Nehemiah 2: 17; 20 ““Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach……….The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build.”

Nehemiah is recognized as one of God’s greatest leaders in all of Scripture and history. There are several defining elements of his leadership. These include a commitment to prayer in every decision and challenge, a strong and courageous behavior as an active leader, a man of vision with a plan and purpose, an unselfish leader who didn’t care who got the credit, a leader who didn’t back down to enemies of what God had called him to do, a leader who understood his own role and God’s role in working together and a leader who understood the importance of teamwork for a common goal. He recognized that the team was not “I” but was “us” and “we” together. Nehemiah never got in a hurry and asked God to favor his leadership in advance, to protect him and his team, to provide for spiritual and material needs and to give him wisdom in all his leadership decisions. Nehemiah also did one more important thing as the team leader. He always stopped to give praise and thanks to God for his blessings and promises.

I have studied the leadership of Nehemiah over the years and tried to apply his example and principles in all areas of my life. These principles are applicable in our personal lives, our homes, our work, our churches and our communities. Do you lead by the example of Nehemiah and live out a teamwork environment in each area? Development of your team members and your family members should follow the pattern of Nehemiah. Every team must have a leader who sets the tone and actions of the whole team. It is clear that team spirit starts at the top and team members will follow that lead. We must recognize that God’s Word and prayer must be incorporated into daily leadership like Nehemiah. Team members need and want to be led and shown the way to go and it’s the leader’s responsibility to actively carry this out. One of the greatest responsibilities in leadership is for the leader to develop other leaders. Are you developing your team and family members to be leaders? If not, you should assess why not and begin to do it. Their future may well depend on it. In looking at the leadership of Nehemiah, I see one more very important characteristic: “That which does not begin in prayer, does not usually end in praise.”