Last week I continued my thoughts on the prayer acrostic ACTS and wrote about Supplication. This week I want to conclude my thoughts about Supplication.
A leader is someone who influences others. However there are different degrees of leadership. Some influence many, which I call Big L Leaders; some influence some, which I call Medium L Leaders; and others will influence a small number, which I call Small L Leaders. It’s important to keep in mind that bigger isn’t better and smaller isn’t better, but appropriate is the best. God is the one who determines what is appropriate in terms of influence. The point is we all have some level of influence.
I’m always mindful that leadership is stewardship. We are given a certain level of influence by the Lord and we need to steward that influence well. There have been times when I’ve observed leaders steward their influence incorrectly and the Lord took it away. There have been leaders who had problems with power, or being a prisoner of pride, or struggled with sex. But because they didn’t steward their leadership well and used their influence for personal gain rather than Kingdom advancement, the Lord took their influence away.
Therefore leadership is stewardship. Additionally, there are two ways you can influence: directly and indirectly. Direct Influence are those you personally know, such as students in your class, participants in your small group, or other leaders you lead. Indirect Influence are those you are influencing but don’t know who they are. They could be readers of your blog or book, listeners to your podcast, or people who listen to you preach.
As a leader one of the ways to steward your influence is by praying for those under your Direct Influence. This was modeled to us by Jesus who said to Peter, ““Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). This is an example of Jesus praying for one of his disciples and we can conclude that he prayed for the other disciples as well.
Think about those under your Direct Influence. Are you praying for them on a regular basis? The first group you should be praying for on a regular basis is your family. Your first ministry is to your family; if your family fails, no other ministry will matter. Therefore you need to consistently uphold your family in prayer.
At the college I’m at, there are over a dozen people on staff. I make it a point to pray for them individually on a daily basis. Not only am I praying for them but their spouses and children as well. If you are a teacher, you need to be praying for your students. If you are on a ministry team, you need to pray for those on your team. If you have coworkers, you need to be praying for them.
There is also a mandate to pray for those under your Indirect Influence. Even though you may not know the people you influence, you can still pray for them in a general way. This was modeled to us by Samuel who said to the nation of Israel during his last public leadership act, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way” (1Sam. 12:23). Samuel continued to pray for the nation although he didn’t know every single person he was praying for.
Think about those under your Indirect Influence. At the college, although I don’t know every student, I pray for the student body. Whenever I get an invitation to preach at a church, one of my habits is to get to the site early and pray over every chair. Although I don’t know who will be listening, I am still praying for them.
Sometimes we don’t have good leaders who last because they don’t see leadership as stewardship.
Questions to Think About:
Are you stewarding your influence well?
Are you praying for those under your Direct Influence on a regular basis?
© Gary Lau 2013
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