How big are your prayers?
What are you asking of God this month?
It’s almost an unimaginable gift we have as Christian leaders to be able to ask God himself to lend His presence and power to our leadership and ministry. Yet it’s true.
Don’t waste the privilege of prayer; it’s your most powerful resource as a leader.
This invitation and opportunity to pray can be overwhelming. There are many needs, from vision and dreams to hope and healing.
We pray for salvation, the personal needs of those we shepherd, the community, hunger and poverty, specific ministries, staff, our own family, and personal needs, and of course, there’s no end to this list.
If we’re honest about the practicalities, we acknowledge that we can’t pray for everything, so where do we start?
What are the big prayers that can transform your leadership from the mere results of human effort to supernaturally empowered?
The purpose of this post is not to limit your prayers.
You can pray for anything at any time. But some prayers are positioned to support you, your more specific prayers, and your leadership. They bring life, energy, and strength to what you do as a leader.
Before we move through these seven prayers, let me briefly share my personal approach to prayer. When I start with these three prayers, my heart seems to be better positioned to pray further and deeper. They aren’t necessarily long, but they are very sincere.
Gratitude
The best positioning of our hearts before we ask more of God is a spirit of gratitude for what He has already given. So, I speak words of praise and worship and very specific thanks for the many blessings in my life.
Humility
A humble heart is pleasing to God. Therefore, I offer expressions of confession and acknowledge my dependence upon God.
Anticipation
I lean into God’s kindness by declaring my trust and belief based on countless answered prayers. This is not a “name it and claim it” proposition, but my desire to pray His will, according to scripture, while acknowledging God’s love for the church and me.
I don’t want you to become discouraged by thinking, “How can I add seven more prayers when I already don’t have enough time?” So instead, try this approach; pray one of these big payers daily. And each week, you’ll have them all covered!
7 big leadership prayers:
1) Bold faith
I’ve never felt my faith was big and bold. My faith is unwavering and sure, but I think a more bold and growing faith is needed not only to pray with strength and belief but to lead in the same way.
Trust is at the core of faith for a leader. Essentially, it’s the question of how much we trust God. Leadership is not a safe or comfortable role if we truly lead; we are always out on the edge of where we’ve never gone before. That requires bold faith.
2) Kingdom courage
The fears and insecurities that are common to leaders require courage to overcome. God provides courage as we pray and takes action to demonstrate our faith.
Kingdom courage is focused specifically on the needs of the Kingdom centered on God’s purpose in Matthew 28:18-20.
Courage demonstrates itself in practical forms such as financial risk, difficult decisions, and tough conversations.
3) Servant influence
Praying for greater influence can seem like a selfish prayer. But let’s extend the benefit of the doubt, understanding that it’s about reaching more people for Jesus, not for personal gain. (God’s Kingdom, not our kingdom.) With that in mind, one of the best ways to pray is to ask for more significant servant influence.
We are servants of God entrusted to serve others just as Jesus modeled for us. That’s a big leadership prayer. When our hearts are biased toward serving for the good of others, we can be trusted with more influence.
4) Personal strength
The larger your ministry grows (one of your Kingdom prayers, right?), the greater the need for personal strength. This includes physical stamina, consistent character, and spiritual tenacity.
As a leader, you need different things on different days. There are days when substantial physical energy is needed to press on and other days when spiritual strength is needed to resist temptation. There are still other times when you face a spiritual battle, and great strength is required.
God answers these big prayers for strength.
5) Pure wisdom
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
James 3:17
That verse gives us great insight into God’s wisdom; the word pure has always stood out to me. God’s wisdom is connected to the things that perfectly align with His will. It’s a wisdom that is unblemished, perfect, and not contaminated by the world.
I love this big prayer and pray it often.
6) Unmerited favor
Grace is God’s unmerited favor and is the basis of our salvation.
But grace doesn’t stop there. Even though as Christians each of us is a new creation (II Cor 5:17), sin is still a reality. Grace is the free gift that covers our humanity as we lead. This is not an excuse to sin, but encouragement that when we do fail, God’s grace is real.
Confession and forgiveness are part of a Christian’s life and absolutely essential for a spiritual leader. I’m not suggesting that sin is a regular pattern or acceptable, but that we have an advocate with the Father when we do sin. (I John 2:1)
God’s favor carries great depth and breath; it is not confined to salvation. There are hundreds of examples but consider Psalm 84:11:
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”
The prayer of favor is great privilege.
7) Spiritual authority
The last thing I want to do is lead in my own power. I know how futile that is. My prayer is for a sense of spiritual authority that allows the power of the Holy Spirit to be fully engaged in and through my leadership.
I’m confident you share a similar desire. Spiritual authority was never designed to be used for personal gain but for the good of others as they pursue God.
Spiritual authority brings God’s power to your teaching, key leadership moments, prayers for the sick and suffering, vision-casting, and empowering leaders. Of course, there is more, but you get the idea.
So, give this a try! Pray one of these 7 big prayers a day – each week, and see what God does.
If you find this content helpful, I believe you will appreciate my newest book; Leadership Alone Isn’t Enough: 40 Devotions to Strengthen Your Soul. A devotional written for leaders!
This is so powerful Dan!! Thank you for sharing and for challenging us to think and pray BIGGER! For that’s the God we serve! Love it! Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Awesome Awesome Awesome!!! Thank you for sharing. I’m praying The FATHER’S continued favor and great grace over you and your family in JESUS NAME!!!
Thank you for your prayers Darryl!
Thank you Anthony! You are a true prayer warrior!
I’ve been so blessed with your teachings. I pray that God continue to bless you with an unlimited wisdom as you continue to be a blessing to us.
Thank you for your kind words Gideon!
Thank you and I thank God for your articles! Your words are so useful and encouraging for me!
Ionescu,
You are more welcome and I’m glad its helpful!
Dan
I am bless sososososo murch with the prayers,l am going to use it to pray for the leaders.
magnificent publish, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of
this sector do not realize this. You must proceed
your writing. I’m sure, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!
Hi there! This blog post couldn’t be written any better!
Going through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He always kept preaching about this. I am going to forward this information to him.
Fairly certain he’ll have a great read. Thank you for sharing!
Hey this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if
you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding
experience so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Jadwaleuro2024.com ialah website laman terkemuka yang menyediakan jadwal lengkap
lomba UEFA EURO 2024, termasuk tanggal, waktu,
dan lokasi perlombaan, untuk penggemar sepak bola.
continuously i used to read smaller articles or reviews
that as well clear their motive, and that is also happening with this article which I am reading
at this place.
I really like your blog.. vеry nice colors & theme.
Ꭰid you crеate this website yourself or did уou hire
ѕomeone tօo do it foг yօu? Plz reply as I’m looking to construct mү oown blog andd
wouuld ⅼike to know wһere u got thіs from. many thanks
Here is my wweb paցe – free font downloads
Temukan keseruan bermain slot online, dengan grafis
cantik dan jackpot menggiurkan. Nikmati bermacam-macam tema unik dan fitur bonus
menarik untuk kemenangan besar!
Raih kemenangan besar di togel online, dengan bermacam-macam pasaran legal dan kesempatan menang tinggi.
Pasang nomor keberuntungan Anda dan menangkan hadiah spektakuler!
EnchagPT Blog to miejsce, gdzie można znaleźć interesujące artykuły i informacje na temat technologii sztucznej inteligencji.
Jest to blog dedykowany wszystkim entuzjastom sztucznej inteligencji, którzy pragną zgłębiać swoją
wiedzę na temat tego fascynującego tematu.
Car Cheap insurance coverage may
be tailored to accommodate your necessities. Do not agree to a common policy.
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that
I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
After all I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!
For regular visitors, guarantee that your auto insurance in Cicero, Illinois supplies
appropriate insurance coverage for out-of-state events. Different conditions possess various insurance
coverage needs, as well as your policy needs to secure you despite where you
reside in the USA Review your traveling habits along with your car insurance cicero policy carrier to ensure your auto
insurance coverage in Cicero, Illinois is
thorough and also countrywide.
With cheap auto Best car insurance near North Las Vegas NV, I
don’t think that I’m risking on quality. Be sure to comprehend your plan’s conditions.
Knowing SR22 insurance is necessary for drivers who require it.
SR22 insurance is actually certainly not an insurance, but a form confirming insurance
protection. This demand usually adheres to significant web traffic offenses.
Be attentive in preserving your SR22 insurance to prevent lawful issues.
constantly i used to read smaller articles or reviews which also clear
their motive, and that is also happening with this paragraph which I am reading at this
time.
I’ve looked for a trustworthy source on this topic. Your
post has ultimately supplied that. Thank you!
my page … Cheapest SR22 insurance
Awesome write ups, With thanks.
Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due to no backup.
Do you have any methods to protect against hackers?
Generally I do not read article on blogs,
however I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to take
a look at and do it! Your writing taste has been amazed me.
Thank you, very great article.
Feel free to visit my site … Mundelein car insurance quotes