Hope for Us All
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I read a lot. One of the things I stumbled across (which, no doubt, will interest my friend and long-distance colleague David Koyzis) was a prayer used by those individuals who paint icons in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
As I read it, I thought how appropriate it is as a leadership prayer. Here it is, in its entirety:
Teach me, Lord, to use wisely the time
which You have given me and to work well
without wasting a second.
Teach me to profit from my past mistakes
without falling into a gnawing doubt.
Teach me to anticipate the project without worry,
to imagine the work without despair
if it should turn out differently.
Teach me to unite haste and slowness,
serenity and ardor, zeal and peace.Help me at the beginning of the work
when I am the weakest.
Help me in the middle of the work
when my attention must be sustained.
And especially fill all the emptiness of my work with Your Presence.
Lord, in all the work of my hands,
bestow Your Grace so that it can speak to others
and my mistake can speak to me alone.
Keep me in the hope of perfection,
without which I would lose heart,
yet keep me from achieving perfection,
for surely I would be lost in arrogance.
Purify my sight when I am doing poorly,
for one is never sure that the work will turn out badly;
Yet when I am doing well, one is never sure
that the work will turn out well.
Lord, let me never forget
that all knowledge is in vain unless there is work.
And all work is empty unless there is love.
And all love is hollow unless it binds me
both to others and to You.
Lord, teach me to pray with my hands, my arms, and all my strength.
Remind me that the work of my hands belongs to You
And that it is fitting to return this gift to You.
Yet, if I work for the pleasure of others,
like a flowering plant in the evening
I will wither.
But if I work for the love of goodness,
I will remain in goodness.
And the time to work for goodness and for Your Glory is now.
Consider this prayer as you go about your daily work, and remember that your work has meaning before God. Do not fall into the trap of believing that some work is secular and some work is sacred, but remember that for those who have repented and put their trust in Jesus Christ, everything is sacred. In the words of Abraham Kuyper, “There is not a square inch on the whole plain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord over all, does not proclaim: ‘This is mine!’”
May we, like the iconographers, honor God through the work we do.