What to Pray For & When to Pray

— by Roland Heersink

In the last post, we looked at the reason for your prayer—praying “so that” God is glorified. But let’s get practical—how do you do that, and what does that really mean when praying for your business?

Many times, it seems that we reserve our most fervent prayers for our biggest problems that are not easily solved by our human efforts. Just like the example of Hezekiah going up to the temple and laying out the message from his enemies before the Lord, we too may find ourselves coming to God when we’re already backed into a corner with our business, our staff, production, customers or other.

It’s like prayer is our final go-to problem-solving tool when we are stuck with our backs against the wall.

But that’s not how it should be. Prayer is foundational to building and maintaining a healthy relationship with God. It is how we draw close, how we know God’s will, sense His presence and proceed in our business decisions with confidence.

But that’s often not how it happens, is it? Too often, we’re busy making decisions, plotting strategy, hiring, firing and doing deals without involving God every step of the way. Even though the Bible tells us the opposite:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:4-7

Instead of stressing about all the many issues around our business, we are told to rejoice, give thanks and pray always.

So, how does that work?

Proactive Prayer

Jesus gives us a good example of proactively praying for our business. Jesus very much came to earth as an entrepreneur as well—with the task of establishing an entirely new religion for all peoples of the world. A big assignment in a huge market with lots of competition. From our perspective today, it is perhaps the ultimate Faith-Driven Entrepreneur challenge!

But look at what Jesus does before he picks his leadership team to take on this challenge:

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles…. — Luke 6:12-13

Here is Jesus, son of God, spending all night in prayer before choosing his leadership team!

What might happen if you committed your business decisions—big and small—to prayer as Jesus did? And, if Jesus, son of God, needed time away to strengthen his leadership, how much more so for you!

Imagine the results if you brought it all to God, instead of just approaching him during times of stress or urgent trouble? What about bringing the following to God in prayer so that His Kingdom is built:

• Who to hire, fire or promote?

• What product or service strategy to follow?

• How to set pricing and discounts?

• What markets to focus on?

• How to present to the customer?

• How to run your meeting?

The list of potential topics to bring to God in prayer is endless. Sure, some are big and some are small, but God wants to hear them all.

Prioritizing Prayer Throughout Your Day

As entrepreneurs, we too often rely on our training, skills, and experience to make our decisions and set strategy, don’t we? But, if we tried to pray about all these things, we’d be so busy praying that we’d be at it all day! So how does that work?

God wants to engage with you all day long. Adding small reminders to speak with Him does not distract from your leadership work—on the contrary, it strengthens it! Engaging with God throughout the day gives perspective, reduces stress and brings success in a way that bears even more fruit for the Kingdom of God—each and every day! Just try it.

Of course, relationship with God thrives on short engagements throughout the day. But periods of extended prayer are also needed. Times of communication with your Heavenly Father where you stop everything else and focus on pouring out your heart to Him. Praising Him, enjoying His presence, confessing your shortcomings, seeking His will, asking for His strength, and finding the “so that” to help build His Kingdom.

Pray always—especially when you think you already know!

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We hope you found this set of 3 blog posts to be helpful. Each post has been abstracted from the book “Toolbox Devotions for the Faith-Driven Entrepreneur” by Roland Heersink and Dr. Szaszi Bene (Tyndale Seminary, Amsterdam).

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