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1. CREATE SEPARATION
You need something that shifts your attention away from what you were thinking about or listening to on your ‘commute.’
Some form of separation is important to begin the liturgy whether you’re a businessman or a stay at home mom.
2. WRITE A SIMPLE PRAYER
This prayer should be simple enough to repeat each day before you begin your work.
Make this specific to your type of work. If in the medical field, it could include asking for the strength to help a life. If you’re a counselor, it could be asking the Holy Spirit to protect you from taking on any baggage that is not yours to carry. If you’re retired and a grandparent you could ask for energy from the Holy Spirit as you spend time with your grandkids.
You can ask for peace or productivity. You can ask for the Lord to open doors for conversations to occur. You can ask for grace if the schedule gets accidentally highjacked. You can pray for some sort of nap for your kids.
Let the Lord guide you in the writing of this prayer. There are no rules. You can change it depending on the season, the job, or what kind of person you want to become in your workplace.
You're encouraged to have at least one aspect that is "others" focused in your prayer. This will help you remember the opportunity you have to embody the Gospel and to be Christ for others.
3. DO AN ACTION AS A PRAYER
Do not use words. You’re doing something AS a prayer. This teaches you that your life can become a prayer, it’s not just words that you say to God.
You could clean off your desk as an act of God’s mercies being new each day. You could smile or sing as you walk through the door as a prophetic act of being clothed with joy and fighting off heaviness. You could do the Catholic Sign of the Cross right before you clock in to remind yourself of the Godhead before beginning work.
Whatever action you choose to do each day just make sure that you know why you are doing it. The action does not matter all that much, what matters is the heart and intention behind it.
4. LISTEN TO GOD
Take some time to listen and allow the Lord to talk to you.
Ask Him if there’s anyone He wants you to talk with, or any particular focus you should have for your day. You could even ask Him if anything unexpected is coming up that He could prepare you for.
Let Him encourage and direct you.
Give Him space to speak into your workday even if it is only listening for 10 seconds.
5. PRAY DURING YOUR FIRST TASK
This can be quick. Pick a small task that relates to your job that you can begin every day with and pray as you are doing that task.
If you’re opening your email inbox, you could pray a simple prayer asking God to bless your responses to the emails that you will send today. If you are about to wake your kids up and turn on their bedroom lights, you could pray that the Lord illuminates their hearts with His love that day. If you’re a teacher and your first task is to write the daily calendar on the board, you could thank the Lord for blessing each moment of the day as you teach.
This should be simple. The purpose of this step is to carry prayer into your workday. This helps prevent prayer from being something that you only do at home or before you start your work.
The hope is that you continue to pray throughout your day and during your tasks as you remember to.
That’s the general idea. Follow the guide and create your own liturgy for your workplace. Commonly known as the 2nd space, you can also create one following the same steps for a 3rd space prayer liturgy. It can all be prayed in literally one or two minutes each morning if you so choose. The length of a prayer liturgy does not imply holiness. Make it relevant to you. Keep in mind that the real power of this tool comes from consistency. Commit to doing it for a month and just see what the Lord does during your workday as a result. You’re headed in the right direction of praying without ceasing, specifically in your workplace.
If you want an example of a completed liturgy click the button above. This is the liturgy that Ian did every single day when we was a server at a restaurant.
If you want to take an evaluation to see how you're currently living a life of 'Hippie' prayers then click the button above to take this quiz. It will give you suggested next steps on how to take your next step in this journey.
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