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.

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

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!

1. Identify with whom you are angry. - When someone hurts or offends you, or takes from you, in your thinking that person is now a DEBTOR who owes you a DEBT. Forgiveness is more than a decision to forget the debt and move on with your life. Forgiving involves CANCELING the debt.

Make a list of the people who have mistreated you - family, parents, bosses, coaches, ex-spouse, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, whoever. Don’t assume you’ve forgiven someone simply because you’ve “put it behind you”.

2. Determine what they owe you.- We must forgive specifically and not generally. What does that person OWE you, what did he/she take from you? Money? A job? An opportunity? A marriage? An apology? A chapter of your life? You cannot cancel a debt that you haven’t identified.

3. Cancel the debt.- This means deciding that the offending person doesn’t owe you anything anymore. For we who are Christians, just as Christ canceled our sin debt on the Cross, so we cancel the debt owed to us by the people on our list. This can be as simple as a decision made quietly in your heart. Or you can mark it in some fashion such as writing out words such as Lord, this person owes me (whatever you’ve identified). I choose to cancel this debt. This person doesn’t owe me anymore. Just as You forgave me, I now forgive this person.

4. Dismiss the case.- Our feelings don’t change with our decision to forgive. Forgiving someone doesn’t erase our memories of what happened. Old feelings will come flooding back. When the feelings and memories come back, don’t try to “not feel” them - that’s a losing proposition - but rather FACE them and restate your decision that “he/she doesn’t owe me”. Then thank Christ for giving you grace to forgive and ask Him for further strength to not “reopen the case”. And don’t accept the lie that you haven’t forgiven because the feelings are so strong. Focus on the truth that you made the decision to forgive. Feelings come and go but the decision remains. And this is how to deal with your anger in a way that brings your life in alignment with God’s will, brings you to a place where His blessings and work in your life aren’t hindered but can flow freely.

A question - Do I tell the person I’ve forgiven them? I agree with Andy Stanley - in most cases, no. Sharing your decision to forgive can be seen as an accusation to a person who might feel they haven’t done anything wrong to begin with. However it is appropriate to share IF the individual asks for forgiveness. In most cases it’s best to keep this between you and God.

1. New Bible College – for many years I have been connected with several area pastors on both sides of the river who have sought to bring a Bible college to the Peoria-Pekin area. We’ve met a variety of times but things just didn’t seem to come together. Last week though, I was invited to a meeting where details of an agreement were announced by which an established liberal arts college and an established Bible college will team together and launch a new accredited Bible college in Peoria. This is very exciting to me and I think it will open all sorts of training and serving opportunities for churches like New Life. I’ll be serving on an advisory board and thus keep connected with the project. We’re told that soon there will be a press conference at which time all the details can be shared.

2. What to do about The Gathering? - New Life’s worship venue “The Gathering” has a good problem – it’s running out of space. Attendance has been bumping against the limit fairly regularly but last weeks crowd pretty much maxed out the room. So, we are looking at our options which are basically A. add a second Gathering service, or B. move to a new location. Both options raise questions and problems but not doing anything is not an option (might have to read that sentence a second time). So we’re in the process of pondering and praying - how does God want us to address this?

3. Multi-site – If you’ve been around for awhile you’ve probably heard us talk about multi-site church structure – the idea of expanding to new geographic locations while remaining one church. I suspect some of you are saying “why don’t those guys stop talking about it and do it?!” I’d say keep praying for us especially now, and I challenge you to pray about your own involvement in helping establish another location in the tri-county area. Our ministry plan calls for us to move forward and we intend to do so. Elders and staff are at the front end of discussions and planning now, and we hope to have some specific details as we go into the summer.

Again, I hope these 3 items prompt you to pray for me, the staff and elders. We want to make decisions that are Holy Spirit prompted and led!
Thanks for reading.

Now, while pondering these themes of extreme socialism, Harriet and I have been working through the HBO mini-series John Adams (our hot Friday night date!), and with it, reliving all the history of how America was birthed. The series is packed with scenes that move you - such as the moment in the Philidelphia hall when the voting ceased and the delegates of the 13 colonies realized they had voted to declare total independance from England, and the scene of the first inauguration of George Washington as president. The personal sacrifice of these people, their courage, their selflessness and devotion to duty and to the good of others - it is powerful and fills you with deep gratitude and wonder that so many good leaders were there at the right time. I also found myself re-envisioned with the founding ideas of our nation - freedom, opportunity for everyone, reduce government control. And it can’t help but cause you to reflect on how the concerns that led to the revolution at the time of John Adams are similar to so many of our concerns - rising taxes, increasing demands from the govt. and an increasing sense that politicians won’t listen to the majority of the American people.

But how do Christians respond to the political situation of our day? Our first and primary response must be prompted by God’s Word - not the news media or talk radio or the Republican party or the Democratic party. And the clearest call to action I find is in I Timothy 2:1-2 - “I URGE THEN FIRST OF ALL THAT REQUESTS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSION AND THANKSGIVING BE MADE FOR EVERYONE - FOR KINGS AND THOSE IN AUTHORITY, THAT WE MAY LIVE PEACEFUL AND QUIET LIVES IN ALL GODLINESS… God wants us to pray for our government - pray for our president and the congress. I pray that God will protect them and that He work in their lives to lead them to follow Christ and that ALL their decisions align with biblical truth and godly wisdom, and that God works within them genuine humilty and a genuine dependence on Him. God calls us to pray for our political leaders whether or not you are a Republican or a Democrat. Cause before you are a Republican or a Democrat, you - if you’ve opened your life to Jesus - are a Christian and you take your political direction from God’s word. Thanks for reading.

I have been carrying the study guide with me and using it during personal prayer times. Sometimes I’ll use some of the resource materials provided in the back, such as the list to help you walk through a time of personal repentance. Sometimes I’ll open to a section and review it, allowing any of the material to prompt me into fresh prayer. Or I’ll read through a section, such as the pages on how to hear from God, and then pray for the principles to take root in my heart. But my point is to encourage you in not forgetting what we were challenged with in the seminar. Rather, keep the study guide near and open it often, especially in your times of private prayer. Let God continue to mold and build your walk with Him through it. (if you were unable to attend the seminar, it is available on New Life’s web site and you can obtain a copy of the study guide from the church office - just call us at 266-9050). Thanks for reading.

We know of 4 people who received Christ for the first time (thank you Lord!) We had at least 58 people make recommitments in the sense of saying they had been drifitng from Christ and wanted to recommit to following him with all their heart. I think that is fantastic! Please pray for these folks - just imagine what could happen if 58 people who weren’t following Jesus closely were revived and surrendered their lives afresh to Him. That could have huge impact touching 100’s of lives!

People in the services indcated they were praying for at least 185 friends and family members to return to Christ; That’s 185 people that once received Jesus into their lives but now they have drifted and aren’t living for Him. People have commited themselves to pray that God will work in these lives so that they will return to living for Him. That’s tremendous that so many people are receiving prayer that God will open their eyes and free them from the deception that keeps them from God.

Thank you for praying for the services - it seems to me that God touched lives!

And speaking about prayer - I encourage you to continue to review the prayer materials we got from the Prayer Seminar with Dave Butts. I have my study guide with me most days during my private prayer times, refering to it and trying to develop some of the practices Dave taught on. Several of us are traveling to visit Dave at his church in Indiana later this month. We want to learn more about ministering in prayer during our worship services so Dave’s going to spend some time with us for that purpose.