Talking to God vs. Others
With this point, I will first discuss the negative aspect—talking to others. This is simply another way to say ‘gossip’; and in this context, we are referring specifically about talking to others about our leaders. Jude 1:16 says, “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.” So, we see that when people talk to others about issues concerning their leaders, they are simply walking after their own lusts. This type of behavior is no different in that sense than drug use. A person may use gossip to escape reality and make themselves feel better just as they may use drugs to the same end. We also see here that people are driven to gossip about their leaders to try and appear confident or competent. Again, this is done to advance themselves, but it is not reality, and it certainly is not a way to effectively influence one’s leaders. As a matter of fact, our leaders typically know a lot more about what we say about them than we would think; so we must be very cautious with what we communicate to others about them.
Talking to God is the most important behavior in which we must engage if we want to beneficially influence our leaders. This is the single step that ties the entire “Law of Influence” together. You may ask, “Why do I need to talk to God if I already influence my leadership with my submission, obedience, motivation, and loyalty?” Well, it is because all of those other behaviors (submission, obedience, etc.) DO NOT influence your leaders nearly as much as they influence God. To explain what I mean, let us return to our key verse, Proverbs 21:1. Our paraphrase says, “The thoughts, desires, and feelings of our leaders are in the power of the LORD, as channels of irrigation: he bends them in whatever way He desires.” You see, the Bible says the leader’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, so if we want to reach the heart of our leaders and influence them, we must beseech the Lord to make it happen—for He is the only One who has the ability to alter the king’s (our leader’s) heart! In other words, we must convince God that He should bend and angle our leaders’ hearts to allow us to influence them.
It is absolutely necessary to talk to God—to use God as the intermediary—if we want to influence our leaders. Without talking to God, having an influence upon leadership is a rare and unlikely possibility. However, it is also largely futile to talk to God asking him to allow you to influence your leaders if you do not first engage in the other four behaviors necessary—submission, obedience, motivation, and loyalty. I Timothy 2:1-2 says, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” So, we see that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and honesty by obeying them that have the rule over us. And when we are unable to do so, or do not feel we can do it much longer—when we are struggling to submit, obey, motivate, and be loyal to our leaders, we are left with one resource: our most powerful tool—talking to God in intercessory prayer. I exhort you to pray for your leaders. This is especially important if you are at odds with them. Supplicate God to help you and intercede on your behalf. Finally, thank God for your leaders no matter whether they are good or bad…why? “For the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord…he turneth it whithersoever he will.
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