Praying for your workday and for two people
Between the moment you arrive and the moment you leave, you often spend more time with your colleagues or classmates than with your own family. This place is a mission field in its own right. This quest offers you a simple gesture before you begin: praying for your workday or studies, and for two people you will meet.
What it looks like in your day
In the morning, or when you arrive, take two minutes. Three stages:
- For your day. What awaits you: the tasks, the meetings, the deadlines. “Lord, this day is yours. Help me do well what I have to do.”
- For a first person. Choose someone specific: a colleague you like, or who is going through a hard time. Say their name and ask for one thing: “Give Sophie some rest, she looks exhausted.”
- For a second person. If possible, someone with whom the relationship is less simple: a superior, a tense colleague, a demanding client. “Bless Marc, help me understand him and work with him.”
In one week, you will have prayed for ten people. In a month, for your whole team. You will see your view of them change: you will see them as people, not just as roles.
If you are unemployed, pray for your search and for two people who are helping you. If you are a stay-at-home parent, your “workday” is yours: pray for it and for two people in your daily life. If you are a student, pray for your classes, your classmates and your teachers.
If you are short on time, one sentence for each person is enough. If you are shy, this prayer is discreet. If you work remotely, think of the people on your team.
What the Bible says
From the very beginning, work is presented as a gift:
“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
“To dress it and to keep it”: before the fall, man has a task. Work is not a punishment, it is a way of collaborating with God in the care of the world. Paul invites the Thessalonians to a dignified way of working:
“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.”
Notice the goal: honest conduct toward those who are outside. Your behavior at work is watched by those who don't believe. It can speak about God without words. Paul also asks believers to work “heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), and to pray for everyone (1 Timothy 2:1), including those who lead us.
Pitfalls to avoid
Praying without acting. Praying for your day doesn't excuse you from working well. Prayer and work go together.
Praying against someone. “Lord, change my boss” is a prayer to avoid. Ask for good for them, and wisdom for you.
Using it as a tool. Don't pray for your colleagues solely in order to convert them. Pray because you love them.
Forgetting those out of sight. Think also of those who are rarely noticed: the cleaner, the intern, the delivery person, the assistant.
Telling everyone you pray for them. Be discreet. If the occasion arises (a trial, a request), you can say so, with tact.
Tomorrow morning, before you start, pray for your day and name two people before God.