How to Be a Successful Leader

Notes: How to Be a Successful Leader
Greg Laurie
Nehemiah: The Rebuilt Life
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Nehemiah 1

The mass shooting in Las Vegas was last week. We need to turn to the Lord.

“Houston, we have a problem.” Are the most famous words in space travel.

Somethings are beyond our ability to fix. The people of Jerusalem were in that scenario. Nehemiah showed up in Jerusalem at that point.

Sometimes we don’t want to know about needs somewhere else because information may bring obligation.

It was like any other day when Nehemiah asked about Jerusalem. Once he heard, he decided to take action.

You can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

Nehemiah learned that Jerusalem and its walls were destroyed.

Walls and gates were the place of power; they were a symbol.

The family is a “wall”of our nation. A family can survive without a nation, but. A nation can not survive without the family.

You can not lighten the load in someone else’s life until you felt the pressure in your own.

1. A good leader is first a good follower and acknowledges their need for God.

Nehemiah 1:5 NLT
[5] Then I said, "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,


God is bigger than your problem.

2. Nehemiah, a good leader, reminded God of His promises.

3. Good leaders know they don’t have all the answers, and confess their sins.

Nehemiah 1:6-7 NLT
[6] listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! [7] We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.

If you want God to answer your prayers, you have to be part of the answer.

Whenever you face walls in your life are falling down, the first place to go is God.

4. Nehemiah, a great leader, was specific in his request to God.

Nehemiah 1:11 NLT
[11] O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me." In those days I was the king's cup-bearer.

There is a place for the spiritual as well as the practical.

To be a disciple:
1. It’s not about me, it’s about God’s glory.

2. We take up the cross.

3. We handle the title deed of our lives over to God.

Nehemiah 2:1-6 NLT
[1] Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. [2] So the king asked me, "Why are you looking so sad? You don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled." Then I was terrified, [3] but I replied, "Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire." [4] The king asked, "Well, how can I help you?" With a prayer to the God of heaven, [5] I replied, "If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried." [6] The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, "How long will you be gone? When will you return?" After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.

5. Nehemiah spent more time praying than he did building.

Timing is important. Most of us want things now!

Waiting is an alien concept in a culture of immediate gratification.

6. There is a time to pray; then there is a time to move.

Nehemiah 2:7-8 NLT
[7] I also said to the king, "If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah. [8] And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself." And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.

Nehemiah knew what he needed and knew what to ask for.

Nehemiah 2:18 NLT
[18] Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, "Yes, let's rebuild the wall!" So they began the good work.

Exodus 14:15-16 NLT
[15] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! [16] Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

There is a time to stop praying and start doing.

Nehemiah 2:11-13 NLT
[11] So I arrived in Jerusalem. Three days later, [12] I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding. [13] After dark I went out through the Valley Gate, past the Jackal's Well, and over to the Dung Gate to inspect the broken walls and burned gates.

7. Leaders take initiative and risks for God’s glory 

Nehemiah 2:17-18 NLT
[17] But now I said to them, "You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!" [18] Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, "Yes, let's rebuild the wall!" So they began the good work.

The people had been discouraged, then Nehemiah showed up with a plan.

8. Leaders will face opposition.

Nehemiah 2:19 NLT
[19] But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed contemptuously. "What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" they asked.

Opposition comes when you do the will of God.

“There is no winning without warfare, no opportunity without opposition, no victory without vigilance.” - Alan Redpath

Proverbs 24:30-31 NLT
[30] I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense. [31] I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.

Sometimes a good thing can become a bad thing if it keeps us from the best thing.

Do you have a relationship with God?

Are you ready to go to Heaven today?