2d • Lessons Learned
Leadership In Practice: Money & Prayer
Leadership in Practice: Facing Payroll with Empty Pockets
It was the mid-1980s, and our nonprofit was in trouble.Payroll was due in just a few days, and the math was simple: we didn’t have enough.
For a young leader, it felt like a nightmare scenario. Staff were looking to me for answers. I was looking at the books and seeing red. And the enemy was whispering, “This is the end. You’re not cut out for this.”
But here’s what we did:
1. We gathered the team for prayer.Not a panicked scramble. Not a strategy session with flip charts. Just honest, humble prayer. We named the need, reminded ourselves of God’s promises, and asked Him to make a way.
2. I picked up the phone and called three donors personally.
No mass mailings.
No polished campaign.
Just a leader, voice-to-voice, sharing the urgency and the vision.
I told them plainly: “We have payroll coming, and we need help.”
3. We trusted Philippians 4:19 over panic.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
That wasn’t a platitude. In that moment, it was oxygen.
By Friday, something remarkable happened. Not only was payroll covered, but one of those donors stepped up as a monthly supporter. What felt like a cliff turned into a foundation.
Looking back, here’s what that moment taught me about leading through financial crises:
✅ Pray first, act second. Strategy without surrender is just noise.
✅ Personal beats impersonal. People respond to relationship, not to form letters.
✅ Faith steadies leadership. Panic spreads, but faith calms and carries.
That week shaped how I’ve faced every financial shortfall since.The pressure may look different today — bigger budgets, bigger staff — but the principles remain the same.
Reflection for You:When you’ve faced a financial shortfall in your work, what carried you through — panic, or prayer?
Drop your experience below. Someone else in this community may need your story today.
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Leadership In Practice: Money & Prayer
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