Lately, I’ve been thinking about the relationship between work and prayer.
Everyone acknowledges that Prayer is at the heartbeat of Jesus’ way. A Christian is someone who seeks and sets aside time for communion with Jesus. Jesus himself withdrew to pray and even taught his disciples to pray.
But most of us spend a fraction—if any—of our time in prayer.
Our lives are full of the daily grind of work. We have bills to pay, after all.
When we imagine spending our days praying we think of medieval monks. They spent all their time praying, right?
Well, it turns out that’s not the case at all.
Monks might hold a clue to how we can work and pray in the life of faith.
The monastic rhythm
When thinking of monks, I used to imagine men in robes who sit around in prayer all day.
In my mind, their lives were a revolving door of church, reading, prayer, and sleep. Day in and day out this is all they did.
It turns out that this isn’t the case at all.
Medieval monastics committed to lives shaped by healthy rhythms of working and praying.
They didn’t see prayer and work as two opposing forces. They were two parts of a divinely derived whole.
The key is to create daily rhythms to facilitate a healthy relationship between the two.
Commenting on this tradition, theologian Gerald Stittser writes,
Monasteries create rhythm for a spiritual reason. God calls his people to two principle duties—prayer and work. Prayer draws us to God; work sends us into the world. Prayer centers and quiets us; work energizes us. Prayer restores us to God; work allows us to participate in God’s restoration of the world.
Finding your rhythm.
Prayer and work aren’t in opposition.
They are genuine aspects of following Jesus. The challenge is to create rhythms and patterns to keep both in harmony. To not let one keep us from the other.
Weekly worship on Sunday is a rhythm for many, but what about the rest of the week?
How are you weaving prayer into your days?
Perhaps you could be intentional to pause briefly once or twice during your work day to pray.
Or maybe this.
Before you go to bed each night, review your day. Ask God’s guidance for difficulties while thanking him for what's gone well.
Whatever it is, I encourage you to pause right now and consider one way you can weave prayer into your workday.