Can the Lord’s Prayer be applied to work life?  Ralph thinks so…

3 years ago, Ralph came to realize that he had to put aside his sense of pride in his own accomplishments. He had always felt that his own success and the success of his company was due to his strengths – HIS sales technique, HIS years of experience… Then one day, Ralph was facing an extreme shortage of work with nothing on the horizon. All of HIS best efforts proved fruitless. 

During this time, Ralph found that certain words were often in his mind: “Do not lose faith, I will provide.” “Trust not in YOUR actions, but in Me.” “I will provide such abundance that you will be overwhelmed by it.” Every time these words came to him, Ralph smiled, yet questioned if this could really come to pass. Ralph was confident that God would provide for his own family as He had in the past, but he did not feel the same sense of assurance that God would provide for his company, his employees and their families. Can my prayers, wondered Ralph, really make that much of a difference in this situation?

In the midst of this situation, WMB was studying the Lord’s Prayer. As he began to pray in this way, Ralph found that it affected his life in unique and unexpected ways:

Our Father…

I began to understand God as both my Father and Friend, One who wants to supply for my needs every day. So, every morning when I think of it, I invite God through the employee entrance with me and pray that I will be given guidance by God to make decisions that will honour Him. Now, I have a Co-worker to share my burdens.

Give us this day our daily bread…

I am confident that when I come before God with the simple request of daily provision, He will not withhold this provision from me. To me, this means not only food for the body, but food for the spirit – an increased understanding of my Heavenly Father.

Your will be done…

Lastly, I have come to the understanding that everything in the world belongs to God, including the company I work for. My ultimate employer is God and, as such, I feel assured that God will give me the work I need.

Lately, business conditions overall have been in a decline. However, Ralph has come to believe that God is in control of this situation and, through the turmoil, is sending the world a message to trust in Him rather than our financial systems or our governments or the storehouses we have built up. 

The sooner we come to understand that God is in control, Ralph says, the better the world will be.