David:

[0:00] Welcome to Redeeming Business Today. Today is one of those solo episodes where it's just going to be you and me talking about business concepts that help us to redeem our time, redeem our business, and to use our life and business for the glory of God.

David:

[0:15] I often tell my children that their success in life will be a direct correlation to their relationship with God. And as I've been seeking to inspire, educate, and equip business owners to operate their business in a way that glorifies God and advances his kingdom here on this earth, I've been convicted. The conviction is this, that if I truly believe that our relationship with God is important in the success of your business, then why don't I talk about that relationship? And so today is one of those parts where I'm going to do that. And I'm going to talk about how you can increase and deepen and grow your relationship with God. We're going to talk about my number one mindset shift that has made the biggest impact on my spiritual life in the realm of prayer.

David:

[1:06] Just a little background. My journey in the discipline of prayer has been this. I was blessed to be able to grow up in a Christian home. My parents instilled in me the habit of a daily quiet time. A daily quiet time where I'd read my Bible and pray. Well, I will admit as a child and even going into adulthood, I did more reading than praying. Because reading was easy. You just read it and you thought about it and went on. Praying, well, that's communication. You had to think about that. And so I felt I was very strong in my core Bible reading. I was not very strong in my core prayer time and relationship with God that way.

David:

[1:52] Over the years, I've tried different things. I've tried different ways and systems to get more prayer in, so to speak. One time I figured that, hey, I wanted to pray without ceasing. So how about I just pray while I'm driving to work? Pray while I'm driving home from work? And that way I get all this time into praying that I normally wouldn't have. Well, it started out okay. But after a while, I realized I was doing more driving than praying. And I was, again, convicted that if the only time I had to talk to God was while I'm driving, that showed that my relationship with God wasn't that important. Why don't I set aside a time specifically just to pray and talk with God? Good question.

David:

[2:41] As a pastor, I have at times prayed while walking. Walking around the community, praying for the people in the houses in the community and trying to reach people that way. But there again, after a while, I was doing more walking than talking. And if that was the only time I had to pray, I'm trying to do two things at once, three things at once. That's not really cutting it. I've tried kneeling down in prayer, silently in prayer, quietly praying.

David:

[3:18] That works sometimes, but in the past, there's been times where I have been quiet and resting my head and then talking quietly in my head and falling asleep. If you've ever had that happen to you and wake up, you probably felt like I did. You felt horrible. You talk to the God of the universe, pouring out your heart. Well, probably not pouring out your heart if you fall asleep. But you pray to him, talk to him, and then suddenly you fall asleep. Think of going to the governor of your state or the president of the United States and asking and imploring them for help about some great aspect in your business. Trying to get money, funds, protection from people who are trying to destroy business, whatever. Imagine going there and partly through the conversation, you stop, sit down and take a little nap. And then you get up and just startle and continue that conversation. How would that president or the governor feel about you or treat you? I don't know, but I was convicted. And that was a bad thing. Don't fall asleep while you're praying. That should not be the only way in which you pray.

David:

[4:35] I think growing up, maybe it's because of the American mindset. Maybe it's because I'm an analytical thinker. but I feel like I've been trying to figure out what is this right formula for me? What is this right, correct way to pray to God? Well, I realized after a while that, you know what? It's not about a formula. It's not about how you sit or stand or walk or kneel. It's a relationship. Prayer is founded in a relationship. And the number one mindset shift that has made the biggest impact on my life is this, and that prayer is personal.

David:

[5:14] Prayer is personal, and it was that I started to do what Jesus said. He says, when you pray, pray then in this way, our Father which art in heaven. I started to approach God in prayer as my heavenly Father. Now, in the past, I've approach God as the creator, how powerful, the judge, my protector, my provider, and he is all that stuff. But when I do that, it was more like, give me this, help me with that. I really need your help. Thank you very much.

David:

[5:48] But when I approached God as my father, I stepped back a little bit and it's like, you know, I never really have understood that and thought about that. So I correlated it to my earthly father and said, well, how would I talk to my earthly father?

David:

[6:06] Over the years, my dad has passed away now, but starting in college and throughout my life, my married life, I talked to my mom every week and then I talked to my dad every week. He called and we had just a short conversation. and sometimes we talked about the plans I have for that week. Sometimes we talked about the successes or failures of those plans. Sometimes I talked about the needs we were in or I asked for counsel, asked for advice. Sometimes I told him the things that I learned. Sometimes it was reminiscence. Sometimes it's just plain sharing my life and sharing him, sharing his life. That's the kind of things I talked to my dad about.

David:

[6:52] And so I said, what if I did the same thing in my prayer life to God, approached him as my heavenly father, and talked to him about my life? And I realized that that is what prayer is. You're talking to him. You're getting wisdom. You ask for wisdom. James 1.5 says, if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and God will give you wisdom.

David:

[7:17] Jesus says in the prayer of Matthew 6, when you pray, Say, give us this day our daily bread. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. There's a very real sense in which God helps you and God wants to help you. And God wants you to talk to him about your needs. But it's not just a one-way street. It's a two-way street. And what's interesting here is that our Father knows the things we need before we ask him.

David:

[7:49] Let me say that again. God, our Father, knows the things that we need before we ask him. And so it's not so much important that you get all these lists of things out that we need from him, because he already knows what we need. He's already there helping us, providing for us, giving us strength to live, giving us wisdom. He's already doing that. But it's that prayer. It's that asking. It's that going to him. It's that submitting to him, realizing that he is the one who gives you these things. and that it's not you yourself. And so approaching God as my father really made a world of difference in my prayer life because it's not just, hey, how you doing? Because you need to approach God reverently in a holy manner. He's not a, hey, dude, how you doing kind of thing. You don't talk to God like that. You talk to him reverently, respectfully, but he is your father.

David:

[8:53] It's the biggest thing that's changed my prayer life, my attitude toward prayer, and effectively helped me to pray better. Now, just to give you a few things that I do in my prayer life that may help you and yours is this.

David:

[9:09] Number one is the prayer is private. Go into your closet. Jesus said, when you pray, don't go into the synagogues or stand in the corner of the streets to pray so that everybody will see you and praise you for your prayer. He goes, go into your house, go into your closet, shut your door, pray privately. And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So when you pray, don't pray for show. Don't try to say cool, godly words. Don't try to pray to impress other people. Don't try to pray to impress God. Prayer is private. Humble yourself. Pray, talk to him openly like your father. And it's the attitude of the heart. You're doing this to communicate with God, to talk with God, not to earn any favor with Him. So prayer is private. Keep your prayer private. Another one of the things that I've done is I've made a list.

David:

[10:11] Make a list of things to pray about, just like going to the grocery store, if I don't take a list with me to the grocery store, I don't always get everything that's on my list. I inevitably will forget things. And so the same thing is if there are things that are important for you in your business, in your family, in your church, in your community, that are important enough for you to pray about, you might want to pray for them more than once. You might want to implore and plead with God on behalf of your family, your church, your community, your business. So make a list. Make a list. I have made a list of things that I pray for daily and things that I pray for weekly.

David:

[10:56] As I'm able, I know I can't pray for everything and everybody in the face of the earth. And I know many, many people. I know hundreds of people. I can't pray for every single one of them every single day. So make a list. Make a plan. Pray for those who God puts in your heart to pray for. So number one, make it personal. Prayer is private. Make a list. Be consistent.

David:

[11:23] I have been able to be consistent in my prayer life both in the morning and evening before I read my Bible every morning and so it's easy to have a prayer time after morning where I'll spend a few minutes, 5 to 10 minutes however much time I had to pray maybe you can spend a half hour or an hour maybe it's two minutes, just be consistent, pray and so I pray in the morning, and I was like, you know what I really should pray for my children more. I haven't been praying very specifically for them, and I was convicted about that. And so what I did is I started praying every evening. I started putting prayer into my evening routine to do that for my children. I have nine children, and so what I personally do is I have more time on the weekends than I do during the week. So on Sunday, I pray for my two oldest girls. Monday through Friday, I pray for each one of my boys. And then on Saturday, I pray for my two youngest girls. And therefore, every week, I get each one of them. I pray for them each individually every week. And that's what I've done. There again, your consistency.

David:

[12:34] This is how consistent I've been in this having a routine, having a schedule of who you pray for, when you pray for. That has helped me in my prayer walk, and I trust will help you as well.

David:

[12:47] Number four just like i said before prayer is personal i started when i started praying to god as my father that relationship with him grew like i said it was more than just creator judge provider but it's hey it's my father well another one of the things that you need to understand when you pray and ask for God, ask God for things, is this.

David:

[13:14] It's a gazing at God versus glancing at our problems. We come to prayer to gaze and to understand and to learn more about God, and we just quickly talk about our problems. God is more important than our problems, and we are here to praise Him. We're here to talk with Him, not just to talk about our problems.

David:

[13:39] Number five, one of the things that I've been able to do is gain wisdom. But in order to gain wisdom, number five, you need to listen. When you pray, it's not just talking, but it's also listening. Sometimes James 1.5 says, And if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men generously without reproach, and it will be given to him.

David:

[14:01] I've learned that when I pray and bring a problem up to the Lord and say, I am doing this. What about this? And sometimes I talk things through with the Lord as I pray. And sometimes he gives me answers. When he gives me answers, I literally stop. I'll go write down on a piece of paper what he's talking to me about. And so sometimes he talks to us while we're praying, while we're asking him, say, God, give me wisdom on this. And this still small voice says, hey, what about this? Okay, go write it down. So listen to him.

David:

[14:40] Number six, give thanks. Give thanks to God for the things that he's given to you. It is with an attitude of gratitude, of thanksgiving, that we need to approach God. God knows what we need before we ask. God brings things into our lives for our benefit. You need to learn to give thanks to God.

David:

[15:01] Give thanks to God. And number seven, which is super, super important, remember that this is God's kingdom.

David:

[15:11] As Jesus said, when he taught his disciples, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, amen. It's really important to remember when you pray about business, about your life, about your community, about whatever, that this is God's. God owns it. You don't own it. You are just a steward of everything that God has given to you. Ephesians 2.10 says, We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We are not our own. We deceive ourselves into thinking that we run our business. There's a lot of people out there who are empire building, building their empire, getting more and more financially stable, free, whatever.

David:

[16:04] However, I challenge you to remember that this is God's kingdom. Remember that your business is God's business. It's not just your own. It's God's. And you need to remember that we're not called to be here to make an empire for ourselves. We're here to be light and salt in this world. Yes, we need to have a business. Yes, we need to earn a living. Yes, we need to do that. And we can grow a big business. We can grow an empire, as they say, but realize that the ownership of that belongs to God. It does not profit a man to gain the whole world and to forfeit a soul. Remember, this is God's kingdom.

David:

[16:48] God's kingdom. In conclusion, wrapping all this up, remember that prayer is a relationship with God. Prayer is a relationship with God and approaching God as your heavenly father and not just as some distant judge or distant creator will help you in your relationship, will help you in your, make prayer more meaningful for you and draw you in. Remember that prayer is also a learn by doing activity. Just like everything else in the business, if you haven't done it very much in the past, it's going to be awkward. You're going to not like how it's going. But as you pray more, you will learn by doing. Prayer is refocusing on God. You refocus on God, realizing that He has given you everything you need and that He owns everything. Remember that prayer is talking with God. It's your Heavenly Father. There's no substitute. and you can't delegate this task to somebody else. You yourself need to pray to God. And remember that He knows what you need before you even ask Him. And so the challenge for you today is to pray and to address God as your Father. It's a relationship. It's not a give-me-help-me transaction, but it's a relationship with your Father who is in heaven.

David:

[18:13] Yes you can have help for your personal life your family your church your business whatever it is but realize it is a relationship and he knows what you need before you even ask well that's all for now my friends i trust this has been helpful for you in in your seeking to redeem your business to redeem your time to buy back your life and use it for God's glory, remember that time has limits though you can't do everything choose wisely.