The following is contributed by a worker in the Middle East.
I recently spoke to a business owner in South Asia who said they pray every morning at the office, before they begin work. By the way, by “they” I don’t mean a bunch of western workers, but rather, a few westerners and their Muslim employees. One day, the business owner forgot to pray, because things started off quite hectic, and one of his Muslim employees said, “Boss, we need to pray before we start the day!”
The type of transformation we are seeing across the 10/40 window is of the slow, but deeply-rooted, kind. People are seeing that when we live as followers of Jesus, they want what we have as they see it unfold in our lives over time. Living like followers of Jesus means that we have to be different, not over-contextualized or trying-too-hard-to-be-like-them. When we refuse to hide, and live out loud, they see in us the very transformative power of Jesus we are wanting them to see. Furthermore, people are seeing their employees and their families healed, both during the workday and after work. What a powerful witness to work daily alongside someone whose mother was healed of cancer through one’s own prayers.
Prayer is one of our main tools to fight the enemy’s kingdom. It’s likened to calling in airstrikes when we are pinned down by groundfire. The enemy we face is no match for our Airforce, and when we pray (call in the Spirit of God) big things happen. I’m hearing from all over the 10/40 window, story after story, of prayer resulting in opportunities to testify to the greatness of Jesus and eventually transformed lives. We serve a powerful God.
I have prayed many times for something big to happen, and watched God work, only to bask in the answer to that prayer and not continue to press in. Brothers and sisters, we must not relent in our prayerfulness so that we might see Him do even greater things than what we have seen so far. Unleash a spirit of prayer in your business and watch God do crazy things amongst you for His glory and your/their joy.
OPEN USA supports workers in the 10/40 Window, who are doing Business for Transformation. This author’s identifying information has been withheld due to security reasons. To learn more about OPEN USA and B4T, visit Find Yourself in B4T.