The Ability to Lead

The Ability to Lead

There are many differences of opinion on leaders, specifically the one that frequently comes to mind: are leaders born or made?  Well I certainly do not have the answer either way but I do know this; leaders- God led leaders are called, this is as simple as I can put it.  I have said it before I did not choose this profession; I did not choose to be placed into specific roles in my Church or in my profession, some things I certainly desired to do, but to be fair it was out of selfishness, not out of wanting to please God. But God’s time line and my time line are two very different things.  Have you ever felt you had to wait on God for an answer to what you considered to be a life altering decision?  I know I have.  But I firmly believe in the principal of patience and again…God is on a different time line, not yours not mine..but his.  And I think we usually find out after we get through such life altering events, that God’s time line was most appropriate.  So to be in prayer for God led decisions is what we will discuss this time.  I do not know that praying about something will necessarily make it happen (or not happen depending on what you want). But I do know prayer works especially if God has decided it fits into his plan.  We need to learn as warriors and leaders of others that we need to pray TO God, for his specific will to be slowly revealed to us, not pray to God  FOR ourselves.  As warriors we serve in an awesome capacity and we are accountable for all of our actions, so before we can lead others, we must first lead ourselves and a good place to start is knowing how to pray.

In Jeremiah 6: 16-19 it talks about Jeremiah being a watchman, this is a good example of the job of a leader.  The watchman was charged with blowing the trumpet, protecting the flock, alerting others to trouble and supervising others and keeping them prepared to stay in line with focus on the vision at hand.  In an effort to follow this lead and do so effectively we cannot lead if we do not have all of the strengths it takes to do so effectively.  Jeremiah was effective as a watchman but, not so effective he was able to keep most of the people from going astray, how do we accomplish this task- ask God to help us do it…in prayer.  God has already laid out for us what we need to lead ourselves and others we just need to ask him to reveal it to us.  In 2 Timothy 1: 7 it stated God has supplied us with power, love and sound mind.  Asking God for clarification in a tough situation is my hope we will do more frequently.  God has supplied us with an awesome power to solve the problems we face, a love connection to reach each other, even those that would despise us simply for what we stand for and a sound mind to effectively communicate our instructions and vision with others.

In an effort to be the watchman, the warrior that guards the gate allowing no evil to cross in we must pray for his God given power, his love and a clear, sound mind.  How do I do this?  The model prayer is laid out for us in Luke Chapter 11, you may know it as the Lord’s Prayer, from Luke Chapter 11.  Jesus’ disciples asked of him to teach them to pray.  In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus describes for his disciples the need to pray to God the Father.  God the Father is the leader.  This is where you come in, as the paternal leader you are aware of your responsibilities and the need for you as a leader to do what is right and just.  To require of God his will to be done.  Only by asking for his will to be done…can it slowly be revealed to us and we can respond with what he has tasked us with doing.  Always be prepared as a leader, you may have heard the expression lead from the front, I believe in this principle and understand where it comes from, but to add to that; while leading from the front do so with a devoted, awesome power to the conflict you face, with love for those you serve and always utilize a clarity of communication to present your vision.

Stay safe and keep your head down!!