by With all the leadership teaching available today, there is no shortage of suggestions on how to improve. Yet, the scripture gives us the most important key of all. This key will have the most impact on the effectiveness of our leadership. God’s Word tells us that prayer is the key to effective leadership regardless of where we lead or the resource we command!
Church leadership has explicitly more opportunities than the church has ever had. The early church had nothing in comparison, yet its success was exponential! With none of the resources and communication tools we have today, they impacted so many people who thought they were turning the world upside down!
Interestingly, this group of church leaders had no academic credentials, no political endorsement, and no travel luxuries. Most of their leaders had a rap sheet of time spent in jail! Yet they took the Gospel to the ends of the earth and were highly influential in reaching people. What was the secret of this small band of leaders?
They knew how to pray! Because they were so dedicated to praying, they could speak the word of Christ boldly. They increased in numbers so rapidly (by the thousands in one-day revivals) that there was a sense that they would change the known world of the day! In the first 400 years, they were so successful that Christianity became the dominant faith!
The Role of Prayer in the Church Today.
There is only one undeniable result when the church begins to pray truly, connecting with the Father. We begin to know and respond to the heart of God for those who don’t have a relationship with Him. His mission to reach people with the Gospel has become the church’s primary focus.
Believers who are prayerfully reaching the world around them will not only receive miracles to accomplish this but will have people respond in repentance. The powerful message paired with an empowered believer can’t help but pursue the mission and see effective ministry happen. This pattern is the example shown by the early church, which the modern-day church must implement!
Note: the early disciples had not taken the latest and greatest “church growth” conference. They did not have the latest methods, facilities, technology, and education. Instead, they had times of prayer, connecting with a supernatural source that made them effective in every way! Prayer is the key to using the tools we have in the church today to reach people with the message!
For those in the church’s leadership, the key to being effective in leading others is spending time in prayer. The apostles realized early in the church that their time in prayer was their highest priority! Acts tell us that the leaders could not juggle all their responsibilities and ended up making an organizational change.
Acts 6:1–6 (ESV)
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Today, church leaders cannot be so busy with secondary tasks that they fail to spend time in prayer and the word. If they do not establish prayer and the word as their highest priority, they will soon find a spiritual deficiency in their personal lives and the church. As a result, problems arise, and false doctrines will infiltrate the church.
While prayer is not an escape from fulfilling our responsibilities, it is a proper response to the ability of God to make us effective. Let’s do all we can to be people of prayer so that His house can be called a house of prayer! We will impact today’s culture by prioritizing prayer and walking in obedience to the mission.
Charles Spurgeon was asked about the effectiveness of his ministry and how it came about. He replied, “My people pray for me.”
It begins with Christ!
If you don’t know Christ as your savior, it begins with the first step. Committing your life to serve Him is the greatest decision you will make! Finally, for more information on serving the Lord: CLICK HERE!
Thank you for reading, Prayer is the Key to Effective Leadership!
Blessings,
Chad
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