Prayers for Workers: Joy When Your Work is Fruitful

Many, LORD, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.

Psalm 4:6-7

Prayer:

Gracious God, I love the joy of accomplishment, the delight that comes when my hard work is fruitful. It feels great to know my labor matters. Thank you for the gift of joy, for the ability to feel glad over the results of my work.

Yet, Lord, help me also to remember that even my own work is imbued with your grace. You have given me talents and capabilities. You have blessed me with strength and endurance. The very air I breathe is a gift from you. Thank you!

Plus, I will never fully know all the ways you are blessing and helping me as I work. Though I know my effort matters, I also know that you are shining your face upon me as I work. So my fruitfulness is never mine alone. It is shared with others—and most of all, with you.

So, dear Lord, as I rejoice when my work is fruitful, may I also be thankful for your grace at work in me, through me, and all around me. Amen.

Ponder Throughout the Day:

God’s grace is at work in you today as you do your work. Can you see it?

For Further Reflection:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Explore more at the Theology of Work Project online
commentary:
Bringing Our Enemies and Opponents to God (Psalms 4, 6, 7, 17)