Prayer:
The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders
By Dave Earley
A Paper
Submitted to Dr. Desmond Jim O’Neill
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Course
EVAN 670
Spiritual Warfare
Ghali, HebatAllah
August 2013
Earley, Dave.
Prayer: The Timeless Secret of
High-Impact Leaders. Chattanooga, Tennessee: Living Ink Books, 2008.
INTRODUCTION
This paper argues that, in line with the author,
prayer is the timeless secret of high impact spiritual leaders because it is
omnipotent and omnipresent, and accessible to all. The paper is composed of a brief summary
tackling nine prayer disciplines requested to develop an influential prayer
life, critical assessment highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the author’s
main themes, views, content, style of writing, layout, and organization, and a
conclusion recapping the main themes.
SUMMARY
The author’s main idea revolves around prayer as “the
common denominator of spiritual difference-makers in every generation and in any
setting.”[1] He argues that if leadership is influence,
then prayer influences men by influencing God to influence them.[2] To develop a prayer life that has impact and
influence in the spiritual realm, nine disciplines ought to be developed and
maintained throughout. First, prioritize your prayer time;
prayer saves time and effort because it is omnipotent and omnipresent. Martin Luther, on his busy days, used to
double the prayer time for he believed that prayer saves time and effort. Prayer is omnipresent because of its
unrestricted reach and breakthrough time and distance. It provides insight into matters giving wise
solutions according to God’s mind; through prayers, one can see God’s will and
vision. God does nothing in ministry
apart from prayer—the incubator of God’s vision. It is our greatest spiritual
weapon.
Second, make time to pray by emulating Jesus
who used to withdraw often in a solitary place to pray and early in the morning.
Be intentional about establishing a
daily prayer time, preferably early in the morning as Jesus, Paul and Silas,
John Bunyan, Martin Luther, and Jerry Falwell, among others. Pray several times a day like David (3x),
Daniel (3x), Tertullian (3x), Hyppolytus (6x), and Adoniram Judson (7x). Determine a specific amount of time—set aside
one hour, and institute a regular place for prayer to help you build a dynamic
prayer life—a secluded, silent place. Start your prayer with ACTS—adoration,
confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, not necessarily in that order but
include these basic elements.
Third, pray for those you serve, intercede for
them in the sight of God, plead on their behalf, and elevate your followers;
all intercession is prayer but not all prayers are intercession. Most high-impact spiritual leaders were
intercessors emulating the Great Intercessor—Jesus Christ, our Lord Savior, the
Son of God. Moses, too, was an
intercessor for his people—“Forgive their sins, but if not, then blot me out (36).”
Dick Eastman was a prayer warrior and catalyst—“an intercessor must bid
farewell to self and welcome the burdens of humanity (37).” True intercessory prayer is a determining
factor for leadership success; it brought revival to and made a difference to
Earley’s College Campus (39).
Fourth, train others to pray for you, just as
Paul the Apostle used to request the churches to pray for Him for open doors,
for boldness in evangelism, and for spiritual warfare (54). Earley reviewed some statistics that showed
that all spiritual leaders need prayer; pastors and their wives, especially,
need prayer support to face the ministry challenges and to prevent them getting
burned out or fall into depression (57). Leaders need prayer partners like Moses who
needed Hur and Aaron to lift up his hands in prayers while Joshua was fighting
the Amalekites (58). In the first
century, too, when James was killed and Peter arrested, the church was
earnestly praying for him. In the
twenty-first century, John Maxwell attributed his success to having a prayer
partner saying, “it wasn’t until God sent me a prayer partner that my life and
ministry exploded with power, and the results began to multiply in an
incredible way (61).” Earley suggests to tap into the power of prayer partners
by, first, asking God to give you one, and second, by developing a team of
people to pray for the leader (67).
Fifth, turn your problems into prayers is
spiritual stewardship as practiced by Moses while he was leading God’s people
in the wilderness and reminding God about “Your people;” “Moses solution to burnout is prayerful
stewardship (73).” Turning pressures into prayer was Jesus style
of facing crushing pressures on His knees (76).
Asa in 2 Chron 14:11 did the same, when the Ethiopian warlord, Zerah,
marched a one-million military troop against Judah outnumbering them. Asa prayed a short prayer composed of twenty
seven words, underlining four themes: Judah’s dependence on God, Asa’s
stewardship over Judah, God’s ownership of and alliance with Judah, and the Lord’s
battleground is His. Earley stresses the
issue of casting our pressures, problems, pains, and persecution on the Lord,
giving David’s unresolved family conflict with Absalom, which he turned into
prayers as an example. The author
suggested to make a “worry list” and as Luther said, “pray and let God worry;” George Muller was an example of turning
prayers into provisions, D. L. Moody,
prayers into rescue, and Billy Graham, prayers into ministry breakthrough (84).
Sixth, fast and pray is a powerful spiritual
discipline and weapon that turned the tide to biblical and church leaders. The reasons for fasting are many: holding
back God’s judgment (Deut 9), answering prayers (Hannah’s request for a child,
Samuel), bringing unexpected victories (Judges 20; 2 Chron 20), develop humility
(Ps 35), asking for God’s protection (Ezra 8),
yielding plan and provision (Neh 1), loosing the chains of the devil (Is
58), purifying soul and body (Dan 1), receiving divine revelation (Dan 10),
bringing a nation back to God (Joel 2), preparing for the return of Jesus (Joel
2; Luke 2, 5), expressing repentance (Jonah 3), secret service to God (Matt 6),
spiritual service (Anna, Luke 2), obeying Jesus’ command (Matt 6), needing
powerful aid in spiritual warfare, and gain victory in spiritual warfare (Dan
9) (95-98). Church leaders fasted for
revival like Jonathan Edwards that propelled the Great Awakening and fasted
twenty-two hours before delivering his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God (101).” Also fasting could be for monetary miracles, for healing,
and for evangelistic results. Earley
gives advices, observations, and encouragement on how to fast more effectively
(107).
Seventh, possess a bold faith, that lifts up
petition and requests fearlessly with confidence before the throne of grace,
being assured that God will answer prayers in due time, without a shadow of a
doubt. Earley argues that “the future is
as bright as God’s promises;” he highlights Spurgeon’s view of God’s promises
as a “check payable to order (113).” We
can boldly quote God’s promises back to Him being assured of answered prayers
if we ask according in Jesus’ Name and will, abiding in Christ, and fulfilling
the command of love (116). Prevailing prayers must be specific, targeting a
definite goal and aim, and as big as our Lord God (122).
Eighth, build on the basics, on the model
prayer of Jesus, which includes basic elements summarized in the acronym
ACTS—adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, then expand
therefrom. Adoration is praise—a
positive response to who God is; praise has a power of opening prison doors and
fueling the Great Awakening (138). Confession
is “agreeing with God on the presence of the seriousness of our sin…and is
letting the sin in our hearts break our hearts;” ongoing confession is
necessary for ongoing intimate relationship with God (145). Thanksgiving is “verbalizing the attitude of
gratitude…expressing the appreciation to God for his generosity…is an
indication of humility and the cure for complaining (133).” Supplication is “simply asking God to supply
needs (146).”
Ninth, adopt best practices in your prayer
life, such as unceasing prayers using instant messages or arrowhead prayers,
with perseverance and insistence; prayer retreats to relieve pressure and bond
with God more closely and more intimately; praying the Scriptures like Martin
Luther; and group-prayer meetings and prayer-walks.
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
Earley’s main goal in writing this book is “to
motivate Christian leaders to pray more fervently, more frequently, more
effectively, and more contagiously than ever before” and to help leaders
stretch their prayer life (p. xii). The
book contains a plethora of biblical and contemporary examples to illustrate
the idea the author is discussing and convince the reader on the value and
power of prayer in the life of high-impact spiritual leaders that make a
difference, which is among the strengths. There are sixteen men of God whose prayer life
impacted and directed the course of events for God’s kingdom and sixty-one
examples of prayer warriors starting from Augustine to Warren Wiersbe (pp. 180-182).
Those seventy-seven leaders studied,
representing various experiences of the power and value of the prayer life,
reaffirm one truth that “prayer is the common denominator of spiritual
difference makers.” The book is filled with
patrology, quotations of men of God, and is well referenced with numbers that
convince the readers of the power of prayer to harvest souls for the kingdom
and to extend the ministry parameters creating new ministries serving new
categories of people, unheard of. The
application worksheet at the end of each chapter is particularly helpful to
review the key thoughts, think about the plans for applications and the
practices needed to be put; it pushes the reader to dig deep and reflect,
scrutinizing one’s life and performance. The book gives practical advices on
fasting to help beginners start fasting correctly without harming their health
and to encourage the advanced to refresh their practices (107). It draws a prayer life inventory (pp. 174-178)
to help one assess one’s own standing in the prayer life and to apply new
practices correcting and strengthening the weaknesses and/or seeking
counselor’s help (174-178). The book is
well-organized in an orderly manner allocating one chapter to each of the nine
disciplines and the layout is comfortable for the eyes; the script is large
enough not to exert pressure on the reader’s eyes.
The book lacks the issue of “intimacy with God” and
enjoying God as a Father, Brother, and Son; in other words, the familial
aspect was missing. The issues
discussed gave the feel that God is a business partner, achievement-oriented,
disregarding the fact that being in the presence of God without even asking
anything has its powerful impact on people who feel the aura of God’s presence
in our lives. For instance, the term
“checkbook” used by Spurgeon (113). It gives
the feeling of being in the banking system business and using God to draw on
His treasury. It is using God to accomplish goals and not God using us to
accomplish His eternal purposes. God’s
fatherhood is a key to boldness in claiming promises and in answering prayers;
it is an expression of assurance of our status as adoptive children of God
through belief in Christ.
The author’s denominational background does not
surface up; therefore, people can confidently read it without being suspicious
of trials to shake one’s own convictions and with no defenses erected that
could prevent the reader from absorbing the themes. I would recommend this book to beginners to
set them on the correct path to the best practices and habits of the mind
regarding the prayer life. It gives so many examples that beginners can emulate
until the Holy Spirit forms their personal pattern of prayer life that suit
their personality, character, abilities, and understandings.
LESSONS LEARNT AND LIVE APPLICATION
The outstanding lesson learnt is the title of the book
that “Prayer is the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders.” Prayer is omnipotent and omnipresent,
breaking through time, location, distance, faster than sound and light,
mightier than lightning and thunder, which encouraged me to practice Nehemiah’s
and Spurgeon’s arrowhead prayer of instant message, as a sort of unceasing
prayers. Prayer could be lifted anytime,
anywhere; it does not need a special position or a posture. However, it is best to allocate time and
space for our daily quiet time and emulate Jesus who allocated his early
mornings to prayer in a solitary place without disturbance or interruption. The application is to hold on to regular
quiet times and to unceasing prayer known as arrowhead or darts or instant
messages to keep communion with God throughout the day.
Charles Finney said that “prevailing prayer is
specific…it is offered as a definite object…we cannot prevail for everything at
once.” (117) Finney’s argument is
logical and makes sense because one cannot hit two targets at the same time.
This suggests that we must have a clear vision of what we are praying for, and
define the target in order to hit it. I
would draw a map for the vision, specify the target, and see how through
prayers I can hit the target.
Chapter 6, “pray and fast,” gives advices,
observations, and encouragement to fast; however, the author could have guided
the reader to more reference books on fasting or online readings on this
issue. Many beginners enthusiastically
took up fasts and harmed their health for lack of knowledge on how to gradually
and effectively apply this discipline to the prayer life.
Georges Muller’s “financial policy” (155) was just a
reassurance for me against those who would make God cheap and impotent through
sharing to get financial support from everywhere. It comforted me against those who ridiculed
me for waiting on the Lord to provide and supply all my needs—physical,
financial, emotional, and spiritual.
Muller lifted his financial needs to God and God never let Him
down. I can fully trust and depend on
God, my Father!
The precious lesson highlighted and reminded is that
prayer prevents ministry failure by casting my concern, pressures, pain,
persecution, challenges, and warfare on God who is omnipotent and omnipresent
to deal with everything is a wise, successful way. Prayer is the communion with God through
which I am filled with God’s vision, power, and will.
CONCLUSION
Prayer is the common denominator to all high-impact
leaders that could honor God and make a difference in the Kingdom. Prayer is a life of discipline that has an
influential impact on God and people for it “influences men by influencing God
to influence them.” (p. x) Prayer is the
non-negotiable tool in high-impact leader’s kit. The nine prayer disciplines set forth in this
book help set beginners on the right path to develop an influential prayer life
and refreshes influential spiritual leaders to sustain and deepen their prayer
lives. Is there a way to answered prayers by communing with God without prayer?
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