My 39 Prayers as a Spiritual Leader
1. Help me have a true, Biblical fear of You (Pr. 1:7a). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge...
2. Saturate me with Scripture (Ps. 119:11) I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
3. Put fire into my desire to be near You (Jer. 29:13, Ps. 27:4). You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart.
4. Give me the kind of Godliness that exalts Your power (2 Tim. 3:5). ...having a form of Godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
5. Help me be a God-pleaser first, and not a man-pleaser, in all its deceitful forms (Jer. 1:17, Pr. 29:25). Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but to trust the Lord means safety.
6. Draw me close to my wife and family and knit our hearts together; give me a passion for their growth in You. (Eph. 5:33, 6:4) So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.
7. Remind me that prayer is the most I can do (Luke 11:9, Jn. 14:13). So I say to you: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
8. Teach me to pray more than I talk about prayer (1 Th. 5:17). Pray without ceasing.
9. Teach me to pray first, even when I think I already know the answer (1 Tim. 2:1). I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.
10. Help me see the outrageous adventure of life in Christ as a higher value than the peer pressure of common sense (Acts 4:19). But Peter and John replied, "judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God."
11. Teach me to wait on You patiently, and not rush ahead (Is. 40:31). But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
12. Help me handle my earthly time, talent and treasure with a Heavenly Wisdom (Lk. 16:10) Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? (NLT)
13. Teach me to walk with You obediently, and not lag behind (Mic. 4:6). No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
14. Cause me to be more mature in You 6 months from now that I am to today (Eph. 1:17). I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.
15. May I view entertainment and pleasure as good gifts of Yours to enjoy, but set them aside swiftly when greater things are before me. (1 Tim. 6:17) Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
16. Reveal to me the gravity of leadership meetings that will - possibly for eternity - impact the spiritual lives of hundreds of people; teach me to pray accordingly (Heb. 13:17a). Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.
17. Let me draw those under my care into a deeper vision of You (2 Cor. 13:9b) This we also pray for, that you be made complete.
18. Teach me that it's possible to change the hearts of people by prayer alone (Pr. 21:1). The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord, as rivers of water: He turns it whatever way He will.
19. Teach me to say, "I was wrong. Will you forgive me?" (Pr. 15:1). A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.
20. Teach me to say, "I don't know." (Pr. 26:12). Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
21. Help me to be silent and seek to understand the other person instead of impatiently wishing I could silence them and force them to understand me (Pr. 18:13). He that answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame unto him.
22. When unhappy or critical people fuss or threaten me, reveal their true needs to me and give me a desire and ability to serve them (Mt. 5:44). But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
23. When the godly criticize me, help me respond and not refuse to grow (Ps. 141:5). When the wicked criticize me, give me the wisdom to see truth in their words (1 Cor. 4:3-4). Let a righteous man strike me - it is a kindness; let him rebuke me - it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord Who judges me.
24. Lift me above my personal feelings of anger and abandonment, that I might not see people as my enemies (Eph. 6:12). For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms.
25. Lift me above the temptation to "write off" people, and genuinely care about them instead (Gal. 6:1a). Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness...
26. Lift me above the temptation to degrade those around me with my fleshly analysis, and pass judgment on them (Lk. 6:37) Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
27. Give me the courage to take risks with risky people, and grace to give them a sense of hope and an assurance of my commitment to them (1 Cor. 1:26ff) For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
28. When problems surface in people I've endorsed, help me care MORE about them than about losing face because someone I've rallied behind has stumbled (Ph. 2:3). Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.
29. Teach me to genuinely embrace people and insist that this be a safe place to NOT have it all together (Jn. 7:24) Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.
30. Teach me to speak life and hope into people beaten down into the silence of hopelessness (Is. 61:1) The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.
31. Show me what kind of gifts and treasures You have buried in those around me, and how to bring those out (1 Cor. 12:27) Now you are the Body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it.
32. As I "connect" with people, may I use this ability to bring YOU to them, and not to bring ME to them (1 Cor. 3:21-23) So then, let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
33. Teach me to not "despise the day of small beginnings" (Zech. 4:10a) Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin
34. Teach me to address disunity as a capital offense and let love cover a multitude of other sins (Tit. 3:10, 1 Pet. 4:8). Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
35. Give me the courage to snatch sheep from the jaws of snarling wolves that look like Christians (Mt. 7:15, Ac.20:29). Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.
36. Give me the will and skill to comfort those sheep and the courage to rebuke the wolves (Ez. 34:8). As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned My flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. Though you were My shepherds, you didn't search for My sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.
37. Give me the will and skill to use Mt. 18 often, gently, slowly, repeatedly, and with the patience of Job (Mt. 18:15) If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.
38. Give me the supernatural ability to draw many people along these paths as You lead me, and kill me rather than let me lead them astray or damage them in any way (1 Cor. 4:16, Mt. 18:6). Therefore I urge you to imitate me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
39. Give me an openhandedness with people of other faiths, particularly other forms of Christianity, to whom I've felt superior. (Jn. 13:35) By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another. |
