One Week to EFFECTIVE PRAYER
Prayer is a personal interaction with God. As followers of God, we understand that God speaks. He talks to us through His Word, the Bible. He also communicates through circumstances and situations and the wise counsel of other Christ-followers. God wants us to know Him and to follow His commands and teachings. Our role is to submit to His leadership in all facets of life. In life we will have questions, concerns, needs and requests that we want to bring to God. The results help us to submit to God and to understand Him better. We find these answers through prayer.
MANY CHRISTIAN LEADERS DON’T PRAY
Many leaders don’t feel confident in prayer, or know how to pray, or what to pray. When we fail to communicate with God regularly, we miss out on the great gift of prayer to help us know God better and become more like Him in our lives and leadership. The practice and discipline of prayer is absolutely key to growing in our faith.
SIGN UP FOR A LEADERSHIP JOURNEY
In this one-week leadership journey, you will learn how to make a habit of daily prayer. You will learn about different kinds of prayer, and how God will use prayer to strengthen your faith, grow your obedience, change lives and circumstances, meet crucial needs, and fulfill His promises. When you sign up below, you will receive the first lesson by email in a few moments, and then another lesson each day for the following six days. At the end of this week, you will know how to talk to God consistently and effectively, so that prayer becomes an integral part of your life and leadership.
WHY WE DO IT
We are investing in you as a leader because we believe that grounded, faith-centered leaders are desperately needed for our country and culture. This kind of leadership isn’t built with books and seminars. It’s built one person at a time, through the traditions of listening, learning and shared experience. We invite you to partner with us in your leadership journey. Our prayer is that you will become a leader in your marriage, home and workplace that will impact the lives in your sphere of influence toward Jesus Christ—the greatest Leader of all.
There’s nothing wrong with being likeable and agreeable as a leader—but to a point. Likeability is not universal. No matter how focused a leader is on building relationships, exhibiting empathy and listening well, he will not be universally liked.
American politics is getting more intense and divisive by the day. The democratic tradition of debate and discourse, leading to compromise and unity, is all but gone in the US. Instead, we gather into tribes based on deeply held political beliefs, we deride the opposition.
What if there was a kind of cold call that was 100% successful? A call that, every time you made it, something meaningful would occur? A cold call so powerful that a response is guaranteed?
Prayer is a tremendous spiritual discipline for leaders. It is a fundamental practice for abiding and growing as a Christian. As a leader, think about how you might pray for those in your sphere of influence.
What if you could know what God Himself was thinking? What if you were able to discern the very thoughts of God? How would that skill and divine knowledge benefit your life and leadership?
Anxiety most often grows from lack of knowledge and/or control. It’s easy to be afraid of that which we don’t understand, or can’t foresee. The Bible addresses anxiety directly. We find at least three spiritual resources we can use to overcome anxiety in life and work.
As in many facets of a man’s character, the instruction on trust with respect to biblical leadership is very different. Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
Positive leadership is a product of a leader’s relationships, for it is in knowing, helping and serving people that he can elicit a compelling and uplifting emotional response.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:11 we are instructed, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”As a faith-centered leader, consider how social media may allow you to be a spiritual influence within your circle of family, friends and coworkers.
Today in the US, 6 billion texts will be sent. But that pales compared to the 269 billion daily emails—that’s 74 trillion a year. And the antiquated phone call? Just 2.4 billion per day among America’s 300 million cell phone users. We are certainly communicating… but are we connecting?
The God we worship is strategic as the Bible contains His master plan for creation. Throughout Scripture God granted strategic foresight—the 30,000 foot view—to His leaders.
Every month between 2% and 3% of all workers quit their jobs. But here’s something interesting. A recent survey revealed that 78% of young workers say they regretted their new job after starting. Are they quitting for the right reasons?
Between the pandemic, inflation, supply chain issues, job hirings and downsizing, political and macroeconomic concerns, the stock market—just about everyone living today is a little bit burnt around the edges.
We live in a world filled with conflict. Every day, regardless of what is reported in the news, there are wars raging, injustices happening and people fighting. What should a leader do?
Aren’t you tired of the endless bombardment of election ads in every form of media? And then the talking head cycles on every news channel? Or the poll numbers—up and down like a roller coaster each day.
Anxiety. Regret. Insecurity. Self-hatred. Guilt. Sadness. Discouragement. Loneliness. Even the best of leaders can find themselves at an emotional impasse.
Your leadership can not only benefit from prayer, but you can use prayer as a tool to develop others.
We overlook the promises God makes with prayer. God says that He hears our prayers. God says that He answers and acts based on our prayers. Prayer indeed is a powerful and personal tool for a faith-centered leader.
Your daily time alone with God and study of the Bible is the key to growing in leadership. Yet only 45% of Christians say they read the Bible “at least once a week”, while a third say they engage in the Scriptures “seldom or never”.
Determining the level of risk you face in a given circumstance, deal or venture is a key factor in making sound decisions. But when it comes to spiritual matters, what is God’s view on taking risk?
The heart of Friday Morning Men’s Fellowship is a small group spending time in discussion around a table. Questions help us grasp spiritual principles, and connect verses and passages in the Bible to our lives and work.
The table leader is responsible for answering the question that every man attending is asking himself when he attends: “How does this hour benefit me today?” The relationships formed, discussion topic, comments made, questions asked, support and prayer given—any and all of these may be of benefit to a man.
Finding a job takes time. As a Christian in the workforce, you have a special tool you can use every day during your job search. Consider how praying specifically and frequently can help you as you focus on the search as a spiritual matter.
In some locations around the world, it would be dangerous, even deadly, to acknowledge that you are a Christ-follower. Faith-centered leadership has become increasingly risky.
We tend to think of temptation as an outside force—the devil, for instance—enticing us to do wrong. Are the temptations we face daily to do wrong prepared and delivered to us by God?
Men come to a table each week when their voices are heard. Participation drives attendance. A table leader’s most important leadership development task during the week is not preparing for their table discussion. Rather, it’s connecting personally with men.
Leaders by nature want to win. They want to win the account, win the deal, win the quarter, win the best staff, win at products, win at service. This is why Jesus’ teaching for leaders to “love your enemies” is tremendously challenging.