Pray More & More Intentionally: Christian Business & Faith Integration

by Dave Kahle

How Do I Integrate My Christian Faith With Day-To-Day Christian Business Practices?

Part 1 – Pray More & Pray More Intentionally

This is a question that lurks in the deeper reaches of almost every Christian business person’s mind. The answer isn’t simple, and it varies from time to time and place to place. In an effort to shed some light on it, I’m going to do a short series of posts on it. This is the first.

The Christian life is a journey and we focus one step at a time. It’s like walking through a forest at night, with just a small flashlight to light your way. You can’t see more than a few feet ahead, and the light illuminates only the next few steps.

That analogy provides us with a perspective on the question. The answer to the question today may be different than it will be just a bit down the road. Because our circumstances vary, the opportunities and relationships that we have today will be different than what we encounter further down the path. So, the specific answers to that question in some part, depend on the details of the situation in which you find yourself. What’s important is that you keep asking the question. Today’s answer is just today’s answer, and not necessarily a lifetime prescription.

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Knowledge, Principles, Practices

Having said that, there is a body of knowledge about some principles and practices that extend beyond the specific details of our current situation. These are principles and practices that apply regardless of the circumstances.

The first of those is this: Pray more and pray more intentionally. In other words, intentionally add depth and breadth to your prayer practices.

First, let’s establish a couple of Biblical principles upon which this practice is based.

1. We are commanded to pray for everything.

Philippians 4:6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Does “everything” include our careers and businesses, the multitude of decisions we must make, the relationships that occupy us, and the never-ending list of tasks to be accomplished? Of course. “Everything” means just that.

There is a horribly debilitating idea that is, unfortunately, quite commonly held; that God doesn’t want us to pray for our careers and businesses. This mistaken mindset reserves our prayers for our families and sanctioned “church work.” It is OK to pray for a missionary your church supports, for example, but a bit gauche to pray for that big sale on which you are working. You can pray that you find a new youth pastor, but not that you find a new administrative assistant.

Those ideas must be some of Satan’s greatest lies. By getting Christian business people to believe them, he has successfully removed a major sphere of activity from being God-influenced. He must chuckle to himself everything he sees someone who could be praying about a business issue and doesn’t.

Prayer is how we invite God into aspects of our lives... READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.