Liberty Theological Seminary

Reflection on Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders

A Paper Submitted to Kennedy Adarkwa, Ph.D. In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the course Strategic Prayer and Spiritual Warfare EVAN 670

By Baskin, Deborah M.

20 January 2012

2 INTRODUCTION Dave Earley, author of Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders, is on staff with Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the Department of Pastoral Ministries and Church Expansion. Earley is also the Director of the Center for Ministry Training at the seminary and the Director of the Center for Church Planting at Liberty University. Professor Earley is a prolific writer with several books and textbooks in print selling over 100,000 copies. In his early twenties, Earley served as the campus pastor of a large Christian university. At the age of twenty-six, he began a church with twelve people in his basement which grew to a congregation of over 2, 000 in weekly attendance. He is active in training and mentoring other church planters, sending out an average of thirty-five per year. He and his wife, Cathy, have three sons. Earley will be launching a new church start in Las Vegas, Nevada in June of 2012.1 In Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders, Earley made a strong argument for the need for leaders to have a strong and vital prayer life. He cited numerous spiritual leaders beginning with the Old Testament to modern day who have had great spiritual influence and successful ministries.2 Earley maintained that they were successful due to their fervency and faithfulness in prayers. He defined leadership as influence.3 The title indicated that Earley had spiritual leaders in mind as his target audience and this book would be an excellent source of information for anyone in leadership. However, it contained a wealth of information that could benefit any Christian who desires to deepen and strengthen his prayer life. This reflection will give a chapter1 Dave Earley, About Dave, Dave Earley Ministries, http://www.daveearley.net/about_dave (accessed January 19, 2012). 2 Dave Earley, Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders (Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG Publishers, 2008), x. 3 Ibid.

3 by-chapter summary, followed by an evaluation and critique of the book, and concludes with a personal application garnered from the contents of the book. SUMMARY OF BOOK In his introduction, Earley stated, Prayer influences men by influencing God to influence them.4 He studied the lives of seventy-seven spiritual leaders to help uncover their success. From this he identified nine prayer disciplines which, when applied to ones life, would focus, stretch, rekindle and renew ones prayers.5 Each of the first nine chapters took one of the disciplines, verified its effectiveness and demonstrated how to incorporate it into ones life. Chapter 10 showed the reader how to put it all together so that he could begin to develop a stronger prayer life that would have a lasting spiritual impact on the lives of those he led. Chapter one was titled The Value of Prayer. Presented were the unfortunate statistics on the limited amount of time many pastors have for prayer. Earley surmised that this could be a determining reason for why so many pastors get discouraged, burn out and ultimately quit the ministry.6 Martin Luther reportedly prayed at least two hours per day. Once when questioned about his schedule for an extremely busy week, he replied, Work, work from early till late. In fact I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.7 This statement helped Earley to determine that prayer is a great time saver and he challenged his readers to incorporate more prayer time into their daily schedules.8 Another value of prayer is that it is the Christians greatest spiritual weapon. Earley pointed out that Ephesians 6:12 stated Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

Ibid. Ibid., xiv. 6 Ibid.,1. 7 Ibid.. 5. 8 Ibid., 6.

4 but against the rulers and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
9

The most effective way to battle the enemy is to put on ones spiritual armor and pray.10 In chapter 2, Earley discussed the Need to Make Time to Pray using the life of Christ as his main example. Prayer was the first of Jesus daily activities and appointments, the number one item on his calendar each day.11 He argued if Christ, who was the Son of God, spent hours in daily prayer Christians should follow Christs example.12 Pray for Those You Serve was the title of chapter 3. Earley believed that effective spiritual leaders intercede in prayer for those they lead. He cited many verses about the Apostle Paul in which Paul prayed for his followers to validate this point.13 Earley further stated that intercessory prayers allow leaders to place the followers over themselves, that God will sometimes relent a judgment, that it is costly, and that it is often done with tears.14 Finally, Early gave suggestions on how to become an effective intercessor. Chapter 4 was concentrated on how to Train Others to Pray for You. Earley stated that leaders need to recognize they need prayers because they are under attack. He proved this statement by citing several sufficient statistics that ministers face both in their personal and church life. A few of these include: 1) 40 percent report a monthly serious conflict with a church member, 2) 33 percent say that ministry is a hazard to their family, 3) 56 percent of pastors wives have no close friends, 4) 40 percent have considered leaving the pastorate, and 5) the second-highest divorce rate of all professions are those

Ibid., 11. Ibid., 13. 11 Ibid.. 19. 12 Ibid., 17. 13 Ibid., 35. 14 Ibid., 36-42.
10

5 in the clergy. These statistics clearly show the necessity for leaders to seek the prayers of others. Earley concluded this chapter with realistic counsel on how to develop prayer partners. The theme and title of chapter 5 was Turn Your Problems Into Prayer. Earley used Moses as an example of one who followed spiritual stewardship. Moses did not carry his problems around; instead he constantly took his problems with Gods people back to God.16 Jesus and David both turned to God and sought His help and counsel. Earley recommended that one spread out his problems and cast his cares before God by the use of worry lists.17 By following this advice one turns prayers into provisions, problems into rescue, and indecision into breakthrough.18 Praying combined with fasting was the theme of chapter 6. Earley shared the stories of many leaders from the scripture through modern times who practiced prayer and fasting. Earley supported his opinion of the need to fast by giving the definition of Biblical fasting. He followed this with twenty reasons why one should fast and ten statements on the benefits of fasting in building the spiritual life of a leader.19 Next, he shared various answers leaders had received after fasting and praying. He concluded this chapter by giving advice on how to fast effectively.20 In chapter 7, Earley stated, High-impact leaders pray boldly, I mean they evidence several earmarks of courageous faith in prayer.21 Earley suggested that prayer was a business transaction with God and that by praying Gods promises back to Him,
15

Ibid., 57. Ibid., 73. 17 Ibid., 81-84. 18 Ibid., 84-88. 19 Ibid., 94-98. 20 Ibid., 107-108. 21 Ibid., 111.
16

15

6 one could expect payment as surely as presenting a check at the counter of the bank.
22

Earley explained how to claim Gods promises in three steps: 1) study the scripture and its application, 2) recognize that if this promise is yours, God will impress it on your heart, and 3) Keep your motive to glorify only God and not you.23 Earley cited that one must pray for specifics and ask big.24 Chapter 8 is called Build on the Basics. Professor Earley points out that the most basic strength a man has in prayer is by using a variety of prayers like the Lords Prayer or the acrostic ACTS. He then gave detailed descriptions on how to pray prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.25 Chapter 9 was titled Adopt Best Practices. In this portion of the book Earley listed the following elements to incorporate into ones prayer life: 1) pray without ceasing, 2) prayer retreats, 3) instant messages or arrow prayers, 4) praying the scriptures, 5) frank familiarity, 6) group prayer meetings, 7) listening and smuggling prayer, and 8) prayer walking.26 With each type of prayer, he gave testimony to the impact these prayers had on individuals and communities. In the final chapter, called Putting It All Together, Earley had the reader assess his prayer life by taking an inventory that covers various aspects of each chapter. From the inventory, one was to discover if any changes or applications could be made to strengthen his prayer life and to set a prayer life goal.27

Ibid., 114. Ibid., 116. 24 Ibid., 117-125. 25 Ibid., 130-150. 26 Ibid., 153-170. 27 Ibid., 173-178.
23

22

7 EVALUATION AND CRITIQUE Dave Earleys book has several strengths. First, it is very user-friendly. He did not use a lot of theological terms but wrote using modern syntax and vocabulary. One can read it with ease and initiate several of his ideas immediately. Earleys style of writing draws one into his thoughts because he is forthcoming as to his points and then defines them with precision. He is transparent in using examples from his own life, which is an endearing quality about the book. Secondly, he gave many examples from the scriptures to validate his findings and beliefs. The use of the scripture has definite appeal to a theologian. One example that made an impression upon me is the following: Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14, NIV). This prayer was a poignant reminder that while God is omniscient we are visibly shown that it is essential to bring our problems before God. According to Strongs, the phrase spread it out means to scatter or display and before means face or presence.28 Even though God was already aware of the contents of the letter, Hezekiah prayed. He thoroughly scattered out the details of the problem in an intimate setting. He was in Gods presence. I think that often when praying we forget that Gods face and His presence are with us. As a parent I know that when my children come to me sharing problems that my heart is turned toward them and I try to help them solve the issue. This passage displays the same action on the part of our Heavenly Father. While I am limited in my abilities to solve my childrens troubles, God is able to completely change the situation.

James Strong, Lexicon Results, Blue Letter Bible, http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6566&t=KJV (accessed January 20, 2012

28

8 Thirdly, his use of church history in the lives of her saints was helpful. This allowed the reader to see that God does not change and His ears are still open to prayers. Billy Grahams story of how prayer changed the scope and size of his ministry was inspiring. Graham and his teams prayers were answered in astounding ways with an explosion in conversions. Their prayers even stopped a storm that would have closed the meetings down.29 This example served to encourage me in the reality that God hears and responds to our prayers especially when souls are at stake. Fourthly, he gave a tremendous amount of instruction on how to accomplish incorporating these practices into ones prayer life. His ideas on how to pray without ceasing were straightforward. The suggestion of making worry lists and using them as prayer petitions are feasible and practical. However, one of my favorite suggestions was to pray the Lords Prayer daily and to ponder each section of the prayer. I believe doing this will make the prayer personal. Unfortunately, I did have a concern about one area that Earley discussed. This dealt with some of his ideas in the chapter titled Possess a Bold Faith. Some of the concepts that he presented almost sounded like the prosperity gospel that I feel is extremely dangerous. The modern examples such as big enough to provide a car and big enough to pay the bills were both based on immediate physical answers.30 My fear is that some folks might read this section and assume if their prayers were not answered by the meeting of a material request that they lacked faith. Yet, we have examples throughout scriptures where faithful apostles suffered and did not have their physical needs met. I wish that Earley had given other examples that incorporated some of these stories. I was reminded of John the Baptist who fulfilled his mission as the forerunner of
29 30

Dave Earley, Prayer, 86-87. Ibid., 124-125.

9 Christ; however, he was thrown in prison and executed. I would imagine that he prayed for release from prison. Sometimes, we can pray the promises of the scriptures in accordance to Gods will and we still suffer. This section seemed to focus on the physical world and not the spiritual world. We are not always privy to all the battles that are won in the spiritual realm through our faithful prayers. PERSONAL APPLICATION Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders has already had an influence in my thoughts and behavior in regard to the importance and priority of prayer. I have prayed the scripture during my prayer time, but Earleys book reaffirmed the need to make this a daily practice. This strategy came at providential timing since I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease a couple of weeks ago. I shared this section of the book with my husband and daily he shares a verse of healing with me and we pray it. I am also incorporating this into my intercessory prayers. Often, I do not know exactly how to pray for a situation but looking for similar events in the Bible and applying those prayers has allowed me to approach Gods throne with assurance and faith. Another strategy that I want to begin to do daily is to give thanks and praise to God. Twenty-three years ago when my husband was in seminary, my parents kidnapped our two oldest children. I felt abandoned by God as the days turned into months (and eventually years) without finding our children. I read in Psalm that God inhabitest the praises of Israel (Psalm 22:3, KJV). This struck a chord with me. I set aside a room in our house where I only offered thanksgiving and praise to God. This action brought about a change in my attitude and heart and I saw evidence of Gods blessings in our lives even though the children were not found. Earleys section on praise and thanksgiving brought that time to the forefront of my mind. I intend to begin practicing this type of prayer

10 again. I am going to set aside a particular place in our home that will become my daily place of prayer and praise. A third element which I have begun incorporating is Earleys suggestion of enlisting others to pray for you and your ministry. I have already asked a couple of people to do that with me and for me. During our times of prayer, I have found refreshment and peace. Often, I try to do things on my own. I will ask for prayers over some issues but I am often reluctant to share personal struggles or desires. I think that I was afraid of showing weakness or that my faith was lacking. However, I am changing that attitude. CONCLUSION This book was an inspiring and life-changing experience for me. Earley did a wonderful job at presenting the need for consistent, bold, and specific prayers. I have already recommended this book to my Sunday school class members. I believe that every leader could benefit from the truths about prayer that Earley shared in Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders.

BIBLIOGRAHY

11 Earley, Dave. About Dave. Dave Earley Ministries. http://www.daveearley.net/about_dave(accessed January 19, 2012).

Earley, Dave. Prayer: the Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders. Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG Publishers, 2008.

Strong, James. Lexicon Results. Blue Letter Bible. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6566&t=KJV (accessed January 20, 2012).