“A Lifestyle of Prayer”

This week’s prayer focus: Working For The Lord!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  
Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

This week’s prayer focus will be about our need to work — but not just a need to work, a need to work for the Lord.  When we are in the midst of the daily grind of life, it is easy to lose sight of who we’re really working for.  Or perhaps we lose sight because we’ve never given thought that we might be working for someone other than our boss or the company that issues the paycheck.  God calls us to consider everything we do as working for Him.  Because we’re working for Him, there ought to be a wholehearted effort put into our work.  As you pray, ask God to  help you see how to do your daily work for Him.  Pray that you would keep your eyes and mind focused on the eternal reward that awaits you, even as you earn the temporary reward of a paycheck.  Pray that the volunteer work you do would be done with excellence as you do it for the Lord.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) 

As you pray this week, ask God to help you accomplish all of your work, knowing that it is for Him you labor.

Sunday: Pray for your church staff, the preaching and teaching that takes place, the church leadership, the volunteers that are helping in so many areas, the spiritual and financial health of the congregation, and the work of the missions ministry of the church.  Pray for me (Tom Lemler) and the work of Impact Prayer Ministry.  

Monday: Required Work.  Pray that you would not lose sight of God’s requirement of belief in Jesus.  Pray that the people around you would understand the importance of believing in Jesus.  “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’  Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'”  John 6:28-29 (NIV)

Tuesday: Helpful Work.  Pray that you would see the value of helping the weak.  Pray that the people around you would see by your example the great blessing of giving.  “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”  Acts 20:35 (NIV)

Wednesday: Tested Work.  Pray that you would pay close attention to what your life is being built with.  Pray that the people around you would come to know work that stands up to the testing of God.  “His work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  1 Corinthians 3:13 (NIV)

Thursday: Effective Work.  Pray that you would not give up on effective work.  Pray that the people around you would come to know Jesus because of the effective work you are doing.  “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”  1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (NIV)

Friday: Powerful Work.  Pray for the humility to allow God’s power to work in you.  Pray that the people around you today would recognize the powerful work of God as they see His work in you.  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”  Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)

Saturday:  Good Work.  Pray that you would be a student of God’s Word so that you are prepared for the good work He desires for you to do.  Pray that the people around you see God’s Word at work in you.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)