"The Priority for Every Leader."

Your calendar can feel like a master, but it was never meant to replace your compass. We talk about the priority for every leader that keeps us grounded when the to do list is loud: intimate time alone with God. When we rush through prayer or treat Scripture like a box to check, we don’t just lose peace, we lose perspective. Tony Williams shares a personal early-morning moment where his mind was racing, his body felt driven, and God interrupted him with a simple command that changed everything.

We walk through what “time alone with God” looks like in real life: prayer, Bible reading, silence, and listening with a notebook and pen. Tony explains how Psalm 46:10, “Cease striving and know that I am God,” exposed the hidden cost of hurry for leaders. He connects that to Proverbs 3:5-6, showing how trusting God can redirect decision making, even when your instincts feel confident. One of the most practical takeaways is how quiet time can surface wisdom you miss when you lead on adrenaline.

We also explore the link between spiritual leadership and health. When stress pushes your mind ahead of your body, anxiety rises and clarity drops. Tony describes how slowing down brought a measurable shift: a lower heart rate, a settled mind, and “perfect peace” that made the day’s priorities clearer. We close with Matthew 6:33, seeking first God’s kingdom, and the call to lead, serve, and work from the overflow of a heart occupied by the Holy Spirit. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a leader who feels stretched thin, and leave a review so more people can find these leadership development insights.

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Transcript

Welcome And The Leader’s Priority

Tony 0:00

Greetings, my friends. Tony Williams here. Welcome to Cell D Summit Evergreen Leader Development Insights. I thank God for you. And God gave me an insight today that I want to share with you. It's called the Priority for Every Leader. The Priority for Every Leader. Do you sometimes have a list of things that you feel like you must get done this day? Things that you eagerly want to get to? And sometimes, if we're not careful, those lists of activities that we feel we must get done today crowd out the most important priority for every leader. That's time alone with God, listening to God, talking with God, and sharing with God what's on your heart and what's on your mind.

When Busy Lists Take Over

Tony 0:49

And then listening to what he says and with notebook and pen, write down what he's saying to you. Just this morning, I awoke around four o'clock, and I had so much on my mind. So I decided to get up. And I came to my usual spot where I have my time alone with the Lord, and I started to go through my the things that I normally do. I was reading my Bible, I was reflecting, but all along, now that I look back on it, there was sort of like a cloud of activities, things that I needed to get to, things that were vying for my attention, was over my head. And even as I was going through that, I was feeling a little bit uneasy

Cease Striving And Get Quiet

Tony 1:32

until it finally dawned on me that my focus wasn't entirely on my intimate relationship with God. And this is what I want to share with you. As a leader, the number one priority for every leader is intimate time alone with God. In prayer, reading the scriptures, notebook with pen, listening to God, talking about the activities that you are going to face that day, talking with God about the decisions that you have to face and make that day. When you do that, it changes your perspective. I noticed I was hurrying along with my time alone with the Lord. And I was uneasy, I was uncomfortable, almost to the point of feeling anxious or driven. Have you ever been that way where you kind of go through the motions, you read your Bible, you read a scripture, and you say, okay, now I can go to this. That is a strategy for defeat. And God pointed that out to me. He said to me, Tony, cease striving and know that I am God. Ooh, cease striving and know that I am God. In other words, slow down, Tony. Trust in me with all your heart. Don't lean to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge me, and I will make straight

A Decision Changes In Prayer

Tony 2:55

your path. I had some key decisions to make. And as I sat and really quieted my heart and focused and listened to God, he gave me a key insight on a decision that I needed to make. I was, as a matter of fact, going to make the opposite. But as I sat before the Lord, he showed me the wisest decision was the opposite of the way I was choosing to go. This is why he says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he'll make straight your path. Once I said, Yes, Lord, I agree. The decision that I was going to make is not the right decision. I choose to do it your way. Your body is all geared up and your mind is racing. I was thinking about things I was planning to do later this evening, and it's still 4, 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning. That's not good.

Stress Drops When God Leads

Tony 4:08

God wanted me to slow down, and this is why he took me to Psalm 46, verse 10. Cease striving and know that I am God. And as I sat there and I got quiet, my friends, my decisions, the activities that I needed to accomplish today, they started to fall into their proper priority. They were second. The number one priority was me just sitting quietly listening to God and writing down and reflecting on what he was saying to me. This is essential for every leader. We have to spend time. It's essential that we spend quality time alone with God, to listen to him, to share with him what we're going through, and to get his perspective and his wisdom and his insight on the direction we should go. We will become more effective leaders. The people that we serve and impact will be positively affected by it, and our companies will grow. You will flourish and prosper. And this is what God was saying to me, Tony, when you do it my way, when you trust within me with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge me, it will provide healing to your body and health to your bones. How can it provide healing to my body and health to my bones? As I was sharing with you earlier, when you're all focused on your to-do list, you your body and your mind seem to race ahead of you, and you haven't gone anywhere. But inside, all of these chemicals are being released in your body, and they're really overloading your organs and you're overloading your physical part of your body as well as your mindset. That's not good for your health. You can't function effectively that way. But when you slow down and let God speak to you, what I noticed, my heart rate lowered. I noticed I had a peace, a supernatural peace that came over me. And now I can see clearly the things that God wants me to accomplish today and the steps he wants me to take in accomplishing them, and I have perfect peace. He says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. So my friends, Matthew 6.33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. That was the core scripture that I wanted to share with you today.

Seek First And Lead From Overflow

Tony 6:40

But as I began to meditate and just get alone and quiet with the Lord, I came across a notation that I made in my journal in my Bible maybe ten years ago. And it said, Remember to live, serve, minister, write, speak, worship from the overflow of a heart surrendered and occupied by the Holy Spirit. Jesus in me, the hope of glory. So my friends, make God your number one priority. Listen to Him with all the key decisions you need to make, and let the Holy Spirit in you guide you and do everything first and foremost from the priority for every leader, seeking first the kingdom of God and allowing his Holy Spirit to overflow into everything we

Closing Prayer For Effective Leadership

Tony 7:30

do. And Father, I thank you. I thank you for giving me this insight and the opportunity to share it with my brothers and my sisters all around the world. Whenever and wherever they listen to this message, I pray that your Holy Spirit gives them precisely what they need to hear. And they will make effective decisions, and they will make you, their relationship with you, their priority. The priority of every leader. In Jesus' name. Amen.