Four Marks of a Spiritual Leader

“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, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me
praying night and day for your people Israel.”
Nehemiah 1:5–6

Nehemiah, touched by the need of his people, “sat down and wept and mourned” and “was fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4 NASB). In Nehemiah 1:4–11, I find four very significant factors that characterise the lives of competent, spiritual leaders.

1. A leader has a clear recognition of the needs. The beginning of 1:4 reads, “When I heard these words” (NASB). Nehemiah wasn’t preoccupied; he didn’t live in a dream world, isolated from reality. He asked, “What’s the condition?” They replied, “It’s a miserable situation.” He heard what they said. You may think recognising needs is an elementary concept, especially for leaders. But I have met many people in responsible leadership positions who never seem to see the problems they ought to be solving.
2. A leader is personally concerned with the needs. Nehemiah went a step beyond recognition of the problem. He not only heard these matters, but he sat down and identified with them. Alan Redpath once wrote: “Let us learn this lesson from Nehemiah: you never lighten the load unless first you have felt the pressure in your own soul.”1
3. A serious leader goes first to God with the need. In 1:5 we hear Nehemiah say, “I beseech Thee, O Lord God of heaven” (NASB). He prayed. What is your first response when a need comes to your attention? Your people problem, whatever it may be, will not be completely solved until you take it to God in prayer. Prayer, I repeat, is absolutely essential in the life of a leader.
4. A leader is available to meet the need himself. Nehemiah recognised the need clearly. He got involved in it. He took it to God. Now he was available to meet the need, if that was what God desired. A genuine leader is marked by diligent faithfulness in the midst of a wall. And that faithfulness is more than passive inclination. It is demonstrated by being available and personally involved in meeting needs. There is not much benefit in leadership by proxy.