How To Be A Christian At Your Work – Part 2 Of 2Δείγμα

This 6-day study plan uncovers the second of two key ideas to help us live as a Christian at our work. 

The first idea, covered in Part 1 of the series “How to be a Christian at Work” , was this:  

          Just be NICER.

The concept of being NICER focused on character – now we add a second key idea to being a Christian at work with an external focus:  

          BLESS others.

As before, there’s a key idea behind each letter of the word B-L-E-S-S for us to discover. 

Today, we dig in and look at the letter “B” which stands for “Begin with prayer”, just like Jesus did when he was here on earth.

Let’s start by looking at Jesus’ prayer at the beginning of his ministry – when he was just putting together his team.

In Luke 6:12-16, we see that Jesus went away one day to pray – and when morning came, he was ready to choose his disciples. Although he was the son of God, Jesus still prayed all night about who to put on his team.

Many of us may face similar decisions at our work – who to recruit or work with, who to sell to, how to finish a project, etc. – but it isn’t our usual habit to pray through these decisions, is it? 

More often than not, we make these decisions just as a normal part of our work, with little thought to bringing them to God in prayer – and certainly not to pray about them all night long!

Mark 1:32-37 provides another example of Jesus going off to pray, before starting what appears to be his second day of active ministry. In this case, Jesus is just launching his ministry time and he’s disappeared from the scene – nobody even knows where to find him!

Prayer was so important to Jesus that he just had to make time for it.

Jesus prepared for big decisions and started his day with prayer. Shouldn’t we also support our decisions and start our day with prayer? Certainly, we’re no smarter than Jesus or better connected to God when it comes to decision-making, are we?

Trying to BLESS those around you at work will turn out better when you begin your day, your meetings, your project, and your work itself with prayer.

And, as you pray, you should expect to hear back from God, receiving the assurance that you can trust Him to help you at your point of need, right when you act to BLESS others. Check Proverbs 3:5-6 on this.

These verses in Proverbs are so rich that they are worth an entire study plan of their own. So when you read the Bible passages for today’s devotion, read the verses from Proverbs to yourself several times over and over, and read them OUT LOUD. 

Then, consider what God’s word is saying to you.

PRAYER

Lord, so very often I just work through my day – doing things and making decisions – and rarely even think about praying over them. Forgive me for going my own way and not involving you. Help me to pray more regularly and throughout each and every working day. Amen.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

When was the last time you prayed over a decision related to your daily work? 

Can you see how the insights gained from work-related prayer might be helpful?

Try starting your day with prayer, but also say a short prayer before every meeting or customer interaction this week and see God does.