I LEARNED SOMETHING FROM THIS LEADER THAT IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS WHEN I FIRST HEARD IT 30 OR SO YEARS AGO!

by | Jul 14, 2023 | Uncategorized

Lorne Sanny led the Navigators for 30 years and for a good many of the 37 years I served on staff with the Navigators Lorne was steering the Navigator “ship.”

I heard Lorne speak on numerous occasions and was always shaped by the Holy Spirit as he opened God’s Word to us. I recall him saying in one talk that. he had a list of things he was praying about which might trip him up at some point and that he wanted to pray defensively about those things. I thought that this was a great idea, so I created a prayer list for myself and have been praying over four things for well over 35. years. Here they are:

1.  For sexual purity and against lust

2.  For humility and against pride

3.  For contentment and against greed

4.  For patience and against anger

I’ve come to the conclusion that if I ever were to disqualify myself (1 Corinthians 9:27), there is a good chance it will be linked to one of these four things.

Of late, the one that demands most of my attention is lack of patience. I have fallen into more sin in my Christian walk due to a significant lack of patience than anything else I can think of. If the Lord brings me to mind, please pray that I would continue to grow in being patient with people and with God. At times, as I walk with God, He seems to walk awfully slow. Obviously, He is not walking slow but I’m walking too fast, getting ahead of Him. Admittedly, I hate to wait which is sometimes my undoing and the source of sin. 

Each day I pray for lots of different leaders I have worked with or still work with. Just recently I decided to zero in on four areas to pray for all of them so that, by His grace, they would be “Leaders Who Last.” 

Here is my list for those leaders:

  • Humility

  • Purity

  • Contentment

  • Integrity

You can readily see there is a fair amount of overlap between what I pray for myself and what I am praying for other leaders.

  • I’m praying that these men and women will be genuinely humble and careful to give God the glory for any fruit resulting from their activity.
  • I’m praying that all of them will stay sexually pure and faithful to their spouse, being a good model for their children
  • I‘m praying that they would not be grasping for power and money which, Unfortunately, too many leaders are doing these days, but would rather be content with the finances and ministry fruit He provides
  •  I’m praying that they would be men and women of integrity, good for their word and promises they make

Fellow leaders, far too many are falling by the wayside, are disqualifying themselves and being removed from the battle. What are you praying for yourself and for those leaders with whom you work and know? 

 I’d love to see “Your List.”