Tip 112: Making a point to pray for company employer

I thought I would share a testimony of a friend from Japan that inspired me. It was actually not so recent that I heard this testimony, around 6 months ago while I was still working in Tokyo. With all the recent busyness of transition and family concerns, excitement of travelling, extra work/opportunities I did not say no to, these distractions have somewhat tamed my convictions I previously had after hearing my friend’s testimony. I met Kyoshi through a Christian lunch fellowship held once a month at Akasaka, Tokyo. It’s a small group where usually half a dozen Christians who work at the Sanno Park Tower and surroundings would turn up for lunch if their work day has not been too busy. Through the gathering, I got to know Kyoshi better and we had a few other lunches together where he shared his personal convictions to me. Kyoshi is actually a Malaysian with a granddad who was from Japan. He got a scholarship to do his Masters in Japan and have worked in Japan ever since. At one point in his life, he spent more than a year in suburban Japan on a work placement and while it was boring and lonely, it somehow led him to pray more and nurture his faith in God. After being relocated to the Tokyo main branch office into a department he likes, he begins to see the act of God in his life more and more through reflections during prayer. He begins to spend more time in prayer such that he designates a different day praying for different areas of importance, as he felt he needed to establish a routine and structure that best suit him. He then shares how he would pray for his company regularly at least once a week that the company would take care of its staff well, earn good profits and make a difference in the community. On certain days during work, when he goes to different floors of his company, he would utter a silent prayer for the different departments, for his company CEO and other top management of his company. He believes that God has placed him in his company for a reason, to be the light in the midst of all the indifference and secular work. He is very passionate in his job. This has rendered him performing well, yet he believes that there is more to career and being happy with ones work and that is, making a difference by loving God and loving others and in praying for the company.












These are certainly times for prayer for companies that we work in, and the managers that we work for that they would be granted wisdom to manage the company out of challenging times. I have to admit that I am not a prayerful person and do not adhere to any strict prayer routines. In fact, often I get too tired with all the unnecessary work I undertake and the ambitions I entertain that I pray lesser than I should. Yet, many of these times, God has been gracious to me to point me to the right direction again that He is interested in my life and He would want to guide me every moment if I remind myself to seek after Him and pray more. Often, we would pray passionately, at times of crisis, at points of difficulties or when we need to seek God to resolve certain problems or meet certain pressing needs that we have. But, it is when we spend more time with God that we realize that many things do not matter so much after all, and we need not be anxious about our needs as God cares for us more than we care for ourselves sometimes. The more we trust God and look outside ourselves, the more effective we can be in this world in making a difference. And that is why praying for our companies and our managers can change us for the better. There is always a danger to overvalue work or even to undervalue work and I have gone through both phases in my struggle to establish my work identity. It is never easy to achieve balance in what we do and prayer is the key.












Any testimonies to share on prayer for your companies? Let us encourage one another to pray more.












(Photos show Tower Bridge (nope, its not London Bridge as thats just a common looking old bridge) and Southwark Cathredral).