ways you build trust, show compassion, provide stability, and offer hope in developing relationships. Your courage as a leader is seen in the ways you choose and develop leaders.

As a Jesus follower a fundamental element of your effectiveness is prayer. Luke, the gospel writer, tells us that Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing people to join him in ministry.

Jesus Prayes to Keep Focus

When the time came to choose people to join him, Jesus retreated to the mountain to pray. He prayed to keep focus on the context of his ministry and to keep the continuity between what he is doing and what would be needed in the future. Luke tells us he “prayed to God all night long.”

His prayer was not about how he was feeling or what he wanted. Jesus was not making a political decision or choosing people who would see things his way. He was seeking a connection between God’s people of the past and God’s people of the future, by choosing leaders for the present. His all-night prayer vigil was not just for the moment but for each of us who are in the church today. He prayed to keep focus, not only on the history of Israel but on the future of God’s people.

Read Luke 6:12-16

During that time, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night long. At daybreak, he called together his disciples. He chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter; his brother Andrew; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called a zealot; Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Reflect on Luke 6:12-16

Jesus prayed all night long to choose twelve followers to be apostles. My perception is that this was not a casual thing for Jesus. I do not believe that God said, “Take this one and this one and this one.” If that were the case, why would Jesus pray all night?

What I have learned is that the Holy Spirit and faith do not make life easier or simpler, only deeper, more meaningful, and more powerful. Jesus prayed all night to choose those who were vulnerable, humble, hope filled, and faithful in their love and care of others. He prayed to choose those who could keep their focus upon God’s love.

Jesus prayed to keep his focus on the continuity between what he was doing and with Israel. As you know, the twelve disciples were related to the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke understands that in Jesus, God is continuing what God started with the people of Israel. So, his all-night prayer vigil was not just for the moment but for us. He is praying to keep focus, not only on the history of Israel but on the future of God’s people.

The Church’s Prayer

One of the most difficult prayers to pray is the church’s prayer. The prayer is not about what you want. The prayer is focused upon who God needs to be faithful. You do not pray from your best thinking or best practices. Your prayer is focused upon God and who God needs you to be at this place and time in history and for the future of God’s people.

So, Jesus prayed all night. He was conscious of others besides himself. It was a critical moment in the history of Israel, in his own life, and for the future of the church. So, he prayed. You and I can say we began as an all-night prayer vigil in the heart and mind of Jesus.

It is through prayer that you keep your focus on God’s plan and purpose. If you don’t keep your focus on God, you will make your decisions based on your preferences. You will choose others who will perpetuate your preferences. You pray to keep your focus on God. It is essential that you keep your community, neighborhood, and city in mind and heart as you choose leaders who can hold the past and future together. Prayer will connect you to God’s great plan. It will help you see the world more as God sees the world.

Prayer is Essential

We are at a critical moment in the life and future of our culture. We are being challenged to remember who and whose we are in difficult times. Let me remind you that you were created to lead at this time in history. If Jesus prayed all night to keep the future of the church in focus, it seems to me that prayer is essential as you shape spiritual leaders to address the issues of our day. Your prayers are essential as you choose leaders who can and will, in the midst of re-formation, connect the past with the future.

I know that it seems overly dramatic, but there are many important things upon which you and I place our lives that are not priorities. Whether it be working at and achieving an education, earning money to make life better for ourselves and our families, or giving our lives away to make life better for others, the priority of your life is to love the people around you and to assist them in becoming who God has created them to be.

The result of your leadership will be seen in the love you put into others. Jesus prayed all night before choosing the twelve who were close to him. So, it is essential that you, as a Christ-centered leader, develop a pattern of prayer. Your prayer is necessary in choosing leaders.

Respond to Luke 6:12-16

In choosing leaders for your congregation, keep the context of the congregation in mind. Consider, not only the history of the congregation but, the history of the Christian church and how that history is connected to and informs the present and shapes the future. Your church can make the difference in your city or community.

In choosing leaders for your congregation, consider the gifts, talents, strengths, and depth of faith needed to connect the life of the church to the present and future. Look for trustworthy, active, and persuasive persons who live out their faith in everyday and ordinary relationships.

In choosing leaders for your congregation, pray. Take as much time to pray as it takes to consider God’s call upon the life of the congregation and the lives of the people in the congregation. Pray that the beloved children of God will live as God’s beloved children in the way they love one another. Ultimately, it is better to be a loving body of Jesus followers who love others as they have been loved than to be a religious club built upon personal and theological preferences.

Who you are is how you lead!

Return

Give God thanks for the people you met today. For whom did you pray? In what ways did you pray to the leadership of others? How were you exercising leadership when you prayed? In what ways did you assist others to pray and to become who God has gifted them to lead? What will you do differently tomorrow? Give God thanks for the opportunities you had to love others as you have been loved.