Prayer: The Leader's Secret Weapon

On page 28 in the Leading Today section of the May / June 2011 issue of Preaching Stan Toler has an article called Prayer: The Leader’s Secret Weapon. The article states

“Everyone depends on a leader for answers. “Where do we go next?” “What’s our goal?” “Should we move or wait?” It’s the leader who must make these decisions.”

When discussing leadership we often differentiate between secular leadership and church leadership, sometimes techniques that are used in the secular leadership are discounted. This is a mistake because there are things that are done in the secular world that will work just as well in the church. Prayer is one of the things that leaders in the secular world do well to learn from church leadership.

Without prayer when people come to the leader with the questions where do we go? What do we do? The only one that the leader has to turn to is themselves. The leader will be depending on their own skills, knowledge, or network of people that they know to find answers, sometimes these things will just not be enough. Without prayer these leaders have nothing to turn to greater than themselves.

In the article Toler discusses how the Christian leader has prayer to help them in time of need. There are four things that the leaders should be praying for.

Perspective: What is the big picture?

Wisdom: The ability to make the correct choices.

Guidance: Just as other ask the leader for Guidance the leader ask God for guidance.

Strength: The strength to endure.