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On the Leading From Alignment podcast, I was discussing my book When Sheep Bite which is about leadership pain. John Opalewski asked me to share some things leaders should consider when they get bit.
On a different podcast, I discussed in more detail the idea in Luke 2:52 about Jesus growing in favor with men. Check out The Pinnacle of a Leader’s Health.
You can get more information on When Sheep Bitehere. And also check out my book of prayer for pastors called Amen Indeed.
An old Sunday School song had kids joyfully singing, “I’m in the Lord’s army!” Children who enjoyed playing “Army” with their friends loved this song and the idea behind it, but it seems like many seasoned saints get a little uncomfortable with the idea of a militant Church.
But from God’s well-ordered instructions in the Old Testament of how the tribes of Israel were to move out with military precision, to the New Testament’s directions on how Christians are to wear their spiritual army to fight their battles, it’s clear that saints are indeed a part of the Lord’s Army.
On the pages of Scripture, we are introduced to military leaders—some who are among God’s people and some who are outsiders. From each of these leaders we can learn invaluable lessons for our lives. I hope you will join us for this informative and applicable series of messages.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul. (Psalm 138:3 NKJV)
Prayer requires stick-to-it-iveness, which means it takes strength to pray.
Therefore, being physically or emotionally drained makes it challenging to be alert and attentive in prayer. When we’re tired, our thoughts often drift; it’s hard to stay focused.
Sometimes one of the most helpful things you can do for your spiritual growth is to get a good night’s sleep (or take a nap).
Jesus did this (Matthew 14:22-23). He was very aware of His physical and emotional levels. When He was tired, He took a nap; when He was drained from ministry, He got alone with His Heavenly Father for refreshing (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16).
Jesus told His disciples to pray so they wouldn’t give in to temptation (Luke 22:40, 45-46). Prayer does strengthen us against the enemy’s attack, but physical and emotional stamina helps us too.
Notice the full cycle—we need physical and emotional strength to pray persistently and consistently, and prayer enhances our physical and emotional reserves to help us pray. So do all three:
When all three components of your being—spirit, body, soul—are alert and healthy, you will find your prayer life fully engaged. If one area becomes depleted, listen to the always-practical counsel of the Holy Spirit. Pray, rest, talk to a friend or a counselor so you can return to the optimal position of strength.
Yes, it takes strength to pray, but in prayer your strength is renewed.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. (Exodus 3:2 NLT)
Chris Quilala said, “Throughout history God has revealed Himself in many different ways, leaving those touched by Him forever changed. … God’s miraculous display is never without purpose.”
Even outside the Bible, William Wilberforce was convinced of God’s creative power by watching a spider weave her web; C.S. Lewis believed in God’s presence by watching the wind swirl some leaves; John Newton fell to his knees in surrender on board a ship as he experienced God’s awesome power in a massive storm at sea.
God is always revealing Himself—always speaking to us.
Are you open to hearing His voice in both miraculous and everyday ways?
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Prayer can unleash God’s miracles. Sometimes the most visible miracles are the changes that are seen in us—our attitude, our expectation, our focus, and our maturity.
Maturity is not stuffy and stodgy. Those folks actually become quite childish when others around them don’t “act right,” according to their standards. The most mature people are the most childlike.
Do you want proof for that last statement? The most mature Person to ever live on earth was Jesus, and He loved being around kids and having children around Him (Mark 10:13-14).
His teaching examples were frequently quite simple—farmers, birds, flowers, trees, and even going to the bathroom!. He knew their songs (Luke 7:31-32), and many of His interactions with the overly-mature religious leaders were quite playful and childlike (Mark 11:27-33).
Jesus wants us to come to our Father like children (Mark 10:15-16). “Like a little child” means childlike, which is the exact opposite of childish. Those who think they are too mature for such simplistic things are actually the ones who are childish.
Jesus uses the Father-child relationship over and over to teach us about praying to a Father who is desirous of giving us the best things (Matthew 6:7-9; Luke 12:32).
One of the Psalms of Ascent written by David strikes this childlike note (Psalm 131). Verse 1 describes the childishness he’s giving up, and verse 2 describes the childlikeness he is taking on:
“my heart is not proud”—not focused on me (v. 1a)
“my eyes are not haughty”—overly grown up (v. 1b)
“I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp” (v. 1c NLT)
instead I am stilled, quieted, trustingly at peace (v. 2)
and then David calls all of us to this same childlikeness (v. 3)
Jesus taught about persistent prayer in Luke 18:1-8 and then used a scenario from the temple to illustrate His point (Luke 18:9-17), contrasting the childish pseudo-maturity of the overly-religious man and the childlike maturity the childlike man. And then, as directed by the Holy Spirit, Luke includes the same exchange Mark used about Jesus taking up children in His arms to bless them.
Childlike is loving dependent; childish is fiercely independent.
Childlike is trusting someone wise; childish always knows best.
Childlike is imaginative; childish is realistic.
Childlike is persistent; childish is whining.
I love the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem called The Children’s Hour. As you read through this, imagine our Heavenly Father as Longfellow and yourself as his three daughters.
Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.
A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.
A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!
They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.
They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!
Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!
I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away! —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
We mature by trading childishness for childlikeness. We mature best by coming to God our Father in prayer as a child comes to his father.
Let prayer change your maturity!
If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this series on how prayer changes us, you can find them all here.
When we ready the Bible and it confronts us, the first place we need to look is in the mirror. The Bible is speaking first to me about changes I need to make. It’s only after I have applied God’s Word to my own life that I can talk about it authentically to others.
“Righteousness is nothing more or less than the character of Jesus Himself, manifesting in and through us into all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities.” —T.M. Moore
“At one time in Earth’s recent past people and all animals, including crocodiles, lions, T. rex, sharks, spiders, alligators, etc., were vegetarian. It is not known exactly when the transition to carnivorous and predatory behavior occurred, but we do know it happened after Adam and Eve sinned and did not involve evolution.” A recent analysis of a pterosaur’s stomach contents shows this vegetarian diet.
Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace explains why the different accounts of the ministry of Jesus (as recorded in the four Gospels) actually bolster the case for their accuracy and historicity.
“It is when the thoughts of heaven are long out of the Christian’s sight, that he forgets his hope of that glorious place, that he begins to set up some idol…. Keeping the joy of heaven always before you will help you to run your race with patience. It will help you endure your short scuffles with temptation and affliction.” —William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armor
T.M. Moore wrote these sober words to the church: “The Lord sees His Church as the joy and beauty of the earth (Psalm 48:1-2), reflecting His splendor and goodness to the watching world. But when churches spend the bulk of their budgets and energies on themselves, it’s hard to see how they can be of much good in their local communities.”
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Sometimes when Christians get anxious about a situation, it appears that they have forgotten that God is just as loving and strong today as He was in the good ol’ days. We need to guard against this misunderstanding.
Let’s use this prayer to remember that God isn’t just the God of the good ol’ days, but He is still just as loving and powerful today as He has ever been—
“God, You have been faithful—You have rescued me. Now help me to see that You are still Sovereign over this current situation—You are doing something in the midst of this crisis.”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Discussions about end times events and thoughts about the Second Coming of Jesus are sure to make some people uneasy. Even Christians can feel a little uncertain over the details of this topic.
This isn’t anything new. In the first century, the apostle Paul was already writing about this to the saints, particularly in his two letters to the church at Thessalonica. Paul wants to bring us reassurance about God’s resolute plan, and he also wants to reassure any fearful hearts.
In 2 Thessalonians, I see two little words that Paul uses to give us both certainty and security—those words are “the” and “our.” Paul especially uses these words when he mentions the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
The definite article “the” distinguishes the True and the Authentic from the deception that the antichrist will bring. The “the” tells us that there is only One that is certain.
Think of it this way: If I tell you that some supplies I brought for you are in my car, I can give you the one and only car to go to. You don’t have to check just any car in the parking lot, but you have one certain car—the car—that can supply your needs. This is what we have in our Savior Jesus.
I shared more details about this in an exclusive 5-minute video for my Patreon supporters. You can become a supporter and get access to all of my exclusive content by clicking here.
The pronoun “our” then assures us of the security we have in our relationship with God. Much like Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father” we can feel comforted in knowing the assurance the Holy Spirit gives us that the Savior has opened the way for us to come to the Father—to our Heavenly Father!
Check out both of these powerful little words in this passage—
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved bytheLord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved throughthesanctifying work oftheSpirit and through belief in thetruth. He called you to this through ourgospel, that you might share in theglory of ourLord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)
“The” gives us certainty and “our” gives us security to know that we are lovingly held in God’s hands—held securely for all of eternity.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Two of my favorite topics—leadership and biblical studies—merge beautifully in Spiritual Leadership by Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby.
Of course, I believe the Bible is the ultimate leadership guide, but I also recognize how many leadership authors have expounded on and then applied biblical principles in their leadership lectures and books. In Spiritual Leadership, the Blackaby father-and-son team moves seamlessly from biblical examples, to contemporary leadership quotes, to the latest research, and right back to the lessons found in Scripture. I loved it!
The authors note, “People know intuitively that claiming to be a leader or holding a leadership position does not make someone a leader. People are warily looking for leaders they can trust.” I believe this trust must come from a leader’s solid foundation of morality and competency. Spiritual Leadership doesn’t claim to be the go-to resource to build this leadership foundation, but I think any thoughtful reader will see that God’s principles for leadership put that foundation in place and give leaders a filter to judge the usefulness of all other leadership books.
Speaking of other leadership books, the Blackabys have extensively footnoted all of their source materials, so whether you want to read the biblical passages that they are referencing or dive deeper into the research they share, you will have an ample catalogue right at your fingertips.
Whether you are an emerging leader or a veteran leader, you are still a leader-in-training. I would highly recommend including this book as part of your ongoing leadership development.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Heartfelt prayer is never a meaningless exercise. Without exception, something is changed with every single prayer we offer to God. Sometimes, as we have learned, some of the biggest changes take place in us.
Take a look at this picture—what do you see? If your focus is on the big, dark dot you will eventually lose sight of all that’s bright and beautiful around it. Jesus said something similar in Luke 11:34. Prayer can help us take our focus off the darkness and turn to the light.
When we experience bad things, we have three options:
We can focus on the badness and see it as inevitable and inescapable—this will leave us bitter.
We can attempt to change our circumstance—this will leave us possibly better. But what if we cannot change our circumstances? Then we’re right back to #1—we are bitter.
We can change our focus. For Christians, this will help us realize how blessed we are.
Let’s revisit part of a road trip that the apostle Paul took.
First in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4). He was only able to spend 3 weeks in this city before the jealous Jews rounded up trouble and started a riot (vv. 5-10). Instead of focusing on that big, black dot, Paul gratefully prayed for them (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 11-12).
Before Thessalonica, he was shamefully treated in Philippi (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2; Acts 16:22-24). Another incredibly short stay before trouble came, but yet again, Paul prays with gratitude (Philippians 1:3-4).
Why could Paul be grateful? Mainly because his focus wasn’t on the big, dark dot of his shameful treatment in those cities, but on what God had done because of that treatment (Philippians 1:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10, 3:6-10; 2 Thessalonians 1:4).
Likewise, Paul calls on us to use prayer to change our focus (Philippians 4:4-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
William Cowper was a gifted poet who battle the big, black dot of depression. One of his poems captures the light behind the big, black dot—
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning Providence,
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain. —William Cowper, Light Shining Out Of Darkness
Let’s let prayer change our focus from the darkness to the light!
Craig T. Owens 