Choosing a Winning Apostolic Team - Part I
by Dr. John Tetsola

Choosing a winning apostolic team member does not come easily. It involves a lot of time and effort, and must be done carefully and prayerfully. Often, many leaders have made grievous mistakes in choosing a winning team due to their failure to understand the process of choosing men for the work of God. This inability has brought destruction to many apostolic teams in churches.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart).

Proverbs 16:2 AMP

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

I Corinthians 4:5

There is one crucial thing you must do when choosing men on a team that wins. First and foremost is the importance of prayer in the choices we make. This was Jesus’ first and foremost way in going about His choice. The heart, intention, and motives of men are never known by other men. They are only known by God. People may come into our lives with wrong motives and agendas that only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us. Prayer enables a leader to wait on God’s direction so that the heart and motive of people can be revealed. Prayer doesn’t necessarily insulate a leader completely from the betrayal and disappointment of a broken heart, but it helps to reduce the pain of wrong choices. In addition to prayer, Jesus never judged anything before time. He was always in sync with the Father’s leading. The Scripture commands us in 1 Corinthians 4:5 never to judge anything before time, but instead to wait on the Lord Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and manifest the true counsels of a man’s heart. How Jesus chose His leaders who were later known as His disciples is an example to us.

Now in those days it occurred that He went up into a mountain to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God.

And when it was day, He summoned His disciples and selected from them twelve, whom He named apostles (special messengers)

Luke 6:12-13 AMP

Jesus was never hasty in His choices. Even though He is the Son of God, Jesus showed us a pattern by praying all night to choose His disciples. It was a process He never took for granted. Jesus knew the future roles these men would play concerning the purposes of God. His selection process was not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. It wasn’t based on how they looked, how they spoke, how much money they had, who they knew, or the color of their skin. I believe it was based on His vision and assignment for mankind. Even though they may not have been the best choice from a physical standpoint, they were God’s choice for Jesus. Jesus’ winning team was birthed from prayer. If Jesus spent all night praying before choosing His team, we ought to do the same.