Latest / Prayer Before Work / The Coworker You Keep Meaning to Pray For - Prayer Before Work
Transcript
- Sean Graver: You walk past the same desk every morning on your way to yours, and for half a second you think, I should really pray for her sometime. And then you're at your own desk already thinking about your first task of the day. Well, hey, this is Sean, and welcome back to Prayer Before Work. You know, that thought comes and goes so fast most days you barely notice it happening. Praying for coworkers sounds like something you'd do if you had more time or Or if you were maybe a little more spiritual person than you actually feel like most mornings. It ends up on the list of things you meant to do. But in 1 Timothy chapter 2, and verses 1 and 2, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy about this, and it's worth noticing who he's talking about. He writes, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. For kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life godly and dignified in every way. So Paul isn't talking about people we already love easily, he's talking about people in positions of authority and pressure, the kind of people who are easy to resent or complain about instead of pray for. Now, if Paul is telling people to pray for rulers they didn't choose, co-workers you didn't choose either are well within that same instruction. So here's something practical worth trying. Instead of the vague fleeting thought of I should pray for them, pick one actual name each morning before you sit down at your desk. not a whole list, just one. And pray something specific if you know something specific. Or something general if you don't, even just that they'd have a good day. Now, here's what tends to happen when you actually do this instead of just thinking about it. It's hard to stay annoyed at someone you're actively praying for. That coworker who irritates you becomes harder to resent once you've spent 30 seconds asking God to bless their day. Praying for people changes how you see them. Sometimes more than it changes anything about them. So let's pray now. Lord, we walk past people all day that we've never actually stopped to pray for, even though the thought crosses our mind. So bring names to our minds today and give us the discipline to actually follow through instead of just thinking about it. Change how we see the people we work with. Help us pray for them in a way that softens our own hearts towards them, whether or not anything else about the situation changes. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Go make today count.