LEADERS ARE PRAYERFULWhen we abuse prayer, we are practicing faith folly. Too often
prayer does not enter into the setting of our goals nearly as much
as it does in the attaining of them. Better to seek God’s will in
the setting than to ask Him to bless the accomplishment. We should
pour prayer over our human efforts like sauce over meat.^12It is only through prayer that we learn to focus on Him and delight in
His presence. In the crucible of that holy relationship, God will purify our
purpose as a leader. George Mueller wrote about his own daily time with
the Lord:
...the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend
every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first
thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the
Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul
into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished...
How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in
the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation,
the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon
one!^13Only prayer will purify our hearts...clarify our vision...rearrange our
priorities...refine our goals...cleanse our motives...sanctify our leadership.
It is only prayer that will cause our character to be developed into Christ-
likeness. The issue of character brings us back to the very heart of spiritual
leadership.
“The Christian who clings to
sin closes the ear of God.”^14
(Oswald Sanders)The English word character comes from charakter, which in turn is derived
from charasso, meaning “to cut into, to engrave.” The word originates from
a stamp or impress, as on a coin or a seal. As a result of the “cutting” or
“engraving,” the features of the image correspond respectively with those
of the instrument producing it. Because of this “engraving...stamping...
cutting” one has the “character” or “characteristics” of the other.