Pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Most companies would not consider sharing their “secret sauce” because this is the one ingredient that defines their unique selling position or their point of differentiation. But imagine if your secret sauce was something that all businesses could use and benefit from without diminishing your use or effectiveness. Exactly what is this secret sauce? Prayer. It’s the God-consciousness and God-surrendered mindset that we bring with us everywhere, including to the marketplace. When fear, discouragement, or uncertainty arises in business, the practice of prayer connects us with God and reminds us He wants to be involved in every decision and has a solution.

Prayer is a two-way conversation with God where we express our dependence on Him and receive His wisdom and direction for every decision that we will face in our day. Another way to think of prayer is the communication channel that keeps us connected to air traffic control. 

Like a flight plan, your business has a strategic plan to get you from where you currently are to your designated goal, or you may simply have business objectives that you are trying to accomplish. Along the way you may encounter some headwinds (product problems), traffic congestion (changes in competitive landscape), or unexpected turbulence (regulatory requirements) that could easily get you off your course, delay your arrival or even cause an emergency landing short of your destination. One way to prevent and/or mitigate these undesirable outcomes is to stay connected and tuned into the frequency assigned to you by air traffic control. 

God, like the air traffic control tower, can see the entire business landscape. Because He is the author and finisher of our life plan, He can see exactly what is ahead of us and where we need to course correct to avoid delay, destruction, or unprofitability. But we must connect with Him through prayer to avail ourselves of the guidance needed to start, grow and operate a successful business. Having run a boutique consulting practice for over a decade, I can thankfully say that I never had a non-paying client because, through prayer, I relied on God to speak to me about which clients I should service. 

In a recent survey, our Joseph Business School Alumni shared their secret sauce as to how they used  prayer to produce tangible results in business. Olivet Jones, the owner of a coaching and consultancy business, explained that in the first quarter of 2016 without notice, her largest client cut their budget by 75% resulting in a loss in her business. Her first response was to hit her knees in prayer and within three weeks, God had replaced the lost revenues with a new and less demanding client. 

Another respondent stated that prayer changed her attitude about situations and people. We all need help to see employees, coworkers, clients and partners through the eyes of compassion.  Prayer gives us an opportunity to see God’s perspective of people and can cause our response to change and come into alignment with biblical principles. God sees the heart, so He knows exactly what the root of a problem is and through prayer, He will give insight for a peaceable resolution to relationship challenges.

Evelyn Moore-Jones, the owner of an interior architecture firm, shares why prayer is important in hiring and how she was able to recover from a poor decision.

After making a hasty decision to put a team in place without prayer, this particular project began suffering inexplicable and extensive time delays due to very poor communication and lack of follow-through from my team members. After several weeks of extreme frustration, the Holy Spirit directed me to apologize to my client and take full responsibility for the poor performance of my team members because I had chosen them without consulting Him. I was able to make a new time commitment to finish the work on my own without the help of my non-functioning team. My client admitted that she had also made some hasty decisions which had set the project back in terms of time and resources. We both acknowledged our impatience which demonstrated a lack of trust in the Lord. We gave the project back to the Lord and asked for the Holy Spirit to be in charge. That was the turning point!

Prayer also enables God to warn you of danger ahead. Silvia Berberian shared:

I was planning to leave the company I had worked for after eight years of service in April 2008. I had a very lucrative offer on the table by one of my largest clients to work three days a week as their in-house designer and to receive 50% more than what I was earning working five days a week at the time. After prayer, the Lord told me not to leave the company, so I obeyed, and in October 2008 the great financial collapse hit and the client had laid off many of its staff. I would have been one of those had I joined them, whereas God blessed and continued to increase me in the company that He told me to stay in.

These brief examples provide evidence of the power of prayer to impact business decisions for good. Put God to the test by inviting him into every business decision and look with new eyes what he will do with you and through your prayer. Phyllis Flynn summarizes succinctly why prayer is the secret sauce for every business success.

“We are always seeking answers to questions. Why not ask the One who created and knows all things? Prayer is a precious gift and it is a wonderful privilege to have a private business meeting with the best Board of Directors. You will be amazed at the secrets and insights you learn.”

Patience Nelson, JD, Business Advisor & Strategist