The Inspired Leader: 101 Biblical Reflections for Becoming a Person of Influence (13 page)

How familiar are you with God’s truth? If you entered a conversation with someone suffering from addiction, what truth would you share? If you met someone in bondage to fear, what Scripture would you point him to? If you encountered someone in bondage to guilt or greed or anger, what Scripture passage would you reach for? All the truth in the world will do no good if you are unprepared to share it. As you enter the workplace, arm yourself with truth. Then keep your spiritual eyes and ears alert for someone you can share it with today. Remember, truth is amazingly powerful. It
can
set people free.

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. How well do you know the truths found in the Bible? Do you know God’s word well enough to share it with those who need to experience it?
   

2. Think about the people you work with. Are some of them in bondage to something? Consider a truth from God’s word that, if believed, could set them free. Now look for an opportunity to share those truths.
   

ON OCTOBER 15, 1892, John Hyde and five other Presbyterian missionaries set sail from America for India. Hyde found a letter in his cabin from a dear friend. The man promised he would pray for Hyde every day until he was filled with the Spirit. At first Hyde was offended at the suggestion that he, a devout Christian, and a seminary-trained missionary lacked any qualification. But as Hyde searched his heart, he realized that without the full measure of the Holy Spirit in his life, He would fail in his undertaking.

Hyde became a fervent prayer warrior for the millions of people in India. Every day he cried out to God for the salvation of the people with whom he worked. In 1908, Hyde felt led to pray that God would allow him to personally lead one person to faith in Christ,
each day.
Hyde continually watched for the person God had for him to share Christ with that day. Hyde was famous for beginning conversations with people while riding the train. When he arrived at his stop, he would often be so deeply engaged in conversation with someone that he rode past his destination. He would eventually lead the man to faith in Christ. Upon boarding a train going the opposite direction, however, he would become involved in another conversation and again, he would bypass his stop to see that person born again. One day this happened four times. By the time he finally arrived at the convention meeting he was to attend, it was over, but four people had entered into God’s family. In 1909, Hyde felt impressed to ask God for two converts a day, and, by year’s end, God had granted twice as many converts to Hyde as in the previous year. In 1910, Hyde boldly asked God for four converts per day. Once again, God granted his request. Hyde would often pray throughout the night for those he would encounter the following day. So fervent was his praying that it was claimed that upon examination by a physician in 1911, Hyde’s heart had moved from the left to the right side of his chest. One man demonstrated what impassioned prayer could do to impact a nation for Christ.

The apostle James exhorted Christians, saying, “
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months”
(James 5:16-17). Scripture reminds us that Elijah was not a spiritual superhero with extraordinary abilities in communing with God. He was an ordinary person, like us, who believed God and prayed fervently. His prayers shook his nation. Mary, Queen of Scots allegedly said of the fiery preacher, John Knox, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than the assembled armies of Europe.” Prayer is a powerful instrument in the hands of a child of God!

God has strategically placed you in the marketplace. Every day you encounter colleagues, employees, customers, and vendors who desperately need to experience a life- changing encounter with Christ. There may be times when you can share a clear witness that helps them find Christ. At other times such a testimony may be impossible. But you can always pray. Your colleagues may not understand why they are being inexorably drawn toward Christ, but you will know. They may not realize why you are filled with peace when everyone else is anxious, but you will understand. God intends to use your life to be a bastion of intercession for those in your workplace. Pray fervently, then watch and see who God brings across your path next.

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate your current prayer life. If it is not what you think it ought to be, what are three things you could do to improve it?
   

2. Make a list of the people with whom you work most closely. Beside each name, list one or two things you believe God wants to do in his or her life. Take time each week to pray for those things. Don’t give up until you witness God’s will accomplished in each person.
   

3. Have you witnessed any answers to your prayers in your workplace? Ask God to show you what to be praying for. Then keep your spiritual senses alert to God’s activity in response to your prayers.
   

THROUGHOUT THE BOOK of Judges, a cycle of apostasy and revival repeatedly occurs. God’s people neglect their relationship with God and embrace sin. God disciplines His people until they repent and return to Him. God forgives His people and uses them once again to exert a godly influence on their land. But inevitably God’s people turn away from Him again and the cycle repeats itself (Judges 2:10-11). Each time God’s people departed from Him, He called upon someone through whom He could draw His people back to Himself. These people become catalysts for revival.

The same pattern occurs throughout church history that we find in Scripture. During the 1720s and ’30s, God used preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield to turn people back to God. During the early 1800s, God used Charles Finney to bring revival to America. While visiting a factory in New York Mills in 1826, Finney passed through a large room filled with women working at looms and spinning jennies. Some of the women recognized him and began talking among themselves. Soon several women became agitated and could no longer keep working. A powerful sense of conviction for their sin gripped people throughout the factory. Finally the manager, who was not a believer in Christ, called everyone together and invited Finney to speak. Revival had entered the factory as God’s man walked through it! In 1857-8, God used a businessman named Jeremiah Lamphier to spark a citywide revival in Manhattan that ultimately saw one million people converted across the nation. In 1904-5, God used a former coal miner named Evan Roberts to bring revival to Wales. In six months, 100,000 people were converted. God also used a Scotsman named Duncan Campbell. On one occasion, Campbell was to speak at the Hamilton Avenue Presbyterian Church for an annual convention meeting. Suddenly he sensed God placing the small island of Berneray on his heart. The divine impulse was so strong that he did not remain to preach the next morning as scheduled, but flew to the Isle of Harris. There he took a ferry to the small island of Berneray. He knew no one there and had told no one he was coming. Upon his arrival, however, he discovered that an elder in the local church had already prepared a room for him and announced there would be a meeting at 9:00 p.m. in which Campbell would speak. Revival came to that little island.

God declared, “‘
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God”
(Ezekiel 22:30-31). When God seeks to revive his peoples’ spiritual lives, He looks for someone through whom He can work. God often utilizes business people as sparkplugs for revival in their churches and nations. In fact, the marketplace is an excellent venue for revival to spread throughout America. It is interconnected with people from every denomination. If God revived the hearts of His people in the business world, it would not take long to impact every church and denomination in America. America is in dire need of revival once more. God is looking for people willing to stand in the gap as His holy instruments of renewal. Will you be one?

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Do the people you work with need a fresh encounter with God? If so, could God have placed you at your company so you could be a catalyst for revival? How might God use you to refresh the spiritual lives of your colleagues?
   

2. Is your heart ready to be used by God in revival? The people God has often used may have been ordinary, but they were passionate about God. What might God need to do to revive you first, before He uses you to revive others?
   

3. Revival always comes after people repent of their sin. If God is going to use your life to bring revival to others, are there sins you need to repent of and turn away from, before you are in a position to be of use to God? Make a list of sins in your life and then repent of them to God. Get your heart ready for the work God is preparing to do through your life, where you work and where you go to church.