Guest prayer by Theresa Dickson.
I found myself in a difficult, challenging situation recently. It was work-related but had started to leak into my personal life. I reached out for prayer from my friends. I prayed a lot myself, asking God to bring an end to the situation, to help me get through it, anything to make things better. For a long time my prayers weren’t answered. Well, at least I wasn’t receiving the answers I wanted. I guess we do that, ask for help and expect God to resolve whatever is going on?
I can’t remember exactly when this message came to me, but I knew I had to ask work to give me tasks to do, some extra responsibility. Maybe to prove myself? To challenge this feeling I had that I was worthless and couldn’t do anything right? Whatever the reason I decided to trust my relationship with God, the conversation we were having.
I had the chat with my manager, and now just a few weeks later, I was taken aside to be praised for the quality of my work, and my renewed positive attitude towards it. This got me thinking, so often we turn to God in prayer to ask for a challenge to be resolved. It’s far rarer that we go to God to ask what work we can do in His name.
God calls us to be His Disciples, to spread the Good News, but unlike the conversations we have with our other mentors (Managers? Counsellors? Tutors?) we expect God to provide the answers we need, rather than asking what we can do to make things better, not just for ourselves, but for others.
Let us go to God in prayer…
God, teacher, mentor, beloved,
Please let us try harder to be good workers for you. Let us offer our skills and talents to do your work better. Just like we might ask our earthly mentors, “Is there something you’d like me to do?” May we ask this often of you. Guide us to be your disciples, and to make the most of the abilities you gifted us with, to be the best we can be in carrying out your work.
We will always try to be grateful when you help us, though sometimes our humanity gets in the way. But if we take responsibility, our confidence can grow, and we become more positive and passionate about doing our work. Thank you for the possibilities we have to be better in Your Name.
Amen
The Unexpected Prayer 