W-1616

Part II

A weapon in the workplace—those are inflammatory and politically incorrect words to use these days. Unfortunately we’ve heard too many stories of how people have used guns in the workplace to take out their revenge on others.  But let me assure you, the weapon I am talking about will never cause any harm, but will indeed bring a very positive influence into your job environment.

That weapon is prayer, and when we are born from above, we have this incredible privilege to take every situation to our heavenly Father in prayer, and he has promised us that through prayer, we will be able to be victorious even on our jobs.

In 2 Corinthians 10:4 we are told that, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” I reminded you of some of the marvelous advantages we have on our jobs because of the power of prayer.  When we start our days with prayer, everything about that day goes better.  Prayer gives us an effective way to deal with crises during the day, and we have much greater ability to deal with difficult people because of prayer.

Now here are some other great advantages that we have because of the power of prayer.

Advantage: You can be positive in a negative world.

While everyone else around you is griping and complaining all the time, you can remain positive and joyful because each day you can pray for God to control your thoughts. Every time you start to think or say something in negative mode, to complain about the company or the boss or a coworker, stop in the middle of that thought or sentence and turn it into a prayer.  Instead of wallowing in the self-pity and negativity of the moment, you have the advantage of staying positive and joyful regardless of the circumstances.

Advantage: You can be peaceful instead of stressed-out.

Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

Because we have this invitation to present every anxious situation to God in prayer, we don’t have to be stressed out even when others are falling apart around us. Isn’t that an incredible benefit?

Are you taking advantage of giving over all your anxiety to the Lord? I hope you’re not trying to carry that burden yourself.  Jesus is ready to take your heavy burden and give you a light one, as soon as you present your situation to God in prayer.

And when you do, the stress of the situation goes away. People pay tons of money to try to get rid of stress, and we have the secret weapon ready to be used at any time—prayer!

Advantage: Your job can be transformed into a ministry.

The Bible teaches us that we can do everything we do to the glory of Jesus Christ. So, even those mundane, perhaps boring elements of your job, those things that don’t appear to have any eternal significance, can be transformed into meaningful activity through prayer.

Here’s how that works. You begin praying about every aspect of your job and every person you deal with in your job.  You ask God to bring glory to himself through your performance on your job.  As you face each individual day, you pray for the agenda for that day, praying that you will be a good ambassador for Jesus Christ throughout the whole day.  You ask God to use your words, your body language, the quality of your work effort, your attitude, and all your interactions with people as lights in a dark world.

When you start praying like that on a daily basis, you will discover that God begins to use you in ways you can’t even imagine. People will ask you the most incredible questions that give you opportunities to share your faith.  Others in need of comfort will talk to you, as you listen and show compassion.  You’ll discover that mundane activity turns into meaningful conversations or quiet prayer meetings with you and the Lord.

Then instead of dreading that job, or wishing you didn’t have to work there, you’ll begin to realize that God has a higher purpose for putting you there, and instead of just going to work every day, you’re going to a place of service, a ministry in the midst of the marketplace. Now, that makes it much easier to go to work each day.  And it all begins with daily, on-going prayer on the job.  It’s an advantage beyond belief.  Don’t let it pass you by!

It’s little wonder that our enemy does everything possible to keep us from praying very much, because he is fully aware of the great advantage we have through prayer. The power of heaven is unleashed in our world through prayer.  The blessings of God are showered on us through prayer.  The wisdom and guidance we need so often to make good decisions can be found in prayer.  The comfort and assurance that keep us going come through prayer.  It’s our secret weapon and our great advantage.  What a shame when we don’t use it like we should.

Do you pray enough? I can imagine that many of you are, like me, shaking your head “no.”  Why don’t we pray more when it offers us such advantages?  Well, many times it’s because we just don’t know how to pray.  Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, and we need to learn to pray as well.

In fact, the format for prayer which Jesus gave us should be our master plan for praying. We call it The Lord’s Prayer, and you’ll find it in Matthew 6 and Luke 11.  Our prayers should follow that design, since Jesus gave it to us, and very simply, it teaches us to:

  • Begin with praise – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”.
  • Followed by commitment – “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
  • Then comes petition – “Give us today our daily bread.”
  • And then confession and forgiveness – “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
  • Closing with a plea for help and strength – “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”

I’ve been using a prayer journal for many years now and have found it extremely helpful in my prayer life. It is structured according to The Lord’s Prayer, and it includes many helpful suggestions for your prayer time.  We now publish this prayer journal as many have found it a great help in getting their prayer life off the ground.  If you’re struggling to learn how to pray, I recommend it to you.

One of the things I emphasize in this prayer journal is the power of praying scripture. There are many ways to pray scripture into your life, but one of the most effective is to write in your journal what God speaks to you through his word, and then pray it regularly.

For example, I have been praying Romans 12:1 – 2 for years, like this: “Lord, today I present my body to you as a living sacrifice. May it be holy and acceptable to you today, which is your reasonable service. May I not be conformed to this world today, Lord, but please transform me by renewing my mind so that I can prove what is your good and acceptable will in my life today.”

When prayed with sincerity, that is a life-changing prayer.

You’ll be encouraged, I believe, by this prayer journal, as it will help you structure your prayer time more biblically.

Don’t forget – you have a powerful weapon at your disposal, a great advantage for facing any and all of life’s struggles and challenges because you are allowed to take everything in prayer to the throne of grace, to our great God, where you will find grace and mercy to help you in your time of need. That is God’s promise to us. Take advantage of it.