Thoughts for Life: #54 You will be Accountable for Your Prayer Life

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: The foundation on which all ministry and leadership is built is your prayer life. Your leadership is never greater than your prayers.

Successful leadership requires much more than prayer, but no leadership can ever be ultimately successful apart from much prayer. (Google image, Man at altar)

Measure your ministry not by the praise you receive, not by the size of the congregation, not by the amount of the offerings of the church, not by the number of activities centering in the church, but by the amount of prayer that is invested in all the above. Other things being equal a praying leader with a praying people will be blessed of God.

Every leader gives lip service to prayer. However, many have a deplorably ineffective prayer life. It is not enough to have a praying people. The leader is to be a person of God and person of prayer. You cannot be a person of God without being a person of prayer.

An essential element of leadership is praying for your people. When the Israelites in effect rejected Samuel as they clamored for a king, they nevertheless begged for him to pray for them. They recognized that they needed his prayers and probably realized that they owed more to his prayers than to all else he did for them.

Samuel's immediate reply was, "Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you" (1 Sam. 12:23). He knew that it would be a sin against God to fail to pray for his people. Probably leaders sin more against God and against their people by failing to pray enough for them than in any other way. Do You? It is always a sin to fail to pray for those for whom you are spiritually responsible.

A parent is responsible to pray for his children. A pastor is responsible to pray for his people. A superintendent is responsible to pray for all the ministers and churches under his jurisdiction. The head of a denomination is responsible to pray for the whole denomination, but specially for all the leaders of the denomination.

A teacher is responsible to pray for all his students. Oh, how greatly we all fail in our prayer responsibilities!

Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18).

If this is the responsibility of each member of the church, how much more for the pastor. Jesus says the shepherd calls his own sheep by name (John 10:3). As previously urged, each leader must pray regularly by name for all his people.

Surely the most sleepless way you watch over your people (Heb. 13:17) is in prayer. In the Bible the words pray or prayer and watch are often associated together. You cannot spiritually watch without praying. Shepherding and watching involve much more than praying, but prayer is central to your work. You can be sure that you will give account before God of your prayers for your people.

Measure your love for your people by your prayer life. Measure your concern for your people, your vision for your people, and your leadership by your prayer. So important is this that chapters 31 to 34 are specially given to this. [I have presently ended chapter 24 with today's message].

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Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.

Ablaze for God
#54 You will be Accountable for Your Prayer Life
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 170-171) ZondervanPublishingHouse

Prayerful woman challenge

Father, as the foundation of the ministry of our pastors is built on their prayer life, we see that their success in leadership requires much prayer.
Help the parents to understand too, that they are responsible to pray for their children, as well as the pastors' praying for their people.
Guide the various leaders in our churches to see that they are responsible to pray for those they lead, and to maintain a faithful prayer habit on their behalf.
As important as shepherding and watching is, enable our pastors to realize the importance of their having to give an account before God of their prayers for their people.
Make us aware of our responsibility to support them with our prayers!
We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

John 15:10 (KJV) "If ye abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you."

John 14:13, 14 (KJV) "And whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. (14) If ye shall ask any thing
in my name, I will do it."

John 16:24 (KJV) "Hitherto have ye asked nothing
in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joyo
may be full."

Today's quotes-

~ Don Wilton- "God's provision for our redemption demands total compliance with His terms of reconciliation. In full obedience to His commands, we repent of our sin and by faith accept His love toward us. It is through obedience that we experience all the blessings of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Anything less is sin in the eyes of God and cannot please God. Disobedience quenches the Holy Spirit, and we forfeit the fullness of all God has for all believers through the richness of His grace."
(In DECISION, May 2018, p. 31)

~ Wesley L. Duewel- "You cannot separate your life and your praying. Each depends upon the other. Prayer does not stand alone. It is part of a total life. It grows together with other Christian obedience." [Taken from Herald of His Coming newspaper, Vol 77, No 5 (917), p. 7. Used by permission.]

Today's question-

What is your perspective and attitude towards
present circumstances?

We have the opportunity to do the Lord's business and use the talents entrusted to us in His absence. The Holy Spirit can help us meet daily challenges; to help us do our best.
We are transformed in our vision and attitude as we give our heart and soul to open doors where we are. It is a sacred privilege to serve the King of kings!

Upcoming posts-

Awakening
19th- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes

#55 Prepare Your People for Eternal Reward
22nd- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#56 Two Great Ages for the Church
24th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

God's Loving Pursuit
26th- Saturday's post by Max Lucado