To Lead or to Pray?
Be not forgetful of prayer. Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere there will be new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and you will understand that prayer is an education.
Fyodor Dostoevski1 What frustrates Christian leaders about prayer? Perhaps it has something to do with the differences between leading and praying. When a random sample of people was asked what the term leadership brought to mind, they responded with words like authority, decisiveness, confidence, and power. The word prayer, on the other hand, evoked words such as humility, pleading, and powerlessness. The difference illustrates a conflict Christian leaders face. As leaders, they preach, counsel, and organize with efficiency. Leaders must see that things get done. They plan, decide, act, and evaluate. In most people's minds, leadership means the ability to solve problems. This expectation extends beyond administrative duties. Sometimes it seems Christian leaders are expected to have answers to most of life's problems. Even the leader's personal spirituality is held up as a public example of a faith that works. The writer to the Hebrews called it a "faith we should imitate" (13:7). ... "The results of prayer aren't quite so tangible. The need for prayer pulls at me over the long haul, but it's not an urgent pull. A fish on the line is an urgent pull. Getting the boat in the right place with the right fishing tackle all oiled and ready to go is a far less urgent task, yet it can make the difference in whether the fish is landed." Prayer does prepare us for the more tangible ministry tasks. It makes us better leaders. But the effects of prayer can't be measured in terms of problems solved per square inch. For the administrator, ...
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