The Secret To Vision Accomplishment

William Carey was once reproached for spending so much time in prayer that he neglected his business. He replied that supplication, thanksgiving, and intercession were much more important in his life than laying up treasures on earth. “Prayer is my real business!” he said. “Cobbling shoes is a sideline; it just helps me pay expenses.”
The Lord honored Carey’s vigorous faith, for he became a renowned missionary and was mightily used by God in India, Burma, and the East Indies.

Neh. 1:5-6 (NKJV)
And I said: "I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, [6] please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned.

Neh. 1:8 (NKJV)
Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;

Neh. 1:11 (NKJV)
O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." For I was the king's cupbearer.

Neh. 2:4 (NKJV)
Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Neh. 4:9 (NKJV)
Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

See while we plan calendars, programs, seminars, and other things to accomplish the vision of the church. Nehemiah before planning, preparing, and positioning himself for the work of rebuilding walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah made prayer a high priority.

I believe the secret to vision accomplishment (and that is how much of the vision we’re able to accomplish) lies not in our plans and programs but in our prayer life.

As a church, and people, we are to join God’s vision not to have God join our plans. How do we join into God’s vision for what he wants to do in the church? We need to join God’s vision by making sure prayer is high priority in the church and in our every day life.

Theodore Monod was once telling a little friend about Christ healing blind Bartimaeus. (Mark 10:46-52) “And what,” said he to the boy, “would you have asked from Jesus if you had been blind?” “Oh,” said the child, with glowing face and kindling eyes, “I should have asked him for a nice little dog with a collar and chain, to lead me about.”

How often do we ask for the blind man’s dog instead of the seeing man’s eyes?

What should be the content of our prayers to accomplish the vision set for the church?

I. Pray for Others – Ch.1:5-11

Point: We cannot forget people. In other words, it takes people to get work done.

II. Pray for Opportunity – Ch. 2:1-5

Point: As we join God in His vision we need to pray for opportunities to impact the world.

III. Pray for Organization – Ch. 3

Point: We need to pray that the right people are in the right spots.

IV. Pray for Opposition – Ch. 4 (key v. 6)

Point: Pray for those who dare try and stop the vision from moving forward.

V. Pray for Openhandedness – Ch. 5

Point: Vision costs!!!!!!

VI. Pray for our Successes – Ch. 6:15-19

Point: We can’t allow our success to cause us to slack in our work. For every work that is done there is still more work to do.