Prayer & Leadership

And you'll recall that, uh, in the first chapter of Joshua, I'm gonna start reading and you catch up because we don't have much time.

"It came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, 'Moses My servant is dead.

Now therefore, arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I'm going to give to them, to the sons of Israel.'" Verse 3, "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.

I will not fail you or forsake you.

Be strong and courageous, for you shall be given, or you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them." Now listen to these next verses.

"Only be strong and very courageous.

Be careful to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous? Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Now, I believe that prayer has to be a priority in our pastoral leadership because of the very nature of the role of being a pastor.

And you and I know that that role is absolutely impossible as far as people's expectations.

You will be expected to be a great preacher, a great teacher, a great administrator, a great financier, a great leader among men, a great father, a great parent, a great husband.

In fact, the expectations are absolutely beyond all comprehension.

Plus the fact you will be expected to be available 24 hours a day, have well-prepared sermons at least three times a week, stay healthy and strong, take one day off a week, and relax and never be uptight.

[laughs]

And so there's no way in the world to do that.

But God has given to us a very simple principle in the scripture.

God knew a long time ago that you and I were gonna have responsibility that was impossible, but He gave to Joshua a responsibility equally as impossible.

And if you'll notice what He said in this passage, He made him some wonderful promises.

Now listen to what He said to him.

And I think there are three things here that you and I need to understand about what God said to Joshua, because when we t- think about our role, there's some things that are very important that you and I understand about that.