1. INNER LIFE OF A LEADER Dr Ojuka

2. INTRODUCTION In his book, Celebration of Disciplines, Foster opens with this words Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. Shallow messaging is everywhere, from Andre Agassi’s “image is everything” to the commonly bandied about “fake it ‘til you make it”. Macdonald in his book” Ordering your private world” brings the distinction between our public world, seen by all, and our private world, deep within the crevices of our soul. If we live long enough, our private world will either undermine or undergird our public world. Any image can be maintained temporarily, but a shallow private world will eventually be shown for what it is.

3. THE CALL TO LEADERSHIP 1 Peter 5: 1-4 Not because you must- willingness Not for personal gain-eager to serve Not for power- role model

4. ROLE MODEL Depends more on character than charisma. Charisma will pull people but retention requires character. Development of character depends on spiritual discipline “...it’s important to be true to your word, to be the very best you can be, and be a living example of the ideals you espouse. When all of the world is a stage, we tend to be on our best behaviour. While gifted young leaders may be early stand-outs, if they neglect their private world, they will be passed over later in life by others who have refined their abilities and disciplines out of necessity.

5. MOVING DEEPER Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm. They urge us to be the answer to a hollow world. John Woolman counsels, “It is good for thee to dwell deep, that thou may feel and understand the spirits of people.

6. IF MY PRIVATE LIFE IS ORDERED IT BECAUSE I am convinced that the inner world of the spiritual must govern the outer world or activity. I make a daily choice to monitor its state of orderliness. I recognize my proneness to operate according to schemes and patterns not made of God but fashioned by a disordered past. I see myself as Christ’s steward and not as master of my purpose, my role, and my identity.

7. IF MY PRIVATE LIFE IS ORDERED IT BECAUSE I have made a daily determination to see time as God’s gift and worthy of careful investment. I have begun to seal the “time leaks” and allocate my productive hours in the light of my capabilities, my limits, and my priorities. I have determined that every day will be for me a day of growth in knowledge and wisdom. I have chosen to press Sabbath peace into the rush and routine of my daily life in order to find the rest God prescribed for Himself and all of humanity.

8. TRANSFORMING OUR CHARACTER Philippians 2:12 Our role; God’s role God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us. The apostle Paul says, “he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8).

9. TRANSFORMING OUR CHARACTER In The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes it clear that grace is free, but it is not cheap. The grace of God is unearned and unearnable, but if we ever expect to grow in grace, we must pay the price of a consciously chosen course of action which involves both individual and group life. Spiritual growth is the purpose of the Disciplines. But we must avoid turning them into law, because they are not an end in themselves.

10. THE INWARD DISCIPLINES Meditation : Isaac Gen 24;64: contemplating on God’s word, contemplative prayers. Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father. Martin Luther declares, “I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” He held it as a spiritual axiom that “He that has prayed well has studied well.” John Wesley says, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer,”

11. INWARD DISCIPLINES Fasting : Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it. Wesley Study: The apostle Paul tells us that we are transformed through the renewal of the mind (Rom. 12:2). The mind is renewed by applying it to those things that will transform it. “

12. OUTWARD DISCIPLINES Simplicity :  When we are truly in this interior simplicity our whole appearance is franker, more natural. This true simplicity…makes us conscious of a certain openness, gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity, which is charming when we see it near to and continually, with pure eyes. O, how amiable this simplicity is! Who will give it to me? I leave all for this. It is the Pearl of the Gospel.—FRANÇOIS FÉNELON Simplicity is freedom. Duplicity is bondage. Simplicity brings joy and balance. Duplicity brings anxiety and fear. The preacher of Ecclesiastes observes that “God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising” (Eccles. 7:30, JB).

13. OUTWARD DISCIPLINES Solitude : But if we possess inward solitude we do not fear being alone, for we know that we are not alone. Neither do we fear being with others, for they do not control us. In the midst of noise and confusion we are settled. Submission: It is the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way. The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today. Service: True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside. We serve out of whispered promptings, divine urgings.

14. CORPORATE DISCIPLINES Confession Worship Guidance Celebration

15. TIME MANAGEMENT Unseized time flows toward my weaknesses Unseized time comes under the influence of dominant people in my world Unseized time surrenders to the demands of all emergencies Unseized time gets invested in things that gain public acclamation

16. TIME MANAGEMENT High UrgencyLow urgency High ImportanceDo it Deadline projects Crisis management QUADRANT OF DEMAND Schedule it Planning prevention Learning Relationship building QUADRANT OF THE ZONE Low in importanceDelegate Popular activities Interruptions Pressing matters without impact QUADRANT OF ILLUSION Private calls Internet surfing Pleasant activities QUADRANT OF ESCAPE

17. SUMMARY Let me finish with thoughts from Os Guiness Book “The Call”. Need to think of our call as a call first and foremost to a person Secondary call is important only so far as we remain true to the primary call.