Godly Perspective

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV


Over the last month I have been deeply burdened with a specific topic: GODLY PERSPECTIVE.


The Definition of Perspective:

• a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view
• true understanding of the relative importance of things

As I have been pondering this topic of perspective these last few months, I am astonished at how easily it is for us to take on the thoughts, opinions, beliefs and perspectives of other people and/or ministries rather than seeking a Godly perspective for whatever it is we are dealing with.

When we listen to the heart of others - whether it is gossip, slander, wounds, bitterness, offenses, thoughts, confusion, processing, or opinions without seeking God through His Word, prayer and Godly counsel we risk taking on an ungodly perspective about that circumstance or person. We then run the risk of making ungodly decisions that could ultimately hurt what God wants to do.

When we listen to these things said from others, our ears and hearts can become polluted with an ungodly perspective. When we shared that distorted perspective we then pollute others.  We can then tend to respond in the moment without adequately searching the Word of God for wisdom and understanding.  

We become responders to our emotions and/or to the thoughts of others and we fail to look for God in the midst of what we are dealing with. We as leaders need to learn to not lead from this place of our own perspective or the perspective of others.  And we must learn to discipline ourselves by slowing down and seeking counsel from the Word of God and others outside of our circles of influence. We must learn to be led by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, and not to be led by the perspectives of man.  Our view of things must become God's view if we want spiritual health in our lives, in our relationships and in our organizations.

So often, in the moment, we can think that what is being shared with us or what is being said is truth about a circumstance, a person, and/or a ministry.  And we forget to stop and ask the Holy Spirit to give us a Godly Perspective on whatever it is we are dealing with. We allow human wisdom to guide us, and we lose sight of His heavenly wisdom.

We don't slow down our hearts and minds to seek God. We fail to allow prayer, the Spirit of God, and the Word of God to lead us.  And we fail to recognize that what is being shared with us about a person or circumstance might not necessarily be the truth.  We fail to look for truth.

We fail to hear what is really being spoken through that other person.  In all things - there are voices that are at work trying to influence our decisions and our perspective of life and other people:

1.  God's Voice & Perspective

2.  Our Flesh's Voice & Perspective

3.  The Enemy's Voice & Perspective

Each one of those above, is seeking each day to guide us and to influence how we think about life, how we think about people, and how we think about God's church and His ministries.  And whatever voice we are listening to and following on any given day - will be the one leading us.  How sobering is that?

As leaders, we must become disciplined at being slow to respond, quick to pray and listen, and wise to discern which voice and perspective is at work in any given situation.  This is how we will bring the heart of God to others.

We must not make quick decisions or come to judgments about someone or something without seeking counsel in God's Word and seeking counsel from others outside our immediate circles. We must learn to lead from a place of a Godly perspective. We must learn to view people and situations as God does.  We must learn to live life from Godly wisdom and discernment.  We must learn to live life from the Word of God and a life of prayer.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.?  James 1:5 NIV

"But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  James 3:14-16 NIV

For months, I have been thinking about Peter and how quick he was to respond  to Jesus about the cross.  And how Peter allowed the enemy to speak through him to try to influence Jesus and his decision. 

It has sobered me to the reality that the enemy would love for us to have his perspective and to thwart the work of Jesus in and through our lives - and through the lives of those we lead!  


Don't take on the enemy's perspective of those on your team!  This is the enemy trying to destroy the work of God.  Seek God for His perspective on all things.

Peter in his fleshly understanding wanted to do everything in his power to keep Jesus from going to Jerusalem and to the cross.  Peter could not see from a Godly perspective.  He was blinded by his own personal understanding and desires.  Peter was blind to the work of God.  Peter was deceived by his own perspective.

"From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”  - Matthew 16:21-23 NKJV

As leaders, we must be committed to seeking God for His perspective on all that we do.  You might be wondering, how do I even begin to do such a thing?  

Here are a couple quick things you can begin to implement to see a difference in how you view life and others.  

# 1 - SLOW DOWN & PRAY

As a leader, when someone comes to you with an issue, or a concern, or a problem to solve..... don't immediately take on what they are sharing as if it is truth.  


Slow yourself down to listen to what is being shared and ask the Lord to give you discernment to hear which voice is speaking and what is being shared.  Ask God to give you discernment and wisdom to know what is Truth.

• What is God saying through this person?
• What is their flesh speaking and not God?  (past wounds, bitterness, offenses, envy, jealousy, fear, etc...) 
• What is the enemy trying to do through this person to bring about death to others, or death to a ministry?

When you are seeking to discern what is going on, it is so important to learn the character and the attributes of God, of the flesh and of the enemy.  I have attached a drawing I did on discerning these three voices.  You will better learn to discern what is God, what is the flesh and what is the enemy as you learn more about what the attributes/fruit of each one looks like. 

# 2 - SEEK GOD'S WORD & COUNSEL OF OTHERS OUTSIDE YOUR CIRCLE 

As a leader when you are seeking to gain wisdom and understanding on an issue or problem, it is important to not respond until you have direction and wisdom from the Lord.  When an issue arises within your ministry whether it is a personal conflict, or a ministry challenge, it is important to slow down (as mentioned above) and it is important to spend time in God's Word seeking His counsel in how to respond and how to lead through that circumstance.  It is also very important to talk to others confidentially outside your immediate circle and team.

The reason for seeking outside counsel, is if deception is operating around the issue at hand and with the people within your ministry, the only way to discern deception is by allowing others outside your church, ministry, or even your family system to speak life and wisdom to you. This will help give you a more Godly perspective if the enemy is seeking to bring about death or destruction to what God has called you to lead.  


"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 NIV

It is always wise to ask people from outside of your immediate circle to share what they are seeing and discerning.  Allow people to speak life over your ministry.  Do not isolate your team or your ministry from counsel from the outside.  


"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."  Proverbs 15:22 NIV

Following these simple Biblical principles will bring a tremendous amount of health to your organization, to your teams and to all your relationships.  Seek God's perspective.


"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV


Lord,
I do pray that you would help us Lord to discern your voice and your perspective in all our dealings.  Lord, that we would be slow to responding and quick to praying.  Lord, help us as leaders to seek your heart, your will and your perspective in all that you have given us stewardship to lead.  Help us to grow in Godly wisdom and discernment and help us to lead well, and to lead with wisdom and understanding that comes from the counsel of your Word and the counsel of others.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Pondering Prayer - Part Two...

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession 

and thanksgiving be made for all people.  

This is good, and pleases God our Savior."  

1 Timothy 2:1,3 NIV

I was speaking on the phone with a friend of mine who lives in another city this morning. She called to catch up on life and to pray. As we were talking, she was sharing with me how at her church they do not have a prayer ministry, prayer services, or really prayer of any kind.  She was really hungry and wanting someone to pray with her.  

When I started asking her more about the culture at her church she said that they don't really pray or teach on prayer other than a quick prayer before and at the end of their services.  She was telling me that many in her church were afraid that if they started to mobilize their people to pray, that it would "get weird".  

Now, I have been in ministry for 15 years and on staff in three different churches.  As a result, I have done a little bit of everything and have seen a few things. I am also an intercessor and I love to pray, and to teach people how to pray.  I love to talk with the Lord about life, and about things going on in people's lives.  Talking with Him is the greatest joy of my life.  

What I have found in leading prayer related ministries is that this fear should not prohibit us from mobilizing people to pray.  What I have found is that this fear can easily be dissolved with good Biblical training and discipleship.

As her and I talked and prayed this morning, it really hit me. It gets weird as she put it, because people lack the training and the accountability needed for a thriving prayer culture within a church, ministry and even in our families.

If Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 2;1-3 (above passage), that ABOVE ALL things, to pray, then why are we as God's leaders not walking in obedience to this exhortation?

Today, when I got off the phone with my friend,  I began talking with the Lord about this in my life, and asking him if I was in sin for not taking this passage seriously. 

There is something significant Paul is trying to tell his spiritual son.  "Timothy, prayer is important to the life of the church!"  Never did I hear Paul telling Timothy - "do not pray, because it might get weird or turn people off to God". Where did we get this thinking from?  Not from God's Word.  


Prayer also greatly pleases the Lord, because it keeps us intimately connected to Him.  Humble and dependent; bearing fruit (John 15:5).

When I got off the telephone with my friend today, I was very grieved at just how subtle and deceptive the enemy is. The enemy has come in and deceived this church into thinking it would be "too risky" to open up the doors to prayer for worry and concern that is might get weird.  And thus, it is robbing hundreds of people of a deep and abiding relationship with God.  Oh Lord, have mercy on us.  Help us.

The question I started pondering with the Lord, if this church is truly afraid that prayer will turn weird, then where is trust in God? Where is faith?  Where is the intimate relationship with God that we are called to walk in?

Can prayer get weird?  Absolutely!   I have seen people praying and speaking words from their own soul, from their own desires and I have seen the harm this can bring to people and to an organization.  Proverbs 18:21 tells us that life and death is in the power of the tongue, and this is true in our speech as well as in our prayers.

But this should not stop us from teaching people and training people in how to pray.  This whole topic with my friend today is really an issue of leadership and discipleship.  If there was Godly coaching, training and modeling of a healthy, Biblical prayer culture then this fear of it becoming weird would be much less.

The more time I spend in bed due to this recovery, the more I am seeing God's heart for prayer and how the enemy truly contends against prayer more than anything else.

Prayer is the conduit in which the Holy Spirit flows through God's people to touch others.  Prayer is the place where we touch God and we hear His heart for others.  Prayer is the place where we see and know what it is that the Father is desiring to do in any given circumstance (John 12:49-50).

EM Bounds, one of my favorite authors on prayer wrote:

"Much prayer, much power.  Little prayer, little power.  No prayer, no power".

As I prepare to lay my head on the pillow tonight, my heart is deeply grieved at how the enemy has deceived this church and convinced her not to pray for fear that it will get weird, or that somehow it will prohibit or limit the lost to come to know Christ. 

If this reasoning were true, then WHY would we see all over the gospels and in the book of Acts, that prayer was the fuel that turned the world upside down? Prayer brought in the Holy Spirit at Penecost and empowered Peter to convert thousands on his first day of preaching!

And it was a praying church that freed Paul and Silas from prison!  Just go to www.biblegateway.com and do a word search on "prayer or pray" - and you will see just how powerful prayer is!  All throughout God's Word from Moses, to Nehemiah, to David, to Jesus, to Peter and Paul - God moved upon the earth through the power of prayer, and through people who were deeply connected to God through prayer!

We as God's leaders seriously need to stop and understand the enemy's plans and strategies if we are to lead well. We need to know when he is making us think thoughts that are contrary to God's Word.  If Satan knows the power available to Christians who are praying, do you think he will do whatever is necessary to get us not to pray?  To be fearful of prayer?

I have a friend who I love, and she often tells me whenever she is afraid of something, she says she runs right into it.  She says more times than not, fear is always present in the place where God most wants her to go.  So, she sets her heart and mind to walk through the very thing that is resisting her.

I remember Winston Churchill, one of my favorite war heroes, talk about how important it is for us to understand our enemy in order to outwit him and to overcome.

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit to empower us and to give us wisdom. We need to be aware of the enemy's tactics and we must be aware of places where we are being deceived and buying into his lies.

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  1 Peter 5:8 NIV

My heart goes up in prayer tonight for my friends church, that they would understand that prayer is relationship with God.  I mean, ponder this.  Prayer = walking intimately with the most amazing, wonderful, delightful, all-powerful, majestic God!  Why on earth would we not want to lead people to Him - to Jesus?

Talking to Jesus, to the Father and to the Holy Spirit is the most amazing journey there is.  Who else knows everything?  Who else can handle every problem and concern that we have?  Who else can give us wisdom and understanding to the things going on in our lives?  Who else knows what our friends need most in the inner parts of their hearts?  Who else knows how to reach the lost?   

Prayer is talking to God for those we love.  It is asking Him to come and move in the lives of those we love and those we are yet to love.  So, why do we then at times resist the call to pray?  Could it be because we have an enemy who does not want this?

Dear Lord,

I pray tonight for my friend's church.  I pray Lord for churches everywhere that are afraid that if they mobilize their people to pray, it will get weird.  Lord, this is a leadership issue, a teaching issue, and a training issue.  Lord, I pray you would raise up Godly, Biblical leaders who can equip and train your body how to pray.  Lord, that they would know how to talk with you, how to do life with you just as your disciples did.

Lord, help us both individually and corporately learn how to pray.  Help us Jesus.  Remove the lies, the deceptions, the fear, the unbelief that is keeping your church immobilized.  Help her to once again become a house of prayer.  

Let us not be afraid of what people might think, but help us to walk in obedience to your Word, which exhorts us to above ALL things; to pray.  Lord, help us to trust that as we as your leaders and people step into this, you will bring all things together.  Lord, help us to SEE in your Word how you moved in power upon a church that was praying (book of Acts).  Jesus, help us.  Empower us.  Pour out your grace upon us. And help us to be people, ministries, and leaders of prayer.

Forgive us for where we are not being obedient to this exhortation in 1 Timothy 2:1-3.  Forgive us for worrying about what man will say, and not caring about what your Word says about prayer.  Help us to not bow down to worry, fear, or concern.  Help us to know that prayer is simply talking with you.

Raise up leaders, people willing to train and disciple your body in the way of prayer.  Help people to see prayer as a wonderful adventure with you and it is not to be feared.  Oh Lord Jesus, remove the deceptions that have kept people from talking with you.

Come, and do a work among us.  Come Jesus, and teach us to pray.

In your name we pray, 

Amen.

Pondering Prayer...

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession 

and thanksgiving be made for all people.  

This is good, and pleases God our Savior."  

1 Timothy 2:1,3 NIV

One BIG thing I am learning in this season of physical constraints and in extended days of prayer with the Lord, is just how much God values, aches for and desires for His leaders and His people to spend time with Him in prayer (intimacy & intercession) and in the Word.  He aches for relationship with people. He does not desire prayer birthed out of religious duty but prayer birthed out a desire to know God (intimacy) and relationship with Him.

The world might not value prayer and intimacy with God because it values doing, achieving, and striving. The world values performance and impact. These are important to God too.  The only difference is God wants us to do these things from Him (abiding) and not for Him. (John 15:5)  

• He wants us to learn how to live, move and have our being in Him. 

"For in him we live and move and have our being."  Acts 17:28 NIV

• He wants us to learn to live from the power of God that resides in us. 

"With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all"  Acts 4:33 NIV

• He wants us to learn how to hear His voice and follow Him.

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."  John 10:27 NIV

• He wants us to desire to know Him above all the other desires in our heart.

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."  Philippians 3:8 NLT

• He wants us to learn to do only that which we see the Father doing.

"This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell. And I know that His commandment is (means) eternal life. So whatever I speak, I am saying [exactly] what My Father has told Me to say and in accordance with His instructions."  John 12:49-50 AMP

• He wants us in love, to encourage and build others up. 

"EAGERLY PURSUE and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching)."  1 Corinthians 14:1,3 AMP

• He wants us to become a praying people.

Prayer is so important to God that in 1 Timothy 2:1-3, we see God, through the Apostle Paul, exhorting Timothy to ABOVE ALL things, to pray! 

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior."  1 Timothy 2:1,3 NIV

Paul is telling Timothy, "before you start anything Timothy - first of all pray and look to see who you can encourage through prayer, petitions, intercessions." Paul knew that for Timothy to endure the hardships of life, ministry and expanding God's Kingdom - he needed to be intimately connected to God and to others through prayer.

If Jesus only did that which He saw the Father doing (John 12:49-50) and He made a huge impact for the Kingdom of God in the earth, then how much more does He want us listening, seeing and knowing what He wants to do?  We find God's heart for others through prayer.  When we pray for others - even our enemies, we begin to see God's heart for them.  We begin to see them through Jesus' eyes and not our own.  

When this season with pain started in March of 2010,  I was quite frustrated with the Lord.  I love doing, I love moving fast, I love seeing God connect with people.  I love ministry and I love seeing God's power working in and through people's lives.  I also loved to pray.  By God's grace, the Lord called me into a life of prayer back in 2000 when I heard Becky Tirabassi.  It was not uncommon for me to pray two to three hours a day.  However until Jesus began to hold me hostage in bed this year, I did not fully realize was just how much God values prayer.  How much He wants us to slow down and walk with Him so the ministry we do can be more powerful and effective.  He began to show me how to take time away with Him is so contrary to our nature, but that in order to have a bigger impact we had to find time to be with Him and to get direction from Him.

When we slow down to hear His voice through prayer and being in the Word, we begin to see and know what He wants to do in any given moment or circumstance (with our family, our children, our friends, those we are praying for, in the ministries we lead).  We can then begin to see the power of God move and flow more freely.  We can see lives transformed because we have learned to see and to know what is on God's heart.  We begin to partner with what God is doing and wants to do.  We begin to move from God and not for God.

Lord,

I pray today that you would help us to be like the Apostle Paul.  Lord, he so walked with you that he knew what to do and where to go.  You led him, you showed him when to go into a city and when not to.  You showed him daily how to walk with you.  You helped his heart to desire nothing more than to know you.  Paul said that everything was garbage compared to the priceless gain of knowing you.  Lord, help us to lay all things, all desires, all idols, all wants, all wishes aside today, and let us come back to just wanting you.

Teach us how to hear your voice, how to abide with you, how to walk with you.  Lord, your Word says "to live, move, and have our being in You".  Lead us to this place Lord.  Teach us how to pray.  Teach us how to talk with you.  Help us to become people of prayer and of Your Word.  Teach us Lord Jesus how to pray.

The world is so in need of you.  You.  Not some doctrine, or dead words on a page.  They need the living God who can take all despair, hopelessness and pain and turn it into HOPE and LIFE.

Jesus, we need you.  
We need a living God.

Teach us how to be more like you.

Prayer was so important to you that Jesus went away continually to be with your Father. Empower us by your Spirit to live life like you did.

In your name we pray,

Amen 

The picture below is a drawing my friend Lyn did of me.  

It still speaks deeply to my heart.

Why the Test & Trial Lord?

Paul withstood the tests that came at him while he was active in service to the Lord and he understood the tests that came during his times of solitude while in captivity. (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)


Our trials are great opportunities for growth and maturity, but all too often we simply see them as large obstacles we need to overcome.  Often we want a quick rescue or fix to the problem.  


If only we would see every difficult situation as something God has chosen and allowed in order to prove His love for us and to mold is into His image.  


So, how does God want us to respond when circumstances become hard or difficult?


1.  We choose to trust God is at work.


Someone who I highly respect (Graham) often says, "God allows in His wisdom what He could prevent by His power".  In all seasons we walk through as a leader, God is moving.  He is working to not only advance His Kingdom through us but He is also working to mold us and shape us into His likeness.


"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."  2 Peter 1:3 NIV

• So, what is the trial before us today?  
• What is the circumstance that is spinning us into fear, worry, or anxiety? 
•  If this trial is being allowed to happen then God must be up to something?  Like Job, God must be doing something behind the scenes.  
• Are we choosing to trust Him no matter what our day or our circumstances brings? 
• Are we willing to still ourselves in order to see and hear what God wants to reveal to us through the circumstances?

"Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"  2 Corinthians 11:24-28 NIV 

• Do we know what fruit of the Spirit God is weaving into our character through these trials?  
• Love?  patience? long-suffering? joy? peace? humility? meekness?
• What is lacking in our hearts due to our present circumstances?  
• Faith? trust? confidence?

I know for me, being in a season of waiting on the Lord concerning ministry is showing me that I lack joy.  I can have a tremendous amount of joy when thrust into the midst of ministry; when I am actively building the kingdom of God.  But in seasons of waiting and in seasons of solitude (or what feels like captivity) I find that I lack joy and trust in God's timing.  I lack the heart that "rejoices always".  


God is allowing our circumstances for a variety of reasons.  We must choose to trust Him and His goodness towards us,  We must look deeper to see the work God is desiring to do in us and through us.




2.  We choose to surrender to the Lord and allow the season to do it's work in us.


No matter what trials are around us, we have to move towards complete surrender to Him and to His will.  We must come to a place of knowing and understanding what God is desiring to do in us by allowing our circumstances to prevail.  This way we can cooperate with His Spirit, and the work of transformation that He desires to do in us.


We must come to a place of surrender, as Job did, when he said, "though He slay me, yet will I put my hope in Him".  This is the place of surrender.  To where we lay down the fight and the struggle in our hearts.  Where we see those difficult people as ones God has placed into our lives as grace growers.  To help mold us into the image of Christ.  We must stop fighting the process and allow God's Spirit to transform us. (I am saying this to my own heart too)!


"Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him."  Job 13:15 NIV


This is the place where we bow down in our hearts and say, "not my will but yours be done".  We all have a tendency to want things our way.  It is part of our fallen nature, our desire to see things done the way we think they should be done. But in reality, if God is allowing circumstances to prevail, then we must ask the hard questions:

• God, what do you want to do in my heart?
• How do you want me to respond like you in this?
• How can I bring represent you well in this circumstance?  

We must learn to move in the opposite spirit to those trials if we are to become like Him.


So often, God's will runs contrary to our thoughts, our ways and our perceptions.  Often the path to His will, involves suffering, pain and persecution.   Our flesh wants it the easy way, without struggle, without difficulty, without any relational conflict.  But, this is not necessarily God's way.


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  Isaiah 55:8 NIV


When Jesus was preparing to go to the cross, a place of intense pain and suffering, Peter wanted the opposite for Jesus.  I am sure Peter in his heart wanted what was best for Jesus.  However, it was not God's will.  God's will for Jesus was for him to suffer, to die so that we all might be saved.  God's way involved suffering and a cost (Philippians 3:7-11).


One of the things that often bothers me when I hear people teaching on destiny and calling, is they often tell people to go serve in the areas they are most gifted and passionate in.  However, I have seen these people miss an important element in their teaching.  God's will and obedience.  At times, God asks us to serve or to give in an area of our greatest weakness.  At times, God asks us to lay down everything we love or want to do for the sake of Him and His Kingdom.  He asks us to do something that is so contrary to what we desire or want.  This involves discerning of His will and surrender.


Surrender to God's will is a daily thing.  Daily we must get on our knees and profess with our mouths "not my will but yours be done", and we must walk through the challenges of our day and allow God to use them to mold us into His image. 

We must allow that fruit of His Spirit to weave it's way into our hearts; where we become more and more like Him.


For me, this season of waiting on God's plans and purposes means the weaving of joy into my heart.  That no matter where I am, nor what season I am in, my heart is overflowing with joy because I am His beloved daughter and He is always pleased with me.  Both in failure and success, and in times of active service and in times of solitude, His goodness always surrounds me.  And in Him, I can rejoice always!


"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"  Philippians 4:4 NIV

• So, where are you lacking in trust?  
• Where are you struggling to surrender? 
• What fruit of the Spirit is God trying to weave into your heart through your trials or those difficult people in your life? 
• Do you see your circumstances and trials as an opportunity for growth?
• Or are you fighting and just want to be rescued?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  Galatians 5:22-23 NIV






Lord,


I pray for your leaders everywhere, that you would strengthen them and prepare them to do what you've called them to do.  For those leaders who are weak and overwhelmed by their circumstances or trials, God help them to see your hand in it, and help them to know what it is that you are desiring to do.  Give them great wisdom to know how to respond to the tests that assail them.  Both the tests that come in active service to you and the tests that come in captivity and solitude.  Lord, speak to your leaders and guide them.  Help them to lead others well.  To lead with transparency, authenticity, humility and love.   In Jesus' name, Amen.

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When the Lights Are Out - A Prayer

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16


Lord, as a leader, what do we do when we feel the sense that the lights are out for more than a night?  When we feel as though we are walking through a dark tunnel and we can not see any end, any light, or any glimmer of you?  What do we do when our season of testing or trials or difficult circumstances never seem to end?


What do we do, when the times we had with you, which were intimate, sweet, and you seem to surround us and then it vanishes like the night?  And it is whisked away in a moment?  What do we do Lord, when all we ever have known seems to fade away, and we are left alone.  Alone with ourselves and our heart.


Will we be choose to be still?  To know you?  To peer within the walls of our heart to see and know what you are doing?  Will we allow the season of darkness to do it's work in us, or will we shut down internally and avoid this most precious season.  A true gift from God.  Will we allow ourselves to be still in the darkness and wait on God, or we will try to find a way to avoid the darkness that plagues us.  Will we allow God to guide us?


I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16


We wander in the tunnel, looking for something to hold onto.  Something to grab.  A wall, a railing.  Our hearts always want something to cling onto.  We were made for relationship.  We were made for love.  We want something. Oh Lord, allow this season to bring us into stillness.  To the place where we wait on you, to meet with you face to face. To talk to you about the deep things of the heart. (Psalm 27)


Be still, and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46:10


My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”  Psalm 27:8


It is in this darkness and in this tunnel where faith is perfected.   Faith is fortified.  Faith grows.  Where a small oak tree becomes a mighty one.  It is when everything we hold dear is taken from us, it is when our faith is tested and the question rises up - will God alone be enough?  Is He my only desire?


Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25


Will I trust Him to continue to be faithful and good even when I do not see Him?  Will I trust Him like Job, that even if He chooses to slay me, will I choose to put my hope and trust in Him alone?



Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6


Will I trust Him to deliver me in His timing and in His way?  Will I trust that God knows what is best for me?  Will I trust that if He is allowing this season of darkness, will I know it is for my good and for the good of the Kingdom and those He has called me to lead?  


Will I allow this season to grow my character into His image? Will I allow Him the opportunity to probe into my heart and heal the places of pain, of rejection, of betrayal, of shame, of fear, of self-condemnation and discouragement?  Oh Lord, this place of leadership can be so lonely.  So hard.  Who is trustworthy?  Will I come out of these ashes and blossom, or will I stay withered under this dust?


Will I offer myself up to God in the dark tunnel?  Will I surrender to His perfect will?  Will I surrender to the season and stop wrestling with it in my spirit?  Will I let God, by faith, take me by the hand in the darkness and lead me on?  Even though I have no idea where He is taking me?  Will I allow myself to go, with no idea of the future?  Will I allow myself to rest in the midst of this season of winter?  Will I have the will to push through the lies that assail my heart that say God is not trustworthy, that He is not faithful?


I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16


No Lord!  It is in those moments when our hearts must rise up and say I will choose to hope in God alone. I will choose to praise His holy name!  I will choose to be His faithful servant.  To love others and to lead well.  I will choose to live transparently with others.  I will choose to grab His hand, and wait patiently for His leading.


I will choose to trust people even though the pain of betrayal still sits like residue in my heart.  I will offer up my pain to you Lord.  I will let you touch the hidden parts of my heart.  I will choose to forgive those who have hurt me and move forward in love and offering my life up as a sacrifice to you and for the sake of others.


I will give my life for the sake of your Kingdom. I will choose to find a friend and share my journey with them.  You have created us for intimate community.  Yes, even as leaders, we were made to walk in authentic community with one another. To share life.  To laugh together.  To cry together.  To pray together.  To war together.  We need to be armor bearers for one another when the warfare increases. We must resist the enemies two biggest temptations that assails a leader: to isolate and go it alone!


It is in this season we must choose to rest and by faith trust when God's presence and His voice seem absent.   We can rest knowing that the season of the wilderness or what some might call a winter is only for a season.  We can rest knowing it is only a chapter in a large book.  The pages will soon turn and we will be in spring.


Lord, it is in this place we have to choose hope, we have to choose you.  As leaders, we have to go to war against the lies of the enemy which would tell us that God has abandoned us and forsaken us.  The lies that whisper to us saying God does not love us nor care about us. We have to throw off the sin, the lies, the snares that try to entangle us (Heb 12:1-2).   Let us find rest and our hope in God alone!


Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  Psalm 62:5


Oh Lord, why do we, in our human condition blame you?  Why do we equate successes or failures to your love for us?  Why do we equate the praise or rejection of man to your love for us?  Why do we fall into the trap of people pleasing and allow shame and fear come upon us?  Help us Lord, to shake off all that hinders us so we can run the race you have marked out for us.  Come Lord, and empower your leaders.  Oh Lord, help save us from our human condition of unbelief and doubt.  Help us to move from being Christian Atheists, to those who are making huge ripples for your sake.  Allow these seasons of darkness to shape us into being great leaders of faith, of hope, of courage and of compassion.


Oh Lord.  Help all of us today, especially those leaders who are struggling through a season of darkness, or a winter.  Lord, I know this tunnel and I have walked this prayer many times with you.  Help them to find you in the midst of it.  To let go of the struggle to grab onto anything besides you.  Help them to have faith, when faith can't be found.  Help them to know you are after their heart.  You are after the growing and fortifying of their faith.  Let them have hope that when they rise out of this season they will have grown into a mighty, strong oak.  A weapon that has been fashioned by your hands (Psalm 18).  For the winds have blown and caused their roots to grow deep down into you.  Help them to take your hand today!


Lord, if faith is truly is about trusting in what is unseen, then how can faith grow if you are always there and if things always go the way we want them to go?  Faith needs soil to grow and mature.  Darkness is an incubator for faith; it acts as fertilizer in the soil.  For in those moments we have to choose to believe when everything around us denies the reality of God and His faithfulness.  


We have to choose hope, faith and love and keep on walking through the tunnel.  We must not get off the train.  We must not walk away from our faith or our calling.
  
We have to trust that just as winter comes to an end, and spring flowers come back, so too, will this season be like a moment.  Soon, we will be back up and we will look back and see how God used that tunnel to refine us with His goodness and perfected us in His love.  All for the sake of others and for the world who is so lost without Him.