Latest / Prayer Before Work / S01E22-You Can't Give What You Don't Have
Transcript
- Sean Graver: Hello, good morning. Hey, if you lead people or if you're just trying to lead yourself well today, this one's for you. So let's slow down for a few minutes and start the day right. Let's read a verse from the Psalms and then we'll pray. So let's go to Psalm 23. The first part of it says, the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name sake. Now we usually read this Psalm as comfort and it is, but I want to read it this morning as a leadership model. The shepherd in this Psalm is doing something specific. He's making sure that the sheep are restored before he leads them anywhere. Green pastures, quiet water, ⁓ soul refreshed, then right paths. So restoration before direction. But here's a pattern I see in leaders who eventually ⁓ burn out or just become ineffective. They give and give and give from a tank that they've stopped refilling. They lead others through hard seasons while they quietly neglect their own. And they know how to take care of their team. but not how to let God take care of them. You just can't give what you don't have. If your soul isn't being tended to, if you're not spending time in the green pastures and beside the quiet waters, you'll eventually have nothing left to lead from. know, leading yourself first is not selfish. It's really stewardship. It's how you sustain the kind of leadership that actually serves the people depending on you. What does your soul need this week that you've been putting off? So let's pray. God, I want to lead well, but I know that that starts with letting you lead me. And I'll be honest, I haven't always made room for that. I've been giving out more than I've been taking in. But today, help me to let you be my shepherd, to lie down in the green pastures you provide instead of just running through them. to sit beside the quiet waters instead of just passing by and ignoring them. Refresh my soul and then guide me. Guide me along the right paths for your name's sake in that order because I can't give what I don't have. So fill me up today, Lord. In Jesus name I pray, amen. Go make today count.