No, we’re not going to be weird. We’re simply going to tap on God’s grace so that we can go through our day as productive as possible. This is not to diminish the power of prayer and God’s grace in our lives, but to bring that power and that grace even to our work.
It’s January and many of us want to have a more productive year. I’ve shared with you The 4 P’s of Productivity that you can use, whichever productivity framework or style you prefer. Last week, I talked more about the first P: Purpose, and today, let me share with you more about the second P: Prayer.
I won’t be talking about the kind of prayer that you set apart time for each day. That we need, but allow me to submit to you that we also need to pray as we go through our day. No, we’re not going to be weird. We’re simply going to tap on God’s grace so that we can go through our day as productive as possible. This is not to diminish the power of prayer and God’s grace in our lives, but to bring that power and that grace even to our work. The bible does say, whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Nothing is too small when we do it for God’s glory.
Here are some of the many ways prayer has helped me be productive in the workplace:
1. Pray before making a decision or setting a direction.
I actually got this from one of our wedding ninongs, Pastor Julius Fabregas, who happened to be my direct boss for probably more than three years. As they say, “much is caught, not taught.” I greatly value that I have teammates like him and others who put their faith into action in their daily lives, without performance or being weird. Working with him, I noticed that when we were talking most especially about difficult matters, he would usually pause before he made a decision. It looked like he just took time to think more before he spoke, but I knew that he used the time to ask the Holy Spirit to guide him. It wasn’t long before he would invite me and the people in the room to pray before we decided on things.
You may not have a boss who you can pray with, but you can take a quick pause and ask God for help especially before making big decisions, setting a direction for people that you’re leading, or before embarking on a project.
Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:3 ESV
2. Pray to ask if you forgot anything.
I have my to-do list and a weekly default planner guide, which I’ll share more on when I talk about the third Productivity P, but there are some days when there’s so many things going on and either I miss to write things down or even to take a look at my planner. There are also days when I’ve checked all my to-do’s and feel like I’m on top of things. Either way, I make it a habit to pause and ask God if I forgot anything, and a good number of times He will point me to a task I have overlooked.
This is not a substitute for hard work. As Paul wrote, it’s grace, hard work, grace:
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace toward me was not in vain.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them,
though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV
3. Pray when it’s overwhelming.
YES! It can be overwhelming at work, even when you’re working on something you know God asked you to work on! Actually, when it’s God, it’s usually bigger than you and doing it on your own will really be overwhelming, not to mention impossible. He wants us to rely on Him. He wants us to include Him in what we do. That’s why the goal is too big for you! It’s not too big for Him.
How many times have I asked God to help me because things seemed impossible at work? I have officemates who get overwhelmed, too, and the next morning they’re back up on their A-game! I’m so blessed to work with people who know Who to pour out their frustrations to and Who to draw their strength from.
When it’s overwhelming, we go back to God and ask Him to help us. When it’s overwhelming, we go back to the purpose why we’re doing what we’re doing. That’s why I always tell people who want to be on staff to make sure they hear from God, “because when the rubber meets the road, and it will a lot of times, you wouldn’t want to second guess if it was really God that you heard.”
“… Not by might, nor by power,
but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”
Zechariah 4:6 ESV
4. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice always, pray continually,
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 ESV
Do not quench the Spirit. Quench means to satisfy (by drinking) or to extinguish. Of course, the Holy Spirit can’t be “extinguished,” but His influence and outworking in our lives can be. It’s possible that the Spirit is in us but we allow ourselves to live our lives devoid of His leading and power. Let’s pray that we will always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s promptings, even at and about work.
How many times have I had some “silent nudges” inside me that made me pause and think if I forgot or missed anything, only to realize that I did forget to do something crucial? Thankfully, because I did not dismiss that nudge, I had ample time to do what needed to be done.
I remember when my pastor told me that he will be going to Bacolod to minister there in a few months’ time. I thought he was just giving me a heads up that he will be out. After a month, I remembered he told me about it and was wondering why he mentioned it a couple of times. You see, I’m poor with geography. I honestly thought that Bacolod was just a drive away from Metro Manila. Being sensitive to that “nudge,” I asked a colleague where Bacolod was, and I started laughing at myself finding out that it’s a plane ride away! “Ooooh!!! That’s why Pastor J told me so early!” And I had ample time to book him a flight.
Allow the Holy Spirit to “speak” into your life, in general and even while at work. He has saved me from tons of major boo-boos!
I pray this helps you. Tell me about the impact of this kind of prayer to your productivity at work!
Credits to Ardee Adrales for her neat calligraphy work! Send some love and follow her on Instagram @deeadrales. She has more great work over there so do check out her account!
Read about the next Productivity: Planning here.
Finally! We now have the full name of our dear Noah. Name reveal in one of my future posts! Excited to meet our C______ Noah! Any guesses?
