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What is your greatest advantage as a Christian in the workplace? You may be scratching your head, trying to think if you have an advantage. I want to assure you that you do, and that advantage is prayer.
Advantage: You can deal with difficult people much better.
Most of our frustrations are caused by people—right? So, what do you do when you’re dealing with a difficult coworker or boss or customer? Well, because we have the power of prayer as believers, we have an amazing advantage when it comes to dealing with people, even difficult ones.
First, you want to pray for all the people in your work world regularly. Ask God to help you see those people the way he sees them. Call them by name and specifically pray for each of them as much as possible.
Then, ask for wisdom on how to deal with the difficult relationships. Got a boss that seems impossible? Have you ever asked God to show you how to handle that boss? Or do you just gripe and complain about the boss? That won’t do any good, but prayer changes people! Whether it changes you or your boss or both, you’ll find it much easier to deal with a difficult boss when you devote daily prayer to that person.
“A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will appease it” (Proverbs 16:14).
A king represents those in authority over us, and when you have a difficult boss, one who gives messages of death, if you are wise, you can appease that boss.
How can you be wise?
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
You can have the advantage of godly wisdom in knowing how to deal with difficult people. God’s wisdom is better than an advanced degree is business!
I’ve been praying James 1:5 for years, recognizing my great need for wisdom in all areas. It began to dawn on me not long ago that I had made some pretty wise decisions, which didn’t really seem like me at all. Then I thought, “Well, of course; you’ve been asking God for wisdom, and he has answered your prayer.” It’s a great advantage to be able to pray for God’s wisdom.