Lead with Prayer

Photo by Patrick Fore (Unsplash)

Most leaders are activists. Instead of “Ready, Aim, Fire,” they are more likely to “Ready, Fire.”

As a result, prayer can feel like a waste of time. No Christian leader would say that prayer, itself, is a waste of time. Only that when they engage in prayer, it can feel like they are wasting precious time that could be spent on more… well… activist-oriented activities.

So why did Jesus “waste” so much time in prayer? And pray He did. So much so that Luke commented that He “often” withdrew to lonely, out-of-the-way, deserted places specifically for prayer (Luke 5:16). The verb “withdrew” in the Greek (ὑποχωρέω) is in the imperfect tense, suggesting that it was an ongoing or oft-repeated action. 

Let’s state the obvious. If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we? Particularly if we are leaders. Why? We cannot lead apart from prayer. Not effectively. John Mark Comer writes “leaders pray first” in the foreword to the book Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders, a work that explores the reality that an “intentional prayer life is the nonnegotiable constant of lasting, fruitful Christian life and leadership.” And from my experience, there are at least three reasons why: power, promptings and protection.

Power. First, it is through prayer that we call on and experience God’s power. It’s been said that when we work, we work. But when we pray, God works. Apart from prayer, we are working in and through the power of the flesh. A person of high gifting can go quite far in this manner, even thinking they are experiencing the hand of God. But truly supernatural power can only come through prayer. As Jesus rather bluntly put it, “… apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, NLT).

Promptings. Second, it is through prayer that we call on God for His leadership, guidance and direction—and receive it. There is simply no substitute for the “promptings” God brings to bear on our lives through prayer—and often in counterintuitive ways. Or as the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed: “The shepherds of my people have lost their senses. They no longer seek wisdom from the Lord. Therefore, they fail completely, and their flocks are scattered” (Jeremiah 10:21, NLT).

Protection. If a leader is not aware that they are engaged in a spiritual battle, they are at best naïve, and at worst, a fool. One of the more intriguing parts of the prayer Jesus taught His followers to model involved praying that we would be delivered from the evil one. The apostle Paul went into great detail about the importance of putting on the armor of God, most of which was defensive in nature (Ephesians 6). 

Imagine attempting to lead without strength, without guidance, and without defense. Personally, I would consider it both terrifying and utterly futile. Yet according to Lifeway Research, 72% of Christian leaders identify “consistency in personal prayer” as one of the greatest needs they must address.

Yes, it is.

We simply cannot survive on “air prayers” shot in the sky like an arrow as a last-minute attempt at covering or support. We cannot have prayer be an afterthought after we have exhausted all our personal energies. We cannot rely on the prayers of others. We cannot mistake public prayers as indications of a private prayer life.

We’re leaders.

And leaders are to lead with prayer.

James Emery White

Sources

Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer, and Cameron Doolittle, Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders.