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PROGRAM D-8352
Sometimes we Christians like to see ourselves as disadvantaged in our workday worlds. We can get a bit paranoid about being picked on, isolated, or laughed at. But the truth is this: As believers we have an immense advantage over non-believers in our work worlds because we have a secret weapon—prayer.
I’ve shared how our days go better when we start them with prayer. Here’s another important benefit prayer affords us:
You have a way to deal with crises.
As a believer, you can send up prayer to the Lord—all day long, silently, and quickly. So when anything unusual arises, when any problem surfaces, or something is not going the way it should, you have this ever-present resource for help and guidance. This is one of your greatest benefits as a believer.
When you face a crisis or some great need, you can pray right then and there, and God will guide you, comfort you, and rescue you. Have you tried it on the job? Did you think God’s arm was too short to save you in a job-related problem? Never!
When you don’t know the answer to a predicament, pray. When you’re faced with a task that seems too large, pray. When you can’t figure out what you should or should not do, pray. When it looks like things are going down the tubes, pray. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). The Lord is waiting to hear from you and deliver you out of your trouble.
Now, I want to make it clear that prayer is not a magic wand we wave to demand God’s help. Prayer is not a method for persuading God to do what we want him to do. Prayer is the way we get in line with what God wants to do in any given situation. It is the way God changes us. It is the way we relinquish our worries and cares, and allow God to be God in our lives.
Remember this: When you pray, you must pray in the name of Jesus. This means that everything you pray is for the purpose of bringing glory to God and to his wonderful name. We don’t use prayer as our escape mechanism, but we pray so that glory will come to God through every part of our lives.