Timothy and Titus Training 101

Leadership Principle #2: PRAY

“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.” 1 Timothy 2, The Message

This is how we get to know God more and more. Prayer involves passionate, deep anticipated listening, expecting God to respond. It might in a whisper of thought to our soul. He might speak through a situation, giving you wisdom. He might reveal a solution to a tragic situation before you knew you needed a rescue. Prayer is not just an exercise of a morning devotion or wake up call, but a “here I am, Lord, what do you have planned for today?”

Through humble prayer we realize how small we are compared to our Heavenly Father who loves us and is waiting to give HIS best for us when we come to Him. He delights in even the smallest details of our lives. What is big to us is tiny to Him, but He delights in us telling Him about them anyway.

Prayer is intimacy with our Lord. HE hears every prayer. He knows us by name. He knows the people we are holding up to Him in prayer. He knows our hearts and the depths of our belief in knowing that He hears us and is already working on it…or him…or her, showing His power and glory!

He wipes away the tears that fall when we cry out to him in anguish over being offended or brought down low when trying to lead well. He brings peace in the middle of the storm, so we lead well with calm and assurance. In doing this, He reminds us that He went through the same things we are going through and more…and He is there, right beside us.

He reminds us that HE fights the battles while we pray. We run to the battle, fall on our knees, and He wins. Every. Time. We accept His will, His timing, His plan for we know and believe that HE wants the best for all of us.

Jesus prayed. Jesus wept. Jesus carried a cross of shame. Jesus paid the debt of all our sin. Jesus taught and led his disciples to pray. He knew they would need this intimacy of prayer to give them strength and direction when He ascended to heaven to prepare a place for them…and for all who came after them.
“Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV) “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”

Pray in Jesus Name. This reminds us that we are asking for God’s will to, indeed, be done and not our own. Prayer, in Jesus Name, is acknowledging, every time, that Jesus is Lord, the One and Only mediator to God the Father. In Jesus Name, our sins are washed away. Indeed. Once and for all.

While Jesus was on this earth, He prayed, asking God for His direction for every move He made. Jesus, the Son of God! Why, then, do we NOT pray before beginning each day to get our “marching orders”? Jesus said, “The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.” (John 14:10, NLT) Words fall over our lips from a heart that is set toward God, full to overflowing with HIS Holy Spirit.

A leader who prays, listening for every word of God’s response, is a leader who is intimately in love with the One who loves him/her most. That person is one I will follow because they are following God. How about you?

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for teaching us to pray, to talk with You about anything and everything, knowing You are listening and waiting for us to express it before it is even on our lips. You are God and we are not. You knew we needed this intimate communication that is constant and never ceasing. Thank you, Lord, for making the way clear to the Father. May Your Kingdom come and reign in me today. May Your will be done on earth, in every detail in our lives, as it is in heaven. In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe.

And I’m singing…”In Jesus Name”….

Hope for all the world, You came down,
Traded heaven’s throne for a sinner’s crown,
Grace poured out.
Son of righteousness crucified,
Hanging on the cross You paid the price,
To give us life…

In Jesus’ name our sins are washed away,
In Jesus’ name we are rescued, we are saved,
For love has come to make a way for us,
In Jesus’ name there is freedom for the broken,
In Jesus’ name there is healing for the hopeless,
For all our days, we rest in Jesus’ name…

You alone are good forever true,
Never far away, we’re holding on to You,
Only You…