Spiritual Life Skills for Any WorkplaceSýnishorn

When you sincerely and fervently pray for someone, your love and compassion for them deepens and grows stronger. If you want to be a spiritual leader, realize you have the responsibility to pray for the people who work with you. Spiritual leaders grow in their love for others by praying for ways to love them. This is a simple but profound way to become a better leader: engage with those you lead by praying for them!

When I don’t take the time to care and pray for other people, my entire focus tends to be on their imperfections. But with that kind of focus, I can’t have much impact on their lives. Seeing their imperfections as an opportunity to love Jesus through them, though, makes all the difference.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells His disciples that, when He is again in heaven, He will separate people like sheep on His right and goats on His left. To the sheep He’ll say, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (verses 35-36). And when, confused, the people ask when they did those things for Him, He’ll tell them, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (verse 40). 

His conclusion is stunning: those who care for others in practical ways care for Jesus—and they will be blessed. Our acts for “the least of these” show our love for Jesus because we see Jesus in them. Seeing Jesus in others changes the way we view them—no longer as distractions or problems or interruptions but as human beings deserving of our love and care. What we do for others is a direct reflection of how much love we have for Jesus. If we decide to love other people the way we love Jesus, we’ll see them through new eyes—eyes of love. Real love sees Jesus in others.

Perhaps more than anything, prayer is what helps me cross the bridge from annoyance to love. It’s not uncommon for me to catch myself thinking poorly about another person, and sometimes I even get angry with someone for their insensitivity toward me or someone I love. But when I start to pray for them, the anger and annoyance begin to melt away. I often begin to see the bigger picture—how their hurts have caused them to act the way they do—and then I can pray for the healing of those hurts rather than stewing on how I think they’ve offended me.

Prayer is a game changer. It helps me let go of my hang-ups and lift up others’ needs. When I pray for people who are hard to love, it becomes hard not to love them!