good work!

As we pray for others, we need to remind ourselves to pray for people in their work.  For most people, the largest amount of time and attention is given to this sphere of life.  But it's often neglected in Christian teaching and prayer as we tend to focus on the "spiritual" rather than the "commercial."  We easily forget that God is all in all (1 Cor. 15:28).

It's worth noting that all of the named leaders in the New Testament were workers.  Some worked out of the home: Peter and the Sons of Thunder, fishermen; Paul, Priscilla and Aquila, tentmakers; and Lydia, the dealer in purple.  Others worked in the home, such as Mother Mary and Peter's wife.  None of them were engaged in "full-time ministry," as we understand it today.  They continued to do their work in order to support and enhance their ministry. 

It appears that the future of church leadership will be in what is being called co-vocational settings, in which a church leader works for the church and for an outside employer.  This may not be so much a loss of the traditional "full-time" model but rather a gain in our access to the working world in which most of us live.  And, of course, this kind of dual-focus ministry is what most lay believers are pursuing today.  Let's pray all Power to them in the Holy Spirit!

And let's pray into the difference between toil and work.  The biblical term for toil is the result of The Fall, that "painful labor" which is the universal consequence of sin (Gen. 3:16-17).  Ask God to give us Grace to bear it and see Him at work in and through it.  But let's also pray for that work which is not toil, the good work which originates with God, Who is working still (John 5:17).  Pray that we would all enter into some of that restful, fulfilling, and even joyful work which is our present calling and eternal vocation.  Whatever [we] do, whether in word or in deed, [let's] do it all in The Name of The Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God The Father through Him (Colossians 3:17).