Reading through Nehemiah this morning I am again struck at how little changes over the centuries. Technology changes but human nature doesn’t change, and therefore the art of leadership is transferable over the ages.
100’s of years ago Nehemiah had the vision and task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Anyone who has tried to bring a vision into reality or an assignment to completion knows what Nehemiah felt like as he hit a period of resistance and discouragement.
In Nehemiah 4:6-13 we find him in the middle of the project, working with a ton of volunteers who are getting discouraged because:
(1) there’s so much work and people are tired – vs 10,
(2) some people are listening to the fears and complaints of those who oppose the project, and it’s beginning to drain their enthusiasm – vs 12,
(3) others who openly oppose declare their intent to stop it – vs 11,
(4) there are differing opinions about the project being the right idea or not and some people are angry and opposed to the decision to go forward – vs 7.
Nehemiah’s response is a leadership lesson to us.
First, he led them to pray to God (vs 8). Two points about this. First, leaders need to be intentional about prayer because they tend to have a bias for action and it’s easy to neglect prayer. Secondly, it wasn’t only Nehemiah who prayed – the text says “we prayed”, meaning Nehemiah led them all to pray and trust in God.
Next, take whatever practical steps possible to allow the work to continue forward (vs 13). It might mean rearranging some of your resources or scheduling.
Finally, Nehemiah encouraged the volunteers (vs 14). The leader’s words are powerful and capable of speaking faith and courage into hearts that are discouraged. Leaders should pray that God gives them words to inspire and revive hearts of volunteers.
Many of you New Lifers give leadership to groups and ministries, and I think Nehemiah will help you in how to accomplish the task God has given you.
If you’ve done much reading on the art of leadership you’ve probably come across the quote that “everything rises or falls on leadership”, or some phrase similar to it. I’ve been in ministry of some sort for about thirty years now and I’m convinced that is a true statement. When there’s good leadership, whether in a small group or a ministry event or in a worship service or a mission team, then everything rises and goes forward and those involved experience success and satisfaction. But when leadership is deficient then people experience stagnation and confusion and disappointment.
At New Life we have many people in leadership roles. I want to challenge all of us in leadership, especially myself, to ramp up the quality of our leadership. Below is a list of indicators – sort of a diagnostic tool - for leaders to think about *. Use this as a means of determining the current state of your leadership:
1. I wait for someone to tell me what to do rather than taking initiative myself.
2. I spend too much time talking about how things should be different.
3. I blame the context, surroundings, or other people for my current situation.
4. I am more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing.
5. I seek consensus rather than casting a vision for a preferable future.
6. I am not taking any significant risks.
7. I accept the status quo as the way it’s always been and always will be.
8. I start protecting my reputation instead of opening myself up to opposition.
9. I procrastinate to avoid making a tough call.
10. I talk to others about the problem rather than taking it to the person responsible.
11. I don’t feel like I’m accountable for anything significant.
12. I ask for way too many opinions before taking action.
Maybe pondering these statements will uncover some attitudes or “comfort-zone” living that has crept in and is diminishing your effectiveness in leadership. We need good leaders all over New Life. Soon we will be moving out in some new ministry directions and the need for leaders will increase. If you are in a leadership role, do any of the statements above challenge you? And if you aren’t currently leading but aspire to in the future, the list above can help you ponder the qualities needed for good leadership.
* Taken from Dave Ferguson’s book Exponential
Our cars have warning lights on the dash that flash when a repair is needed, when something is beginning to go wrong. We need to understand our lives are similar – we have “dashboard warning lights” in our soul that indicate our need for repair or maintenance. When you consider your prevailing emotions and attitudes over the last many days and weeks, what do you find? Turmoil? Emptiness? Worry? Confusion? Fear? Boredom? Do you feel spiritually dry? Does God feel distant? Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of problems and complexity of your life right now? Do you have big decisions in front of you? Are you uncertain of what your next step in life should be? Do you feel defeated by habits, weaknesses, and sins that you can’t shake?
We who follow Jesus Christ have been given an incredible privilege and opportunity in this thing called prayer. The God of all creation has “tied” Himself to the prayers of people who have placed their faith in Christ, and has promised to respond when we pray (Matt. 6:6; Matt 7:7). If that is true then the idea of spending an extended time in personal prayer becomes all the more appealing, especially when we consider all the personal hopes and decisions and troubles and questions and concerns and opportunities that make up our day to day lives. I’m encouraging us to periodically set apart a half day or longer to seek God.
An extended time with God will provide you:
- Extended fellowship with God, regaining a sense of His Presence in your life
- Spiritual revival where God’s priorities and power increase their hold on your life
- Opportunity to gain a new perspective on how to think about your life and the world around you
- Time to listen and reflect on your life, to take personal inventory on the state of your heart and on where you are in relation to personal goals
- New revelation of God’s direction and purpose for your life
So how do I spend a half day in prayer?
Here’s some things I’ve learned over the years. This is just a model that makes sense to me and that I’ve practiced.
1. By half day I’m thinking 5-6 hours of being in a quiet, undistracted place. If you are married ask your spouse to help you make that happen – maybe the family goes out shopping for the day. If you pray at your home be vigilant cause you will find 101 things to get distracted with. (You can always come and use a room at the church – I do!)
2. Things to bring: a Bible, notebook, and pen. I also bring my calendar, a thermos of coffee (I sometimes fast from solid food on these prayer days), and these days I lug around the study guide from the prayer seminar with Dave Butts.
3. I will write out my goals for this time with God. While I might hope many things are accomplished during my time with God, I usually find in my life 1-3 pressing issues that I really want God’s help with. These I write out as a means to keep focused – when I use a classroom at the church I’ll use a whiteboard.
4. I divide the time roughly into three sections: First, I focus on God, to ask for His Presence, to think about Him, to worship. Next I will take inventory of myself, evaluating my life – where am I failing, where am I struggling. This is a time of confessing sins and seeking God’s help for my personal life. Finally, I spend time praying for issues and problems and for other people. Let me expand on these three:
a. Focus on God – when I first start, I feel like a cold engine that takes time to warm up. I start with Scripture. I’ll often read Psalm 139, Psalm 25, and the Gospel of John Chapters 14-16. As I read I’m asking the question “Who are you, Lord?” “Revive my sense of Your power and love”. What I find is that the scriptures lead me into worship, praising God for what I read about Him. I also page through the prayer seminar study guide as a way to remind me about prayer truths – I find it helps stir up faith and expectation within me.
b. Distracting thoughts – especially when I first begin to read and try to press into God, my mind is filled with distracting thoughts about things I have to do or tasks I need to complete or what I need to buy at Kroger or why did we pant the wall that color – you get the idea. A lot of the thoughts are just nuisances that I try to brush away and others I write down as reminders until I have a long list of things to either do later or things to pray about during this time.
c. Personal inventory – this is a time to step by step evaluate my life. Dave Butts’ prayer seminar study guide has a great guide for this (appendix A) that walks you through a variety of personal and relational issues, allowing you to look at yourself and evaluate where you might need forgiveness and repentance and God’s help to change. (Another guide, similar to Dave Butts’ is on the New Life website under the information tab – open how to fast and their you will find a tab entitled Breaking up the Fallow Ground). This might be the highlight moment in your prayer time.
d. Praying for others and for projects and tasks – generally after time of worship and confession, I’ll turn to pray in behalf of the other people and work I’m involved in. Typically I’ll spend some time back in the Bible first, looking up prayer promises like those found in John 14-16. I use these to stir up faith within me as I begin to pray for various needs. I’ll list on paper:
- family – spouse, children, extended family
- friends
- work
- church
- personal goals – financial, spiritual, work, physical, etc.
After I’ve written down the categories above, I’ll fill in the needs and names and issues that I’m currently aware of and concerned for. These I’ll pray over, asking for God’s help.
5. Listening and waiting – it takes me awhile but after 2-3 hours I usually find myself at a place where as I pray and push forward, I’m often kneeling in silence, listening and waiting. Sometimes in those moments God whispers and directs and draws near. As I go through these hours I am sometimes kneeling, sometimes pacing. I usually pray out loud, though under my breath. And I’ll take a break as needed.
6. Write stuff down – usually you will complete the time with some tangible results
- direction on how to solve a tough problem
- new conviction about obeying God in an area in which you have been lax
- guidance for a next step in some decision
- fresh reminders of God’s hand on your life
- renewed love for God
- having God speak to you in a very direct way
Whatever you’ve received write it down somewhere to consider and pray over in the
future days. For further help Google “how to spend a day in prayer” and you’ll find a lot of other advice. But I encourage each New Lifer to plan a half day of prayer between now and next fall – you will not regret doing it; it could be a turning point in your life!
I attended a press conference today where the launch of the first accredited theological study program based in Peoria was announced. Illinois Central College and Lincoln Christian University have joined together to create a four year Christian ministry program that initially will be based at ICC’s north campus (in Peoria). This is really a cool thing, on several counts.
First, I have been involved for several years with many area pastors in a quest to establish some kind of Bible school in our local area, something accredited and easily accessed by our church members, volunteers, staffs, and especially for our young people who might be considering full-time Christian ministry. In the past I served on committees who were seeking to make this a reality but we never got far.
Second, it’s fantastic to see how ICC - a secular college - and LCU have worked closely with one another to make this a reality. Much of the credit goes to LCU’s president Dr Keith Ray and to ICC’s President Dr. John Irwin who sees the value of providing our area with effective ministry training which will result in improving the quality of life in our region.
And third, the program itself will be more economical than attending a typical 4 year private Christian college. The program consists of ICC providing the general education classes and the ministry classes provided by LCU. The initial 4 year degree being offered in this program is a bachelors in Community Transformation Ministry - theological and ministry leadership training with an emphasis in urban contexts. I’ve looked at some of the courses and it really is cutting edge stuff.
The two people working behind the scenes for years to bring this about are my friends Tom Tincher and Rev. Tony Pierce - I am really excited about what they’ve been able to do and think this is going to give New Life and other area churches some new opportunities to improve our ministy effectiveness.
They intend to enroll students in the general ed. portion of the degree this fall. I’ll keep posting details as matters develop - my hope is that many New Lifers in the future will benefit from this new opportunity.
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