Most Christians will say that there is power in prayer. They will even say they want to pray about everything. Sadly, though, there is often a disconnect between what we say about prayer and what we do in prayer. We can run the risk of operating our churches, businesses, ministries, and lives at high levels, yet without the power, presence, and movement of God.
I recently discussed this with Adam Siskey, the lead preaching pastor at one of our Church at The Mill campuses. In Episode 2 of the Leadership Culture Matters podcast series, we explored the second cultural characteristic our church staff and leaders function by: Prayer trumps plans.
What do we mean by “prayer trumps plans”? While God has given us everything we need to advance the gospel, we still need to submit our plans to Him. That does not mean baptizing our plans in prayer or simply praying after we have finalized our plans. It means making our decisions out of being in the presence of God - something that has to start in us personally before it will gain any ground corporately.
What does this look like for leaders practically?
1 - HAND OVER YOUR AGENDA
Adam shared how he has been learning to approach prayer with a posture of listening more than talking, something that requires time and submission. What that looks like for him is intentionally scheduling moments in his day and creating rhythms where he can get alone with God, sit with open hands, and pray, “God, what do You want to talk about? How do You want to schedule my calendar today?” Or when it comes to preaching, “How do You want this message to be delivered? How do You want to end this service?”
Maintaining a loose grip on his agenda has even permeated his personal quiet time. So often, we come to our time with the Lord with a plan already in place. We show up with our Bible reading plan and a journal in hand. We have it all mapped out how we plan to spend 30 minutes with the Lord, read from this passage of Scripture, and then follow our typical patterns. But even in our time with the Lord, we can ask Him what He wants to speak to us about that day.
Letting prayer trump plans means learning to approach Him with no agenda.
2 - RECOGNIZE THE ENEMY OF PRAYER
Some people might say that the enemy of prayer is prayerlessness. But the enemy of prayer is pride.
Subtle pride shows up when we slide into a rhythm of feeling like we know what we're doing, and we believe we can do it at a high level, so we go about working hard for Jesus, only to occasionally bow our heads and ask Him to bless us and give us strength.
And while we might say we need the Lord to do the work through us, we're running a hundred miles an hour, never having humbled ourselves to recognize it's not just that we should want to be in the presence of God. We NEED to be in the presence of God, or we are operating and ministering in the flesh. We pray with the knowledge that if God doesn't show up, we're either going to end up failing and falling morally, or we're going to misguide those we lead.
Letting prayer trump plans means keeping a heart of dependence and humility.
3 - PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
Adam shared that he has found praying without ceasing simply means keeping the communication lines open with the Lord as you walk with Him through every avenue of your day. The Lord is in every meeting, and even though people may not realize it, you can be sitting there praying, "God, your agenda, not mine." Which is scary because it requires you to be more sensitive to what He's doing instead of being on the ball with your personal agenda.
Letting prayer trump plans means continually re-posturing your heart throughout your day to one of listening.
I realize many of you reading this are not pastoring a local church. Perhaps you are a lay member who leads in some capacity within your church. You may be a businessman or woman, a teacher, or a coach. All we have discussed today still applies to you. We all need to learn how to live lives where we remain in a spirit of prayer.
How do you begin?
An excellent starting place for allowing prayer to trump plans in your life is to check the condition of your prayer life.
Notice that I'm not asking about amounts: How much time do you spend in prayer? That's the wrong starting place. I'm asking: What is the condition of your prayer life? What is your heart posture? What is your attitude toward prayer? What is your hunger and thirst level for time with the Lord? Because if an authentic hunger and thirst are there, if there is an urgency in your heart to pray, time will take care of itself.
Whether you are trying to set a new culture around you, or you're just trying to aid the current culture of your organization, look for ways to integrate a real thirst and urgency for the presence of God in your own life first.
Listen to our full Leadership Culture Matters, Episode 2: Prayer Trumps Plans ft. Pastor Adam Siskey here.