Workday Prayers: More Majestic Than the Mighty Waters

Scripture Reading: Psalm 93:3-4 (NRSV)

The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
+++the floods have lifted up their voice;
+++the floods lift up their roaring.
More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
+++more majestic than the waves of the sea,
+++majestic on high is the LORD!

Prelude

Have you ever visited a large waterfall? Perhaps Yosemite Falls in California in springtime when the snow is melting? Or Niagara Falls on the U.S./Canadian border? Or maybe Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or Iguazú Falls in Argentina and Brazil?

If you’ve experienced one of these waterfalls or others like them, then you get the feeling of Psalm 93. You’ve heard the “roaring” of the floods and the “thunder of mighty waters.” I’ve been near the base of Yosemite Falls and can attest to just how loud it is—like being near a fighter jet taking off, but 100% natural. The roaring of God, you might say.

When we’re in such mind-blowing natural grandeur, it’s easy to think of the greatness of God. We marvel at what God has created and how it reveals just a bit of God’s majesty. It’s harder to remember God when we’re at work, focused on some overdue project, trying to ignore office gossip, or getting chewed out by our boss.

Yet, even in our workplaces, God is still glorious, powerful, and incomparably grand. Sometimes we need Scripture, passages like Psalm 93, to lift our hearts beyond our work so we can remember just how amazing God is. Then, we can return to our work with new perspective and energy, our hearts full of praise.

Prayer

Gracious God, as I do my work today, it’s easy for me to get so focused on what I’m doing that I forget you. I don’t reject you. I just fill my mind with the mundane things of work. But, somehow, this can effectively make you smaller, not in reality, but in how I perceive you. Forgive me for diminishing you in my thoughts and feelings.

O God, may I recover my wonder over your majesty. May my mind be stretched with thoughts of your incomparable glory. May my heart be stirred by the reality of your power.

The thundering of storms proclaims your might, O God. It announces your power and presence. How stunned I am!

The roar of mighty waters cannot compare to the roar of your presence, the booming of your sovereignty. Your greatness exceeds anything I will ever know.

So I praise you this day for your strength and beauty. I praise you for you awesome majesty. And as I do, I ask you to lift my eyes above my work for a moment, so that I might return to what lies before me refreshed—eager to serve you in, yes, the mundane things of work. Be glorified, O God, in everything I do and say today. Amen.

Ponder Throughout the Day

No matter what you’re facing at work today, God is still glorious and gracious.

For Further Reflection

You may wish to read all of Psalm 93.

If you want to have some fun, check out this video of Niagara Falls. It’s 12 hours long, though you don’t have to listen to the whole thing. It will give you a sense of the power, majesty, and loudness of these falls.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the High Calling archive, hosted by the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: What Is God’s Majesty Really All About?

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