Praying for Leadership A Prayer Room Resource Guide
Why pray for Leadership? “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” 1 TIMOTHY 2: 1-2
We often think of leadership as those on stage, in the pulpit, government, or running a business. These are all great examples of leadership to pray for. However, we also recognize that through scripture - and in the life of Jesus - leaders emerge from unlikely places, and leadership is drawn out of unlikely people. Sometimes these leaders become well known, and other times they appear on the pages of scripture for a moment, only to return to the shadows. We also understand that we are all invited to engage with the Lord’s leadership in our own lives. With this in mind, this week we will invite you to reflect on the Lord’s leadership in your own life, as well as pray with the Lord for leaders both recognized by our world and not. We will join with God’s prayer in ‘asking for help’, ‘intercession’ and ‘offering thanks’ for ‘All people’ as 1 Tim 2:1-2 urges.
In this guide we have offered suggestions on how to fill a prayer room with simple stations that will help people pray around the theme of leadership. Each day has a specific theme, with suggested songs, books, sermons and apps that can help people pray.
Engaging with the Lord’s Leadership
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Scripture: Psalm 23 Prayer Station Needs:
Candle & Matches
Prayer Station Instructions:
After reading the Psalm, find a dark (or dimly lit space) to sit in and light a candle. In the stillness, as you think on how the candle is bringing light to your space, reflect on Psalm 23, and journal through the questions provided.
Recommended Space:
Dimly lit corner, and cozy couch/chair.
Reflection Take time to remember the Lord’s leadership by humbly asking for help for yourselves. Thank God for how he has led you through your dark valleys, and been present to you as the Good Shepherd.
1. Ask God to help you Ask the lord to help you see where any new green pastures and streams of living water might be found. (Note: Be open to surprises.)
Where is God meeting you as the Good Shepherd on the road of your life and offering light and guidance? What spaces and/or people in your life have served as a light, green pasture, and/or stream of living water for you? Which dark valleys has God led you through, or is God leading you through?
2. Intercede for yourself Ask for protection and hope for the journey, and grace to remain steadfast. 3. Give thanks to God Give thanks to the Lord for the ways he has been a good shepherd and led you in this past season.
Action step
Daily Closing Prayer
Find some ways to be kind to yourself this week. God sets a table before you in the presence of your enemies. Will you eat the food? Eat your favourite meal; go on your favourite walk; have an extra long hot shower; arrange to hang out with a good friend. And know that the Lord is very eager to bless you, and for you to receive His blessings.
Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself awayto others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths For his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love
Re so u rces
will follow me all the days of my life, Books
Songs
Apps
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Psalm 23, Josh Sherman
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Lectio 365
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Be Not Afraid, John Michael Talbot
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
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A Shepherd’s Look at Psalm 23, W Phillip Keller
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Lectio for Families
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Inner Room
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God Leads His Dear Children, Selah
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Oh Lead Me, Delirious
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Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23
Youth and Next Generation Leaders Scripture: Matthew 19:14 Prayer Station Needs & Set-up
Ribbons, basket, and pins to attach ribbons to the wall. Set up a braiding station by cutting the ribbons into the length you want your braids to be and put all the ribbons in a basket, Consider papering the wall for people to write out their prayers on.
Prayer Station Instructions
Think of one ribbon as God, one as yourself, and one as a youth or potential next generation leader you are carrying in your heart. As you braid the ribbons together, pray about how God is weaving your stories together around himself. Attach these ribbons to a wall in your prayer room and write a pray for youth and children around the braids.
Reflection Children in Jesus’ day did not learn skills through schools like we do today. Learning would have been imparted through apprenticing their parents, or a rabbi they followed around. Think of the many children and youth in broken homes and those with no parents or scarce pool of role models to turn to. 1. Ask God to help them Pray that the Lord connects them with safe places to be (Matthew 19:14) and raises up those to be the hands of feet of Jesus to them. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 2. Intercede for them Ask for protection and hope. Pray we learn to see and come alongside the youth of our churches & communities emerging as leaders from places of hardship and brokenness.
“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 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength” - EPHESIANS 1:17-19 3. Thank God for them Where do you see hope? Spend time thanking God for where you can see him working in the hearts of youth and children.
Daily Closing Prayer
Action
Father, help me to live this day
Young leaders are always sewing into youth and children. Find a way to sew into their lives this week. Take them out for coffee or invite them round for dinner. Give them a gift card or a book. Commit to praying for them and let them know you are doing so.
to the full, being true to You,
in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost,
proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
Re sou rce s Books •
Raising Disciples, Natalie Frisk
Websites: •
Prayer Spaces in Schools prayerspacesinschools.com
•
Infinitum infinitumlife.com
Leadership Commissioning Scripture: Luke 6:12-16, Acts 13:2-3 Prayer Station Needs & Set-up
Roll of paper, pens/markers. Cover a wall in paper where people can trace their hands or provide cut out handprints.
Prayer Instructions
Ask the Lord to highlight who he might be inviting you to pray for. Trace your hand on the wall and write their name in the palm of your hand. Spend time ‘laying on hands’ to bless and commission them into the purposes of God for their life.
Reflection We don’t often take the time to stop and think about how old the disciples would have been when they started following Jesus. However, they likely would have been much younger than many of the lead pastors in our cities today. Jesus takes time away to pray before calling them into deeper commitment. If you think of the world today, who might Jesus pick from your neighbourhood, church, or city to be his disciples? Who are those working at McDonalds, posting on social media, going to school, etc.? Through the pandemic, have you noticed any young leaders rise to the occasion and step up in new ways?
May those who work for you know you see and respect them. May you learn to cultivate the art of presence in order to engage with those who meet you. When someone fails or disappoints you, may the graciousness with which you engage be their stairway to renewal and refinement. May you treasure the gifts of the mind through reading and creative thinking so that you continue as servant[s] of the frontier where the new will draw its enrichment from the old, and you never become functionary. May you know the wisdom of deep listening, the healing of wholesome words, the encouragement of the appreciative gaze, the decorum of held dignity, the springtime edge of the bleak question. May you have a mind that loves frontiers so that you can evoke the bright fields that lie beyond the view of the regular eye. May you have good friends to mirror your blind spots. May leadership be for you a true adventure of growth. Amen! (John O’Donohue)
Ask the Lord who he might be asking you to pray for.
1. Ask God to help them
As young leaders step into new places of influence. Ask the Lord to surround them with the resources and support they will need for these new spaces.
2. Intercede for your community and emerging
leaders May you have the grace and wisdom to act kindly, learning to distinguish between what is personal and what is not. May you be hospitable to criticism. May you never put yourself at the centre of things. May you act not from arrogance but out of service. May you work on yourself, building up and refining the ways of your mind[s].
Action Consider taking a day to fast and pray specifically for a young or newer leader in your area.
3. Thank God for them
Spend time naming and thanking God for the gifts these young leaders bring to the table.
Res ource s
Daily Closing Prayer Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
•
• •
Books
A Tale of Three Kings, Gene Edwards
Songs Here Am I, John Michael Talbot Come on by Brooke Poindexter
Unlikely Leaders Scripture: All people: Unexpected leaders John 4:6-42 Prayer Station Needs & Set Up
Gift boxes, gift bags, wrapping paper, tissue paper, ribbon, and any other gift wrapping things you like. Wrap a bunch of presents with little surprises in them. Also leave empty boxes and wrapping paper in the room for people to create presents and put something in - could be some money, candy, a note of blessing, a drawing. Have a sign inviting people to open the gifts and receive the surprise inside, and also to wrap a gift and leave a good surprise inside for someone else.
Prayer Station Instructions
Take one wrapped gift and open it. Were you expecting a gift today or was it a surprise? Spend time thanking God for whatever gift you have received and the mysterious person who gave it. Take an empty box, or the newly empty box you just opened, and wrap a surprise gift of your own. It could be some money, candy, a note of blessing, a drawing, ect. Leave it in the prayer room for the next person to come open. The idea is that we are meant to be gifts to one another, but we can easily miss the gift that people are, especially when we are accustomed to only thinking about certain types of people as “leaders”.
Reflection Read John 4:6-42 There are a couple things that make this story noteworthy: • The Samaritan woman is clearly coming at noon, the hottest part of the day. Why might she have been coming at this time, rather than the morning or evening when the other women in the community would have frequented the well? • Jesus talks to the woman even though, “Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.” (vs. 9). What does this reveal to you about Jesus? The disciples were shocked to see Jesus conversing with the Samaritan woman (vs. 27), yet we know many became believers because the woman encountered the Lord and shared her story (v. 39).
1. Ask God to help them. Who are the ‘Samaritans’ in your context today? (Note answers may very by community/person) We need fresh eyes to see the gifts that God gives us. Ask the Lord to bring to your mind someone who is a gift to your community, to your church, to your city. Ask the Lord to hightlight someone whom you have not noticed before or thought of in those terms. 2. Intercede for them. Ask for protection and hope, and for an increase in gifts and deepening of character. 3. Thank God for them.
Action
Daily Closing Prayer
Wrap a present with a gift for a newer leader, especially a leader who doesn’t feel like they automatically fit in. (Henri Nouwen’s book In the Name of Jesus is a great gift for a leader to receive.)
Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
Re sou rce s • •
Books
In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen Recovering: From Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness and Community, Aaron White
• •
Songs
Humble King
Amazing Grace
Disappointed and/or weary Leaders Scripture: John 20:19-20 Prayer Station Needs & Set Up
White paper squares, scissors, close pins, string, large empty picture frame. Print off instructions on how to make a paper snowflake. Cut out a few examples. Staple, or pin string to the wall or in a large empty picture frame in a zig-zag pattern. Light this station with lamps so that the light shining through the cuts creates beautiful shadows.
Prayer Station Instructions
Follow the instructions to create your own snowflake pattern. As you cut out the shapes, reflect on the fear, pain and grief the disciples must have felt prior to Jesus walking into the room in John 20:19-20. • As you cut out a snowflake, pray for the weary leaders in your communities (including yourself) who feel cut up and bruised from this past season. • Open the snowflake and reflect on its beauty. Picture the Lord imparting peace to those you were praying for. Pin the snowflake to the string, and pray the Lord’s peace would come to their hearts and that they’d be renewed with a sense of hope and joy.
Reflection It is easy to be caught up in the disappointments of this past season, or simply to push past them and put on a brave face. However, Jesus meets us in our broken state. He steps into our world as Immanuel - ‘God with us” - and does not condemn or rebuke us. Rather, he says “Peace be with you”.
1. Ask God to help them
Ask that leaders have grace to grieve well, and not mute their disappointment. Think of any leaders who might be hiding away due to various fears. Pray God opens their
eyes to see how Jesus is joining them in whatever space they are ‘hiding in’.
2. Intercede for them
In John, Jesus’ presence shifts their fear to joy. The realities outside their home did not change, however Jesus’ presence and the realization of his resurrection lead them to joy. Pray for renewed hope and a revelation of Jesus that would give strength and encouragement for the journey. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
3. Thank God for them
Action
Daily Closing Prayer
Find some way to secretly bless a leader in your life.
Send them a gift card, their favourite snack, a book you
think they’d like, or an anonymous encouraging card. Go out of your way to speak well of them to others.
Re sou rces •
being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
Songs
Books •
Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You,
in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Sermon
God on Mute, Pete
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Find Me in the River, Delirious
Greig
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All Who Are Weary
Framework to Know
Jesus and the
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Please Be My Strength, Gungor
What God is Telling
Disinherited, Howard
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Weary Traveller, Jordan St. Cyr
You.
Thurman
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Be Not Afraid, John Michael Talbot
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Darrell Johnson,
Kings and Authority Leaders Scripture: 1 Timothy 2: 1-2 Prayer Station Needs & Set-up
Popsicle sticks, Jar, and 3 Stones (or 3 of something heavy) On each popsicle stick write the name of governmental leaders, society leaders, or pastor. Place them in the jar. Paint or write on each of the 3 rocks the following words: Help, Intercede, Thanks
Prayer Instructions
Pick out a popsicle stick from the jar and pray for the leader named. There is a significant weight that comes with leadership. Spend time holding each rock, and praying for the things listed below. 1. Ask God to help them- for natural resources and support 2. Intercede for them - for protection and hope 3. Thank God for them
Reflection
Action
Contact one of the leaders you prayed for and let them know you prayed for them. Ask them how you can pray for them further, and if there is any way you can encourage them practically.
Praying for people in authority is not a partisan task. We pray for leaders because, first and foremost, they are beloved children of God, people for whom Christ died. We pray also because leadership is an important task, and we should long for people to lead well. As Paul writes to Timothy, good leadership leads to peace and dignity for everyone. We pray for leaders also because leadership is hard. It requires sacrifice, is often accompanied by harsh critique, and carries a great deal of responsibility. It is important to pray for leaders with whom we agree, but equally or even more important to pray for leaders with whom we disagree.
Daily Closing Prayer
Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
Re s o urce s
Songs
Books
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App
Just Leadership,
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Lord I Need You, Matt Maher
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Lectio 365
Simon Barrington and
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Come Alive, Lauren Daigle
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Lectio for Families
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Inner Room
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infinitumlife.com/
Justin Humphreys
daily-prayer
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress That it is made by passing through some stages of instability And that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you; Your ideas mature gradually let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try and force them on, As through you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) Will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit Gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing That his hand is leading you, And accept the anxiety of feeling yourself In suspense and incomplete.” Patient Trust by Teilhard de Chardin
Trust in the slow work of God Scripture: Galatians 6:9; Poem “Patient Trust” by Teilhard de Chardin Prayer Station Needs & Set-up
Living Plant, paper, and drawing materials (pencils, erasers, pencil crayons, markers, and/or paints) Print
Prayer Station Instructions
Plants grow slow, and take patience. Read through Galatians 6:9 and pray the poem ‘patient trust’. Reflect
out of Galatians 6:9 and Teilhard de Chardin’s prayer.
on the scripture and poem while looking at the plant. Think about your heart (and/or the various leaders you’ve prayed for during the week) as a landscape. Take a piece of paper and draw what you see. Where is God in the picture? What is he doing? Is there anything you think he might like you to know?
Reflection If any of you have done any gardening, you know that plants take time to grow. Sure, some sprout up from seed within one growing season, but even that doesn’t happen in a day. In our culture, where most things are at our fingertips in a moment, we sometimes forget the care and time that goes into letting things grow. The same it is with us. Some of us may have had pentecost moments, where the Lord has stepped into our lives in a miraculous way, like (Acts 2). However, God often shows up in the ordinary. The Israelites prayed for deliverance against the systems of oppression. God’s answer was a miraculous baby that took 30 years before he entered ministry. It is not to say that all the things we are waiting for will take 30 years, but I do think God enjoys the process of walking with us in life more than we realize.
Action
1. Ask God to help Ask for grace to walk in step with the Lord, and for your own great cloud of witnesses to encourage you on the journey (Hebrews 11) 2. Intercede for them Ask for protection and hope, and for and patiences to remain steadfast through the ‘intermediate stages’. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
3. Thank God for his faithfulness. Are there any areas where new things have sprouted from the ground, or where new buds are waiting to bloom in any areas of your life or ministry? Or perhaps something in your life has grown a new leaf, or a couple inches taller. Spend time thanking God for his faithfulness in these small things.
Walk - slowly - around your neighbourhood some time in the next week. Take time to notice things that you have not noticed before. Look for evidence of good leadership in various places. Looks also for areas where good leadership is clearly needed. Pray into both situations, and ask the Lord if there is anything you can do to help. Be open to any conversations that arise during your walk as well.
Daily Closing Prayer Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I
meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen
Re so urce s Books •
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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership - Ruth Haley Barton
Websites •
Prayer Spaces in Schools prayerspacesinschools.com
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Infinitum infinitumlife.com
Bonus Content How to lead a one hour prayer meeting to pray for leaders: 1. Ask everyone to share the name of one significant leader who has had an impact on their life. 2. Thank God for these leaders together. 3. Ask everyone to write a list of all the leaders that they can be praying for. Consider the following areas of leadership: - Church (Pastors, small-group leaders, elders, boards, from your Church and others) - Community (Business leaders, community groups, unions, principals and teachers and school board, park board) - City (City council and mayor, prominent city figures) - Province (MLA’s and Premiers) - Federal (MP’s and PM, Senate, national figures) 4. Ask everyone - Are there any names or organisations which are missing? Add them to the list. 5. Ask everyone - Are there any names of organisations that, once read out, you discover you don’t want to pray for? 6. Begin by giving everyone a time to pray out loud for the list of people they don’t want to pray for. 7. As a group read out Ephesians 1:15-23 8. Encourage everyone to pray out loud for all of the categories and names. 9. Finally, invite everyone to consider how they can bless some of the people on this list. Ex. Can you let people know you are praying for them? Ask them what they would like prayer for? Send encouraging notes? 10. Finish by getting people in groups of two or three and praying for each other, that you would be leaders in your sphere of influence. Pray Ephesians 1:15-23 over each other.
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