WHAT IF WE PRAYED



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The Biblical Book of Acts tells the story of King Herod's wrongful imprisonment of Peter who was a disciple of Christ and a leader of the early Church.  Chapter 12 Verse 5 says "So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the Church to God."  Not only did the Church pray for Peter but in Verses 6 - 12 we are told that the Lord sent an Angel who supernaturally freed Peter from the prison.  Not much doubt that those prayers were answered in a big way.

Many leaders find themselves facing great trials much like Peter.  While they may not be physically imprisoned they are often restrained by the fear of the consequences of big decisions or may be paralyzed by indecision in the face of uncertainty.  The leaders sometimes find themselves in seemingly hopeless situations where their failure would most certainly affect their lives and the lives of those they lead.



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How many members pray for the leadership of their church routinely?  How many citizens pray for the leadership of their country each day?  How many employees regularly pray for the leaders of their organizations?  The Church learned thousands of years ago about the power of prayer and the miracles it could accomplish.


What if we fervently prayed:

• That our Pastors and Staff would be empowered with crystal clear teachings divinely delivered from God that spoke clearly to each and every person who heard the Word and those who heard the Word responded in complete obedience to the Word becoming servants in their communities and devoting themselves to making their communities places of peace, harmony and cooperation.
• That God would fill the hearts and minds of our President and nation's leaders with His commandments such that the actions and accomplishments of the leaders would result in the establishment of a nation where hard work, justice, respectfulness, kindness, service and selflessness were the cornerstones of daily life.
• That the Presidents and CEOs of large corporations would lead their organizations to seek the betterment of the consumers they serve, to make a positive difference in the lives of their employees and to seek to return even more to the communities they operate in than they take.

Almost everyone who has ever earnestly sought God in prayer knows that He answers prayers according to His will.  You wonder just how different our world could be.  WHAT IF WE PRAYED for the leaders in our lives routinely; what might God do for us?

WARNING SHOT

In Judges 14 the story of Samson's trip to claim his Philistine wife is told. Samson belonged to a people called the Nazirites. While there was no strict prohibition against a Nazirite marrying a Philistine woman, Samson was wrong in pursuing her because her people worshiped false gods. Samson's parents strongly advised him to consider marrying within his own tribe which were people who worshiped the living God. But Samson did not heed their wise counsel.

On his way to secure his Philistine bride Samson was surprised by an attack from a wild lion. God came to Samson's aid and gave him super human strength to kill the lion. Now you would think an encounter like that might cause one to reconsider the rest of the trip.  Not Samson.  Undeterred by the extraordinary encounter with the lion Samson continued on and collected his Philistine bride.

On the return trip to his home Samson passed by the dead lion carcass only to find it filled with delicious honey. It was so tempting that Samson tasted the honey. Other than being a little "gross" that probably doesn't sound like a big deal.  But the Nazirites lived by strict vows that prohibited them from touching anything dead as it was considered unclean.  So the decision to take a bride he shouldn't have put him in a position where he committed an even more serious offense against God.

Warning shots.  Everyone understands the concept.  You get too close to some place you're not supposed to be and someone fires a warning shot overhead.  Not meant to harm you but instead to make you stop and think about what you are about to do or enter.  I don't know for sure but for some reason I think God was trying to get Samson's attention with the lion encounter.  In a sense it was a warning shot.

Here are a few things as leaders we should consider about "warning shots":

• When wise people offer us counsel we should always take and weigh it very seriously.  We rarely see things we are close to or emotionally involved with as objectively as those who are removed from it.
• If we decide to proceed against the judgment of wise counsel we should be on the look out for signs that our decision may not have been well advised.  I'm not suggesting that we be "superstitious" or continually second guess ourselves.  But if we proceed against the recommedation of wise counsel just be sure that if something unusual happens along the "road" to the final objective to be sure to give the circumstances due consideration before continuing on.
• Even if you achieve your goal while going against the advice of wise counsel be cautious that your success does not blind you to other risks that may present themselves as benefits of your success.  It's easy to make a big mistake in a moment of supreme self-confidence.

While we may not always follow the advice of wise counsel we should always pay attention to things that happen along the way when we take a path that strays from the advice of wise counsel - just in case a WARNING SHOT gets fired.