Generous Prayers 

God on Monday
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We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).

Reflection

It is difficult to run a business in an economic downturn. The demand for goods and services weakens, rising inflation drives up costs, and profit margins narrow or vanish. Business owners are left feeling discouraged and begin to ask themselves, ‘Why bother?’  

I run a small digital publishing business that serves young adults in underrepresented communities. Despite our business challenges, I am encouraged by the verses above to pray for those who help to deliver our vision - our staff, donors, and investors. Especially given the impact of the current economic malaise, praying for them reflects my care for them.  

When running a purpose-led business, while providing competitive levels of remuneration, retaining your talent pool can be challenging. This means that when I see my team turning up every day, I am often moved with gratitude, and pray that God will bless them, meet their needs, and help them to stretch their incomes further.

The Apostle Paul wrote the above verses during one of many downturns in his mission. Soon before he wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians, he had visited their city, Thessalonica. There the opposition and mob violence he experienced towards him became so life-threatening that he had to abandon his efforts to share the gospel there and flee the city by night (Acts 17).

All this can encourage us, in the difficult circumstances (economic or otherwise) we face, to imitate Paul in these verses by being full of thanks as we pray for our co-workers and show appreciation for those who demonstrate love and endurance.

Response

Becoming more generous in our prayers for those we work with can be very uplifting to the way we approach our work, especially when things are tough. It stimulates our praise and thanksgiving for all God has done for us, and makes us more positive-minded and resilient. 

Prayer

A prayer from the Diocese of Liverpool (Church of England): 

God of grace,
When we work together, we can do more together.
When we give generously of our time, our talents, our treasure we make a difference through us;
in our homes, our places of work, our communities – and in ourselves.
Create and sustain in us a generous discipleship that opens hearts and changes lives.
Give us grace to plant, nurture and share the good news of Jesus in our living and our loving.   
Amen.

This Week's Author

God on Monday is produced in partnership with the Church of England. The reflections are based on the scriptural readings designated for the next Sunday in the Church's lectionary. You can sign up to Faith in Business here to receive each God on Monday instalment.     

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