Praying for Your Co-Workers, Family, and Friends

Praying for Your Co-Workers, Family, and Friends 

In the work of praying for those in our circle of influence, much has been said about praying from scripture. This being the truth, we must pray in God’s will (1 John 5:14) and in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). The best way to do this is by praying from scripture as led by the Holy Spirit. Here are some helps I have found from Paul and John on what to pray for.

First, off we must discern if our CFF (Co-worker, family, or friend) is saved. I changed from saying “judged” to “discern”. You can only judge from the outward evidence of fruit, discernment is the use of spiritual gifts to know the truth of something or someone. When discerning your CFF is indeed unsaved and lost, we may use Ephesians 1:15-18

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers
and asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, “(Ephesians 1:15-18 [BSBdraft]) Hear Episode 73

We must pray that they will have a supernatural “spirit of wisdom” and a “revelation” of knowledge of Christ. Their current state is that of being blinded by the god of this world. Pray that the bondage that is hindering them from seeing Christ, as He is, to be broken and that they would be free to decide for themselves to follow He.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. “ (II Corinthians 4:3-4 [BSBdraft]) Hear Episode 71

Next, pray that they would cease from doing wrong and walk as Christ walked.

“Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong” (II Corinthians 13:7-9 [BSBdraft]) Hear Episode 75

The next good thing to pray is that they would have a knowledge of God’s will for their lives and have supernatural wisdom (not worldly wisdom) and understanding of it. Which will lead to them walking worthy of Christ and being fruitful in everything they do, spiritually and secular.

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14 [BSBdraft] Hear Episode 76

Praying that the Lord would be glorified in their lives is very important to the life of a believer. This should be the chief aim of believers and would bring great fulfillment to them.

“To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. “(II Thessalonians 1:11-12 [BSBdraft] Hear Episode 77

And finally, pray that they would be successful in their lives. Not necessarily wealth of fruitfulness and success in Kingdom work. The following verse is used a lot in prosperity preaching, but I see that the work is properly interpreted as “success”. Although secular success is good, not over success in the work of the Kingdom of God. Just as we cause our soul, the intellect, emotions, and the eternal part of the whole person, is successful through the renewing of the mind, so we should be successful in our work for the Kingdom. Which includes our jobs, school, and family life.

“Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.” (III John 1:2 [BSBdraft]) Hear Episode 78

In conclusion, this is by no way the final word on this subject. The Word of God is full of instructions and wisdom for praying for our co-workers, family and friends. Dig deep to find out how the Spirit wishes for you to pray for those He loves and gave His life for.

Posted on the Marketplace Christian Resource Blog by Wayne Brooks June 27, 2021. The audio version coming soon on Podcast.

Bible quotations and versions come from the Xiphos Bible Software (Linux Mint)

Prayer For Your Co-Worker: Part One

Have you ever just had a small inkling to say a prayer for a co-worker. Maybe they were going through a bad time or you saw their life headed in the wrong direction. You had the desire but did not know how to start. In this series, I hope to share a little on how you can pray effectively for your co-workers and maybe family, friends, and others.

First off, you're going to have to play the judge. I know we are told “not to judge” and when you quote, “You will know them by their fruits”, you are told that God did not call you to be a fruit inspector. Although this is witty, it is not scriptural. Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37 tell us not to judge others but Jesus says in Matthew 7:16 and 20 that, “You will know them by their fruits” and “therefore by their fruits you will know them.” So which is it? I submit that Jesus is talking about people as trees. You will know a tree by the fruit it bears. He did not say you will know if the fruit is good or bad. We are to see the fruit and discern whether the people are saved or unsaved. Or for a better metaphor, are they partaking of the Tree of Life or the forbidden Tree of Knowledge? We are not to judge the fruit of service to God. That is His doing.

So why am I talking about judging? Our first action in praying for our co-worker is to discern spiritually if the co-worker is a Christ-follower (Saved, Born again, Christian or however you wish to say it). To know this gives you promises from God’s Word to use, and through the Word, know God’s will for the co-worker.

What is God’s will for your co-worker you may ask? In 1 Timothy 2:3, Paul says,
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” No matter what others say about there being a “predestined” people to be saved and others not, it is God’s will that all receive Him. He has no pleasure in the death of the godless. (Ezekiel 18:32)
If you are unable to discern if they are saved or unsaved, pray for their salvation. If you can’t tell if someone is a Christian then odds are they are not.

How do you start, realize you are in a battle for their soul. This sounds wild, but it is the truth. Not many preachers speak of demons and evil spirits but that does not mean they do not exist. The Bible is full of teachings on our enemy and that they will do anything to hinder someone from knowing Christ. Paul tells the Corinthians,
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
So without going into a deep discussion of spiritual warfare, we are to stand against this spirit that blinds the co-worker from seeing the truth and pray against it, and pray not only that they will see the truth, but believe it.

In the conclusion of part one, Discern their needs, their greatest need is to know Christ. Of course pray for any other needs in their life, and pray that they will see God’s hand at work in it.

Do You Feel Pinned to a Wall?

 

Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.
  5 He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
 6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”
 7 So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul to serve him as he had before.
 8 When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him.
 9 But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp,
  10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night.  Sam. 19:4-9

Sometimes we have people in our lives like co-workers, supervisors, even family that just don’t like us. It seems that no matter how hard we work and the good we do, they just don’t seem to care. In some cases they may try to under-mind us and what we do. 

Jesus spoke of Himself and John the Baptist in this way. No matter what the Pharisees and lawyers criticized them. Read Luke 31-35

31 “To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation? What are they like?
 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’  34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and of sinners!’

 In David and Saul’s situation, it was because of an “evil spirit”. We can say it wasn’t Saul’s fault because he was influenced by a spirit but we know that Saul had a chance to repent. When the Lord said he was going to take the Kingdom from him, Saul could have stepped down. But he insisted on his own way, as always, which opened the door for spiritual influence.

I can easily see that the relational situation that I am pointing out is a spiritual one and can only be solved spiritually.

Jesus said that people will not like us because of Him. Even if they do not know you are a Christian. 

  24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
 25 It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! Mat. 10:25 

So what are we to do about this? You know that we are to be witnesses to our co-workers and families and it would be a bad witness to lose our temper or fight back. So what can we do?

Jesus says that we are to do to others as we want others to do to us. You know that little “Golden Rule Thing” we learned as kids. Jesus takes it seriously. Read Luke 6:27-28 and 31

 27 But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

And

  31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

By reading the rest of the main story in our main verses, you will see how David reacts to Saul. Until the death of Saul David acted as Christ commanded. That may be why Luke records Paul’s words in Acts 13:22 that God called him, David,  a “man after His own heart”.hat can I say, 

What can I say, it is not easy it is just right.

For the Love of God

Marketplace Christian

“ Let all that you do be done with love”
1 Corinthians 16:14

Upon reading this verse the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Love what or whom”. Are we being told to work with love in our hearts for our bosses and co-workers? We are commanded to work with this attitude, but I believe He has a deeper meaning than “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. This is the main teaching of a lot of successful business speakers like Dale Carnegie, J.C. Penny and Mary Kaye. Not to mention the core belief in most major religions. But I believe Paul is telling us to do everything just because we love the Lord. If you could renew your mind to this way of thinking a lot would change in your workplace. If you did your work just for the love of Christ and not just for a paycheck, your workplace would be a peaceful place for you to work. There could be strife and confusion all around you but you would be in peace. Your job performance would not depend on your supervisor “empowering “ you. You could operate with the empowering of the Spirit of God and His joy would be your strength.

So how do we get this mind frame and love? In the book, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, the writer of the second conversation with Brother Lawrence had this to say. “That he (Brother Lawrence) always been governed by love, without selfish views; and that having resolved to make the love of God the end of all his actions, he had found reasons to be well satisfied with his method (of staying in God’s presence). That he was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of God, seeking Him only, and nothing else, nor even His gifts”. In this account of Brother Lawrence’s life we find an example of how this is possible and how it can be obtained.

First, there is no way to practice this kind of love in our lives without spending quality time in God’s word and intimate time in prayer. Having settled this. We can start by looking for duties in our workplaces to give thanks to the Lord and set our minds on Him. And setting our will to only perform our labors just for the Love of God.

Years ago as a kid I was walking through the lobby of the local Boys Club and I bent down to pick up a piece of trash to throw away. Unknown to me the director of the club saw me and bragged loudly that I had done a good thing. Well this made my day. Being used to put downs instead of encouragement I then started doing things to get the attention of those in authority. Years later at the restaurant where I worked during High School I found myself carrying two bus-pans at a time. Hoping the manager would take notice. Twenty years later the urge comes to look around to see who’s watching before I pick up the trash off the factory floor. Now when I see a shop rag on the floor and I have to make a decision to pick it up or pass on by like everyone else. I just look straight down and tell the Lord that “I’m picking this up for you and because I love you. Doing it for anyone else would be a waste of my time.

Another example is cleaning the employee restroom when I enter, because that is what I feel Jesus would do just for the love of God the Father. Now I try to leave a public restroom cleaner when I leave than it was when I went in. (My wife is reading this now and wondering when am I going to start “Practicing the Presence” at home)

Doing our work just for the love of Christ takes a lot of practice. We have to stay focused on Him and stay in communion with Him. Now you may ask, “ How can this be done at work with all the distractions and will it not interfere with work and production?” Work issues will always come up and you need to take care of them. That is what we’re talking about. Letting the Lord guide us in doing our jobs right. Anyone who truly keeps the Lord in focus and lets him guide will be the greatest asset to his or her company.

You can choose to focus on Christ when your not dealing with work issues or you can waste your time with unfruitful conversations with your co-workers and keeping your mind on things that do not matter. Which only disturbs the peace of your workplace.

When you have to attend to work issues, do them promptly, completely and quickly. Then bring your mind back to Christ. Like Brother Lawrence, we must see that it isn’t a sin to have our minds took off of God for business reasons but it is sin not to return to Him and put our minds to worldly things.

I find it useful to view symbols in our lives as ways to remember to turn my focus back. Like the shamrock of Ireland and the fleur-de-lis (Iris, pictured at the top) of France, they are symbols of the Holy Trinity with their three-leaf design. At the factory were I work every time I see the Iris design on a “Hampton Inn” sign, I am reminded of the Lord we serve.

A good study of Bible numerology will give you an abundant supply of symbols to use. Items in groups of two could remind you of “salvation” telling the story of the animals entering the Ark two-by-two and Jesus sending out the disciples to preach the gospel two-by-two. As the number three can be for the Holy Trinity. The list could go on and on.

Also I have found that if you work with computers it helps to make up passwords that will remind you to focus.

For Example:

· AVODAH, which means to worship and/or work. I see it as worship by working unto the Lord.

· INRI, An abbreviation for the Latin words “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, which means, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

· XPICTOC, Old Greek uncials for “Christ”

· IXOYC, The Greek Word for “Fish” in English characters. Which make up the acrostic by seeing each letter as: I (Jesus) X (Christ) O (God) Y (Son) C or E (Savior)

And So On. 1

I meet a lot of Christians in the workplace that sing to their selves in a low voice to keep their minds on Christ. Try this one, Sing the song “This Is The Day” and on the second verse change the words to “This Is My job”. Sing this and see what it does.

We all have our own ways to keep our focus on the Lord at work. If you love your spouse, children and family you should not have to come up with things to remember them by. But somehow we need helps and discipline to achieve this with God. When it is all said and done. If we love the Lord we will make time to think of Him and gauge our work according to the love we have for Him. But doing things for the love of God can be more than just a nice thing to do, but a lifestyle that few dare to dream of.

We must see that the only reason for being in the workplace (or anywhere) is to be a witness of God’s goodness. Entering into work as worship (avodah) by doing it for the love of God is the only way to show up for work.

I end with this challenge. Try doing things for the love of Christ and if you do not become the best worker in your company. I will return your consulting fees.


1 “Symbols – Sign Post of Devotions by Ratha McGee, Published by The Upper Room c.1962

Temp #43: Attitude Towards Co-Workers

"Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:22 but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire."
Matthew 5:21-22

In reading this verse I am reminded that I need to watch what I say about people at work. In an environment where decisions don't make sense and very anti-family and just anti-common sense, I tend to refer to those making the decisions as stupid or idiotic. But here Jesus tells us not to call others Raca. Which most all teachers of scripture agree means empty-headed or useless person. How being subject to the courts applies to use is unknowable since we have no such laws against speaking these words. We must assume that if Jesus spoke of us being liable to , back then, earthly courts then surly we are liable to a Heavenly court. But weather liable or not, just because the Lord said not to do it is enough to warrant compliance.
In context this passage is in the "Sermon on the Mount" which deals a lot with judging others and our attitude to those over us. We seem to be told to put our trust in those over us as a sign of our right relationship with the Lord. I suppose if those over us make a mistake and it affects us negatively, then we must in turn trust the Lord to work it out to our or His benefit. Again the Kingdom of God is not about me but Him who rules it. Trust, what a wonderful attitude.