Nehemiah's Secrets to Answered Prayer

Rick Warren in a recent article provides us with a model of prayer for leaders from the first book of Nehemiah. Upon hearing upon the downfall of Jerusalem, he prayed for four months.
This was not just a casual prayer. It gives us a pattern for successful praying.

Rick provides four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God's character

Pray like you know God will answer you: "I'm expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. Nehemiah said three things about God:

1. You're great – that's God's position.


2. You're awesome – that shows his power.


3. You keep your promises – God's covenant.

2. Confess the sin in my life.

After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. Leaders accept the blame but losers pass the buck. If you want to be a leader, you accept the blame, and share the credit.

3. Claim the promises of God.

Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, "I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses."He's reminding God what he had said in the past. If imperfect fathers know that they need to fulfill their promises to their children, how much more does a perfect Father, a heavenly Father, intend to keep the promises he's made in his Word.

4. Be very specific in what I ask for.

If you want specific answers to prayer you need to make specific requests. If you make general prayers, how will you know if they are answered?

If you can't ask God to make you a success at what you're doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn't want you to waste your life.

Everyday Leadership

Leadership more often is exercised by everyday leaders in schools, homes and communities without much or any public attention being drawn. According to CCL's André Martin. "Leaders are people who, in connection with others, accomplish the tasks of setting direction, building commitment and creating alignment."

CCL in a recent study attempting to gain insight from everyday leaders attempted to explore definitions of leadership, key leadership skills and current challenges. The study included interviews with people from diverse backgrounds including teachers, a car dealership owner, medical doctors, an accountant, a judge, a mayor, a not-for-profit director, Peace Corps volunteers and stay-at-home moms, among others.

"The concepts of inspiration and guidance, vision, and change were articulated in one way or another by most interviewees," says Martin. Combining the key elements from the various interviews, one definition of leadership for everyday leaders is:

The ability to create a vision for positive change, help focus resources on right solutions, inspire and motivate others and provide opportunities for growth and learning.

What skills are needed?
Skills related to interpersonal openness and building relationships were the most frequently mentioned. Commitment, demonstrated knowledge, organization skills and ability to persuade/negotiate were also in the top five.

Looking to the future, there isn't much difference to present requirements: interpersonal openness and building relationships remained at the top, followed by organization skills and the ability to persuade/negotiate. There was a rise in the skills of communication, delegation and setting direction, suggesting, says Martin, "that leaders will need to be even more cognizant of where they are taking people and how to help people be involved."


Tasks of Leadership
CCL's definition of an effective leader is someone who, in connection with others, is able to accomplish three key tasks of leadership:

Setting direction is the articulation of mission, vision, values and purposes. Key questions are: Where are we going? What are we going to do? Why are we doing it?

Building commitment involves the creation of mutual trust and accountability, including addressing questions such as: How can we stay together? How can we work better as a group? What can improve cooperation?

Creating alignment is about finding common ground and areas of interrelated responsibility. Effective leaders ask: How can we develop a shared understanding of our situation? How can our actions be better coordinated?

Reviewing and Applying Skills Learned

Have you made the discovery that reviewing and continually applying the skills learned at LMC is a ‘Could Be’ rather than an ‘As Is’? Recently I’ve gotten several letters like the following. (Maybe you have thought this too?)

Dear John,

I’ve been talking with other LMC alumni and suggesting that we should reboot our mental computers by doing a refresher course. I can imagine that you don't want us to be successful for the first while and then nothing comes through because the application was lost during the process!! Right?

ONE BIG RULE that you should have: “Those who come, should come as a pair!” Two people remember more then one person. That would ‘guarantee’ that the application would be much better at home ... better than with one person only.

RULE NUMBER TWO should be to organize a refresher course!

I perked up at the comments about doing a refresher course since that is an area that I would like to see developed in the LMC ministry effort. In fact, we have already conducted some mini courses which we call Leadership Matters Advanced (LMA).

During the Leadership Matters Advanced we review LMC material, practice skills and provide individual consultant help on personal projects, like PRD’s or Life Management Plans, etc. We also spend additional time introducing new materials such as Team Building workshops.

An LMA is a minimum of 15 hours of reviewing LMC data with as many LMC alumni as are available. (Since it seems to be a norm for LMC alumni to train their teams in the material they’ve already learned, other colleagues may come to the LMA as well!)

An LMA may be scheduled to coincide with a retreat or conference. (One time we had it as the main feature of a Field Retreat and scheduled business meetings, fun programs and inspirational speakers around it.) Economical use of time and money is always a benefit. With your creative greenlighting skills maybe you can propose some ideas of mutual benefit in which we could schedule and organize an LMA together?

Hit Contact Us if you have a possible interest in a refresher course. It may be that your dreams will fit our plans! Also fill in the Survey so that the ITA Staff can appraise the ongoing effectiveness and relevance of the LMC materials in your life and ministry.

Serving with you …

John King

Editor for A Matter of Course & engage!

LMC Trainer

3 Points from Aristotle on Presentation

1. Begin With the End in Mind
Knowing where you're trying to go before you start is crucial to leading an effective life (and handy for road trips too). Aristotle called this teleology, which is the study of matters with their end or purpose in mind. Fans of Stephen Covey will recognize the concept from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The same principle applies to any presentation. The overall story that a presentation is trying to tell is tied into your unique selling proposition, and you need to have a clearly-defined big picture perspective of how you're going to tell that story over time.
You do that by telling smaller stories, and, those smaller stories should each have a clear individual point and reason for being. Even if it's just to make your audience smile on a Monday.
Each story in some way should be also telling a part of the bigger story that demonstrates to your audience that they will benefit from engaging with you. There's a million different ways to do that, and developing your own unique style is as important as any other advice you might get.
Just always remain focused on where you're trying to end up. Even when the path disappears, you’ve got to remember where you’re trying to go.

2. It's Not About You
Aristotle nailed the key to persuasion. Aristotle said that persuasion involved being able to identify the most compelling naturally-occurring element of any subject.
Once identified, Aristotle argued that the most compelling way to communicate that natural element is via pathos, the ability to connect with the emotions, desires, fears, and passions of the audience. And you certainly don't accomplish that by focusing on yourself.

3. Tell Persuasive Stories
When it's time to bang out a winning story post that captivates your audience and prompts them to take action, Aristotle's got you covered. Here is his four step structure to persuasive presentations:
Exordium: This is your opening. You've caught their interest with your headline, but the opening is where you've really got to grab hold for dear life. It might be a shocking statement, an interesting factoid, a famous quote, or a vivid anecdote.
Narratio: Next you've got to show the audience you understand their problems. They need to identify with you, and you with them. In this section you demonstrate that you feel their pain.
Confirmatio: The solution appears. Use vivid imagery to illustrate that the technique or service you offer is the answer, and give examples featuring people similar to the audience.
Peroratio: Don't forget to expressly state the need to act upon the solution offered now. This is the call to action, and it's crucial, yet so many people simply stop at the confirmatio.

The Right Story at the Right Time
The point I hope you take away from this post is that you'll see certain timeless truths again and again in the world of marketing. How those truths eventually resonate with you depends on who tells you the right story at the right time.

This applies to you and your ministry. Someone in your field is going to connect with that motivated individual, convert them and disciple them.
If you're telling compelling stories, and others can't be bothered to, who's that someone more likely to be?

5 Tips from Jobs

Apple computers is now celebrating 30 years of innovation. Anyone who has watched a Steve Jobs keynote, will tell you that he is one the most extraordinary speakers in corporate America. He comes across to most people as a particularly hip and plugged in friend showing off inventions in your living room. Jobs has learnt that a leader must be an evangelist and brand spokesperson.

Here are Jobs tips to wow them with your presentation:

1. Sell the Benefit
Steve Jobs does not sell bits of metal; he sells an experience. "For example, when introducing a 30 GB iPod, he clearly explains what it means to the consumer - users can carry 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos, or up to 75 hours of video.

In January when Jobs introduced the first Intel (INTC)-based Mac notebook he began by saying, "What does this mean?"He went on to explain the notebook had two processors, making the new product four to five times faster than the Powerbook G4, a "screamer" as he called it. It's not about the technology, but what the technology can do for you".

2. Practice, Practice, and Practice Some More
Take nothing for granted during presentations. Review and rehearses your material. Jobs sense of informality and easy manner comes only after grueling hours of practice.

3. Keep It Visual
There are very few bullet points in a Jobs presentation. Each slide is highly visual. If he's discussing the new chip inside a computer, a slide in the background will show a colorful image of the chip itself alongside the product. That's it. Simple and visual.

Apple's presentations are not created on PowerPoint, as the vast majority of presentations are. But PowerPoint slides can be made visual as well. It's a matter of thinking about the content visually instead of falling into the habit of creating slide after slide with headlines and bullet points.

4. Exude Passion, Energy, and Enthusiasm
Jobs has an infectious enthusiasm. This was obvious during the launch of the video iPod, with comments like: "It's the best music player we've made," "It has a gorgeous screen," "The color is fantastic," and "The video quality is amazing."

"There is no better example of Jobs' passion than the famous story of how he convinced John Sculley to lead Apple in the mid '80s by asking him, "Do you want to sell sugared water all your life or do you want to change the world?" The former Pepsi executive chose the latter and, although the pairing ultimately failed to work out, it reflects Jobs' sense of mission - a mission that he conveyed consistently in the early years of Apple and continues to today".

5."And One More Thing..."
At the end of each presentation Jobs adds to the drama by saying, "and one more thing." He then adds a new product, new feature, or sometimes introduces a band. He approaches each presentation as an event, a production with a strong opening, product demonstrations in the middle, a strong conclusion, and an encore - that "one more thing!"

So what does this mean?
How do you and your team rate when it comes to crafting the story behind your organisation or brand? Do you come across as trustworthy, confident, and competent, or do you fail to captivate your listeners? When you do speak to an individual or groups or a large audience you are often the sole experience a listener has with your organisation/brand.
LMC has an entire section of the course dedicated to help bring the evangelist and brand spokesperson out of each one of us.