Is It Selfish To Pray For Success At Work?

October 7, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

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“Dear Lord, I pray that You will help me be successful on my job today. Help me to make that sale [close that deal, get the promotion, earn the raise]. Bless me today. Amen.” All over the world today people at work are praying something similar to this. Does God notice? Is this a prayer God wants to answer?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’ve been wondering if asking God to bless my efforts is praying a selfish prayer.

That well-known prayer by Jabez sounds very similar, doesn’t it? “Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory!” This prayer must have pleased God because the verse ends with, “And God granted his request” (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).

In the life of Joseph, the phrase about his on-the-job success is repeated again and again. First in Potiphar’s house, and then in prison, and then in the royal court we see the phrase “Joseph prospered” (for those of you keeping track at home, that means Joseph was a success at the office). We don’t see Joseph praying for this success, but we see him walking in it nonetheless.

But here’s the key component: it’s all about your heart attitude. In other words, it’s all about how you intend to become successful and what you plan to do with your success.

Jabez wanted to be successful so he wouldn’t be a burden to anyone else. He asked God to give him success in a way that benefitted others. So, too, with Joseph: at every mention of Joseph’s success there is a corresponding phrase like, “The Lord was with him” or “The Lord gave him success in everything he did.”

When Jabez and Joseph were successful on the job, everyone around them knew it was because they did things God’s way. And everyone around them got to share in the blessings of their successes.

Do you want success on the job? Go ahead and pray for God to “enlarge your territory” or help you to “prosper.” Then do things God’s way, and be sure to give Him the credit for your success. I believe that God wants to give you more and more on-the-job success so that He is glorified, and so that others around you recognize God’s provision.

Keep praying for success. I’m praying that for myself and for you too.

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Generation Now

August 6, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Interbellum, Greatest, Silent, Baby Boomers, Busters, MTV, Gen X, Gen Y, Post-Millennial, Gen Z. It seems we’re obsessed with naming and defining our past and present generations. The “experts” tell us what each generation is motivated by, what they’re thinking, what they dream of, and what they are afraid of. I have stacks of books on my shelf about how to relate to people in each of these generational groups, and I constantly get emails that tell me the newest way to get each generation’s attention.

However, when I look in the Bible I only see two generations: this generation and the next generation. God is not concerned with description, but with action. I love what God said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in THIS generation.”

What you and I do in THIS generation reverberates into the NEXT generation.

The most important generation is Generation Now.

Yesterday I discovered something a whole lot easier than reading all of these books and sifting through all of the data to learn about GenNow. I discovered this by accident. I discovered it by fun. And I discovered it was exactly the same way Jesus connected with and related to His GenNow.

All I had to do was hang out at my office.

Throughout the day people saw my car in the parking lot, so they just stopped in. It was a blast! Just as Jesus spent times at parties, wedding banquets, in the market place, and with His friends, I got to know GenNow by simply being with them. We talked, we played music (great jam session!), I got beat in ping pong, we ate pizza, we worshipped God, we threw marshmallows at each other.

Through all of this, I learned what GenNow is dreaming about, laughing about, and worrying about. I also affirmed what I already knew: GenNow is a very special group!

Do you have a family member or friend that you want to connect with more deeply? Follow the example of Jesus: just spend time with them. I did, and it was great. In fact, I can’t wait to do it again and again and again!

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When Nothing Is Something

February 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I’m not a typical Type-A person, but I do find it very hard to take time off. As soon as I find I’m doing Nothing I’ve immediately got to start doing Something… Anything.

When I’m doing Nothing I feel guilty.

“Who do you think you are? What makes you so special that you can do Nothing! Everything is not finished, so get up and do Something. Do Anything. Just don’t do Nothing!”

By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done (Genesis 2:2-3).

God did Everything in six days. There wasn’t Anything left to do.

So God did Nothing.

And yet that Nothing was Something special.

The Hebrew word for rest is shabath which means, “sit down and sit still.” Why? Was God tired? No, the resting is not Nothing; it is Something.

God paused from His work because He wanted to reflect on what He had accomplished. That’s the point.

Doing Nothing is really doing Something. When we take a shabath we’re taking a day to reflect on God’s blessing, His provision, His faithfulness.

I did Nothing today.

My Nothing was really Something special! I began the day by thanking God for all of the blessings in my life. And the more I gave thanks, the more reasons I realized I had to give thanks! After all that thanks-giving, I found that I had one of my most creative and encouraging days.

It’s amazing how Nothing can be a very special Something.

If you’re not already, find a day to do Nothing. I think you too will discover that Nothing is Something.

***A postscript for my pastor friends. Just a reminder: If you have church services on Sunday, then Sunday is not your shabath—it’s a day you’re doing a whole lot of Something. Find another day to do Nothing. God will bless the rest of your week when you do.***

I have some other posts about sabbathing that are worth your time here, here, and here.

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No Cowardly Lions, Please

December 18, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

cowardly-lion2

When Jacob was blessing his sons (Genesis 49) he called Judah a lion’s cub. From that time on the men of Judah were known as skilled and fearsome warriors. Years later The Lion of Judah, Jesus, would come from this noble tribe.

But during the time when the judges ruled Israel, Judah and all of Israel “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 13:1), and “all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6).

As a result, the mighty lions of Judah became the cowardly lions.

Samson is a well-known judge. He is known for his single-handed exploits against Israel’s enemies. As a result of his victories against them, the Philistines moved into Judah’s territory arrayed for battle.

In response, the mighty lions of Judah muster a force of 3000 warriors. This should look good to the warriors of Judah, since the Philistines came to the battlefield with just 1000 warriors—after all, 3-to-1 seems like good odds.

But instead, the cowardly lions of Judah decided to take all 3000 warriors to confront just one man: Samson. They went to him in the cave where he was staying, not to ask him to join them in battle against the Philistines, but to ask him to surrender to the Philistines.

Samson agreed.

But when the Philistines approached Samson “the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson” (Judges 15:14). He picked up a donkey’s jawbone and killed all 1000 Philistines. And when they saw God’s power at work in Samson, the mighty lions of Judah jumped into the fray all around Samson!

Uh, actually, no, they didn’t.

The cowardly lions of Judah were nowhere to be found. When Samson had finished with the Philistines, there was not even one lion of Judah around to give him a drink!

They all ran away.

It’s amazing to see what the Spirit of God does for someone. God’s presence in Samson gave him victory when the odds were 1000-to-1 against him. The lack of God’s presence in the lions of Judah made them cowardly lions even when they had a 3-to-1 advantage and had Samson on their side.

“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. … For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and He will give you victory!” (Deuteronomy 20:1, 4)

Don’t try to go to battle on your own. Even if you think you’re a mighty lion, you will end up like the Cowardly Lion if God doesn’t go with you.

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