Being a leader is never easy, leaders are critiqued, mocked and under a great deal of pressure. As someone is growing into a role of leadership as Timothy it can be easy to forget why you became a leader, why you felt called to do it. One thing that is central to anyone growing into a role of leadership is encouragement, reminders and affirmations of God’s gifts in our lives.

Jesus teaches us that to be a good follower of him requires focus. We need to remain in Jesus in all that we do, that if we focus on doing his will, we will bear fruit. Being a good leader does not mean doing everything, but instead doing what you do well.

Good leaders don’t just pat us on the back, they challenge us to be all that we can be. Jesus shows us that to grow in our faith we need to be challenged, we need to be pushed, so that we learn to stop relying on our own abilities, and instead to rely on what God can do through us.

A dramatic reflection on 2 Kings 5, and a challenge to serve God and serve others.

When asked to explain and teach on prayer Jesus shares with the disciples about some of the central parts of prayer to them. Prayer is not just focused on us, there is more to prayer than our list of needs and wants.

As Solomon dedicates the temple God speaks to Solomon and reminds him the importance of where our hear is as we pray. God seeks a humble heart, prayers of the imperfect, being open about our own frailities in comparison to God. If we would approach God more often in a stance of humility, we would see prayers answered in a different way.

If prayer is conversation, then we speak to God and about God. Psalm 121 shows us a prayer of trust and hope in God. As we pray to God it is important to place our focus on who God is, why we trust him, why we have faith in him. Pray is not just about us, it is about the one that we are praying to also.