How Much Prayer is Enough?

This post is part of a symposium on vocation between the Patheos Faith and Work Channel and the Patheos Evangelical Channel. Guest Contributor: Bill Hendricks

How much prayer is enough?

Isn’t that what we’re really asking when it comes to “balancing” work and prayer? As knowledge workers—for whom time is everything—isn’t the issue: What’s the least amount of prayer I can get away with?

In my experience, most of us divide our lives between two buckets: Work and Everything Else. Work commands a lot of time and attention because it pays for Everything Else.

Which means that the real balancing act is between Work and Everything Else. Prayer—to the extent one attempts to practice it—ends up competing with Work and Everything Else.

So how much prayer is enough?

I can think of at least two problems with that way of looking at things. The first is that prayer wasn’t meant to work that way. The second is that work wasn’t meant to work that way either.

The gift of prayer was never meant to be just another item on our to-do list. Rather, prayer is God’s offer to come walk with us in whatever situation we’re facing.

But the RSVP on that invitation rarely gets sent when it comes to our work, because most of us go to work as secularists, meaning that we leave God out of our work.

You don’t have to be an atheist or agnostic to be secular. You can be a person of real and genuine faith and be thoroughly secular. Because secularism isn’t a belief or a worldview. It’s a practice. It’s a way of doing life. To be secular is to leave God out.

And that’s what most knowledge workers in the West do today—even Christ-followers. They go to work, but they leave God at home. They never bring Him into their work. It never occurs to them to do so.

For that reason, prayer rarely if ever touches the bucket of Work. It sits over in that other bucket that competes with Work—the Everything Else bucket. And we end up asking: How much prayer is enough?

But what if work was never intended to be all about funding Everything Else? What if instead it was given to us by God as an honor—as a privileged responsibility in which we get to partner with Him in making the world and its people flourish in some particular way, using whatever gifts He has given to each of us?

In that case, prayer would make a lot of sense. It wouldn’t just be another task to schedule in. It would be something much more vital and organic, and almost automatic—like breathing. We wouldn’t think of not praying, because prayer is God’s offer to come work with us. Imagine: Life itself entering into our everyday experience! Who wouldn’t want that?

Now I realize that very few people perceive their work in those terms. In fact, according to Gallup, a full 70 percent of American workers feel in no way “engaged” with (i.e., emotionally attached to) their work. At best, it’s just a job, a necessary evil. And for some, work is a downright curse.

Do you tend to see your work that way? If so, that seems to me like the most logical thing to start praying about. Because maybe you’re looking at your work all wrong to begin with. Maybe you’re not in the right job or career. Maybe you’re miserable because you think the point of life is all about buying a lifestyle. Maybe you can’t stand your boss or coworkers. Whatever the case, clearly you’re unhappy. To my mind, that seems like a good reason to start praying about your work!

Is God really concerned with such things? Well, if He really does want to partner with you in making the world and its people flourish, then yes, He cares a great deal about how you see your work, and what kind of work you’re doing, and what your purpose is, and how your relationships at work are going. Why would He not care? The world doesn’t flourish as long as you’re floundering. And we know from Genesis 1 and 2 that God has always intended the world to flourish. So absolutely yes, He cares.

Then again, you may be among the fortunate 30 percent who feel thoroughly “engaged” by their work. Maybe you have the best job in the world, and if anything, your balancing act is about keeping Work from taking over Everything Else, you just love it so.

Well, then if work is going so well, what a perfect time to thank God for allowing you to be in that good place. And what a great opportunity to take things to a whole new level by asking Him to help you become very intentional and strategic in the use of your time and talents, as well as the money you’re making. Are you doing good work? Then ask God to help you do great work. Are you succeeding? Then ask Him to help you make sure you’re succeeding at the right things.

So whether you love your work, hate it, or just feel ambivalent about it, the question remains: How much prayer is enough? I think the answer is: as much as you think your work deserves.

I suppose if you really don’t care about your work, you’ll just leave God out of it. If so, I guarantee you’ll never, ever have a positive experience of work, and your life will end up being pretty miserable. Because, as Jim Collins (Good to Great) points out, “It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” God has a way of making work meaningful.

But if work matters to you—if you really do care about it, even if your current job is less than ideal—then it should come as good news that your work also matters to God. And for that reason I would think you’d want to take extra pains to take God up on His offer to participate with you in your work.

So here’s a simple prayer to get you started. You can pray it anytime during the day, or even several times a day if you’d like:

Lord, you’ve given me this work/task that’s in front of me. For that reason, I thank you for it. It’s your assignment for me right now. So in the next [PICK ONE: twenty minutes, hour, three hours, eight hours], I ask you to partner with me in getting this job done. Give me strength. Give me wisdom. Give me integrity. Use the gifts you’ve given me. I ask for favor in achieving success, but I entrust the outcome to you. Whatever happens, may your kingdom come, may your will be done. Thank you for hearing my prayer. Amen.

Then get to work—and trust that God is alongside you as you do it.

Remember, the point is not the “amount” of prayer you pray. It’s the practice of prayer, the habit. That’s why the New Testament never puts a timeframe on prayer. It simply advises, “Pray all the time.”

Like breathing!

About the Author 

Bill Hendricks is president of The Giftedness Center, a Dallas-based consulting firm specializing in organizational effectiveness and individual career guidance. He also serves as the Acting Executive Director for Christian Leadership at The Hendricks Center at Dallas Theological Seminary and sits on the Steering Committee for the Theology of Work Project. He is the author or coauthor of twenty-two books, including most recently, The Person Called You: Why You’re Here, Why You Matter & What You Should Do With Your Life. His thoughts can be found at his blog, BillHendricks.net. He holds degrees from Harvard University, Boston University and Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the proud father of three grown daughters and is married to Lynn Turpin Hendricks.