MOVING PEOPLE THROUGH PRAYER

Since leadership is the ability to move and influence people, the spiritual leader will be alert to discover the most effective way of doing this.

One of the most frequently quoted of Hudson Taylor's statements is his expression of conviction that "it is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone."

In the course of his missionary career he demonstrated its truth a thousand times. However, it is one thing to give mental assent to his motto, but quite another thing consistently to put it into practice.

Men are difficult objects to move, and it is much easier to pray for temporal needs than for situations which involve the intricacies and stubbornness of the human heart. But it is in just such situations that the leader must prove his power to move human hearts in the direction in which he believes the will of God lies.

In prayer, we deal directly with God, and only in a secondary sense with men and women. The goal of prayer is the ear of God.

Prayer influences men by influencing God to influence them. It is not the prayer that moves men, but the God to whom we pray. “Prayer moves the arm That moves the world To bring deliverance down.”

To move men, the leader must be able to move God, for He has made it clear that He moves them through the prayers of the intercessor.

If a scheming Jacob could be given "power with God and with men," then is it not possible for any leader who is willing to comply with the conditions to enjoy the same power (Gen. 32:8)?

Prevailing prayer of this kind is the outcome of a correct relationship with God. Reasons for unanswered prayer are stated with great clarity in Scripture, and they all center around the believer's relationship with God.

He will not be party to petitions of mere self-interest, nor will He countenance impurity of motive. Sin clung to and cherished will effectively close His ear.

Least of all will He tolerate unbelief, the mother of sins. "He that cometh to God must believe.” Everywhere in prayer there is the condition, either expressed or implied, that the paramount motive in praying is the glory of God. The eminence of great leaders of the Bible is attributable to the fact that they were great in their praying. +

“They were not leaders because of brilliancy of thought, because they were exhaustible in resources, because of their magnificent culture or native endowment, but because by the power of prayer, they could command the power of God.”