How’s Your Work Ethic? – Part 1
Then he prayed, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Genesis 24:12
We seldom know ahead of time the full significance of what we do or don’t do in our work. The Bible simply says, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might’ (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Judaism, Christianity and Islam all trace their roots to Abraham. Abraham was ‘…now old and well advanced in years’ (Genesis 24:1). So he realized the time had come to find a wife for his son Isaac. Since there were no Internet dating services in those days, he assigned the task to his ‘chief servant,’ Eliezer. The servant set out with a caravan of ten camels to the region Abraham had directed him. Finding a wife for your boss’s son was an important assignment that required considerable thought. Certainly, it isn’t a job you’d want to fail at. So the servant began his work with a prayer: ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today.’ Do you ever pray and ask God to make your work successful? People sometimes wonder if it’s okay to pray for your work to be successful. Of course! Now, if success is becoming your God, you will have to find a way to dethrone it. But generally speaking, if you can’t pray for the success of what you’re doing, you should start doing something else! Any good parent wants their child to succeed. Any wise employer wants their workers to succeed, because when they succeed the company succeeds. Here’s what God told His people: ‘Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do’ (Deuteronomy 29:9).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I commit my work to Your will – help me to be successful in doing Your will. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Yes, praying and asking Jesus to guide my day and help me to do the most important things really worked. Back when I worked as an Automotive Engineer, I saw that I was the most productive person on my team. Jesus helped me to not be overwhelmed by the 40+ things I needed to keep moving forward. Other people would get baffled because with so much to do, it’s hard to decide. So I prayed each morning, and when Jesus brought something to my mind, I worked on that. Sometimes it took 15 minutes to find out where the test was at, sometimes it took 4 hours. But I had a confidence that it was the right thing to do.