Prayers For One's Vocation And The Working Man Away From Home

Just a brief programming note that Your Humble Host And Servant In Jesus Christ will be away in Tampa, FL for the next 3 weeks for corporate training as I begin my new job as a Membership Recruiter with Nielsen!

So, that means that I'll be in a classroom setting Mondays-Fridays all day and will probably have homework to complete each night so I'm not quite sure how much time (if any) I'll have to write new material for this blog during that time, but I'll certainly do what I can to fill in the gaps and to kill some time perhaps on the weekends.

For now, I thought I would share the following prayers from the Lutheran Book of Prayer that seemed appropriate for a time like this -- prayers for one's vocation and prayers for the working man away from home.

PRAYER FOR FAITHFUL WORK

Almighty God and Father, without whose help and blessing all labor is in vain, remember me in my work this day. If it be Your will, give me a prosperous day and lead me to find satisfaction and contentment in the tasks at hand. May all my work be done well, that I may glorify You with honest work; for the sake of Him who completed His work for us, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


PRAYER FOR JOY IN MY JOB

Heavenly Father, Creator of heaven ad earth, it is out of Your love and wisdom that You gave me work to do and fitted me in body and mind to do this work. And yet my sinful will too often dreads the workday and casts about for other things to do. But You, O God, have called me to this work. Forgive me my sin. Strengthen me by Your Spirit that I may see that my place of work is a field of Your service to my family, my fellow worker, and my neighbor. Give me joy in my vocation, and make me glad and grateful for the strength to serve You; through Jesus Christ. Amen.


PRAYER FOR COMFORT CONCERNING VOCATION

Dear Lord, I have Your Word, and I trust that You certainly bless me in my present calling -- this I know. Yet I look around and see everywhere a lack of answers, a lack of help, and a lack of that which I need now! I can turn to no one for help except to You. Help me with all of this. My comfort is in this: You have said and commanded that I should ask, search, and knock, and so doing I will certainly receive, find, and have that which I desire. Amen.


PRAYER OF ONE WHO IS IN BUSINESS

Lord, You have prospered the labor of my hands and have given success to my undertakings. Oh, kind and gracious Father, grant me always a grateful heart, that I may never forget how completely unworthy I am of all the mercies and of all the truth You have shown Your servant. Grant me a lively sense of my responsibilities and obligations, which You have placed upon me. Deeply impress upon me the need of remaining humble, of trusting not in wealth or material goods but in You, the living God, and in Your Son, my only Savior. Keep me mindful that You, who have so richly given me all things to enjoy, can quickly take away all that I have. Teach me, O God of love, to be rich in good works, always ready to help my brothers and sisters, ever willing to contribute, according to my abilities, toward the building up of Your kingdom, both here and abroad. By the power of Your Spirit, help me to store up treasure not merely upon this earth, but especially in heaven, which Christ has procured for me by the payment of His precious blood. Amen.


PRAYER IN BUSINESS REVERSALS

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name or the Lord! My dear heavenly Father, Your poor, tormented child flees to You for comfort, peace of mind, guidance, and help. You know better than I the worries and anxious feelings troubling my heart and my mind. There is nowhere else to go in my distress but to You, my gracious Father. Humble me under Your mighty hand, so that I may cast all my cares upon You, the One who loves and cares for me. I know that even these business reversals are sent as a needed humbling for my eternal welfare. Heavenly Father, for the sake of Your Son, my Redeemer, forgive me all my sins. May these losses teach me to know the uncertainty and vanity of all earthly possessions. Create in me that godliness and contentment that is of greater gain. According to Your gracious and holy will, lead me to success and prosperity. If not, then, Lord, let me become richer in faith and in good works. Supply me each day with daily bread, and grant me the grace to live trustingly and to remain as Your loving, obedient child, even as You correct me. Enable me to firmly cling to the words of Your promise: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Your will be done, my Heavenly Father; for Jesus' sake. Amen.


PRAYER FOR THOSE AWAY FROM HOME

Lord, gracious and merciful, who watches over even the sparrow and upholds everything with Your everlasting arms, protect and keep my loved ones while they are away from home. Watch over them tenderly so that no evil comes to them during our separation. Keep them faithful to Your Word and Your Church. Guard and protect them as they are tempted by the lusts of sin and the unbelief of the world. Keep them pure in heart, clean in mind, and healthy in body. Dwell in them day by day. Abide with those of us left behind as well as those who go, and bring them safely home to me and at last to the eternal home in heaven. To You both now and forever be glory and praise, world without end; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.


PRAYER WHILE AWAY FROM HOME

O Lord, who is present everywhere, be very near to those at home, and protect them from every danger of body and soul. Heavenly Father, You comfort me and all Your children with the promises of Your Word that You are our hiding place and refuge -- a very present help in every situation of life. As the caretaker of all who call on You, grant that these promises may give me needed spiritual security. Gracious Lord, turn all things to the good of those who love You, and therefore direct all things in our lives and homes to our eternal welfare. Increase my love for You. You came to me in Baptism, that by grace I might be Your child and You my loving Father. Strengthen me in this gracious gift, that I might ever stand in the blessings bestowed through water and the Word. I confess that I have not always loved You with all my heart, yet in mercy You do not turn away from me. O compassionate Lord, forgive me all my sin. Protect all whom I love during the coming night. Unite us together with You through Your Word and holy Sacrament, through our faith and eternal hope, and in our common confession of our one Lord, until that time when You bring me safely home. In Jesus' name I ask this. Amen.

Please pray for me and my family.

No, I know we have nothing to complain about when you think of military families and how long loved ones are typically apart in that case, but this will be the very first time that I'll be away from all of them for any extended period of time, and the thought of me being gone for 3 full weeks is a bit of a shock to our systems.

Plus, I'll be away during Holy Week and Easter and won't be able to head home even for that weekend to celebrate with them!

That being said, I'm also going to have to find a local LCMS Church to attend while I'm down there. I've done a little research already, but the thought makes me both a little nervous and excited.

Obviously, I don't want to stumble into an apostate congregation where CoWo and "Your Best Life Now!" is all the rage, but I'm also excited at the possibility that I might finally get to see and hear what a confessional and faithful LCMS Church might look and sound like during their Traditional Worship Service this time of year.

Who knows, maybe my experiences will give me something good to write about here in my spare time. In the meantime, I'll be spending most of my free time calling, emailing, and texting my wife and kids.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, please pray "Thy will be done" in our lives while I'm away.

NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that perhaps wouldn't be too big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in interpreting a specific portion of Scripture exegetically, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!

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