I often hear the question from other Christian entrepreneurs, how do I interweave my faith into my vocation?
There are many ways to do this, but I believe the most important way is to interject your prayer life into your company.
The three ways we brought prayer life into Beratung are:
- Prayer Letters
- Intercessory Prayer Meeting
- Prayer Breakfasts
The Prayer Letters
In November of 2015, my wife and I were having a horrible week which was the culmination of several things. In the midst of our troubles, we got a letter in the mail from the Pastor of our Church, Rev. Dan Smail, which not only impacted our lives but changed they way I viewed praying over others.
Prior to receiving this letter, I had prayed for my clients when they shared something that I felt called to pray over but I never prayed regularly over my clients or over all my clients. I also very rarely shared with my clients that I was praying over them.
At the time I received the letter, I was still working at a fortune 500 company where sharing this with my clients was not an option. I proceeded to start the practice of picking 5 clients every Monday and praying over them each day that week. And instead of sending a letter telling them I was praying over them, I wrote handwritten thank you notes stating my gratitude for allowing me to serve them.
As I was called to launch a company, I continued the practice of praying daily over 5 clients each week, but I was able to start sharing it with them through a letter that followed the same pattern of the letter we got from our pastor.
The impact of praying over your clients’ weekly changes how you view your clients and how you approach serving them. It will force you into a gratitude mindset even in the bustle of day-to-day service.
However, the impact only starts there. These letters have led to conversations with clients about my faith and opens clients up to hearing a Gospel message. It has led to intimate conversations where clients have shared with me that the week that letter came was a week when they needed prayers more than ever. I have heard stories of being near divorce, stress, depression, and even suicide. They have shared that getting that letter and knowing someone loved them and was praying for them was the turning point of their depression.
In addition, another impact is because more is caught than taught. By modeling this prayer life, it is normalizing this practice to our team and clients. Just as the letter from my pastor caused me to add this to my daily disciplines, the letters we send have undoubtably sparked others to do the same. I hope sharing this with you inspires you to do the same. It only takes a few moments to pray over someone and share it with them. You never know who needs the prayers.
The Intercessory Prayer Meeting
In February 2022 I had my first panic attack of my life. I found myself overwhelmed with fear and stress and that there was no path to future growth for my company, that everything was out of my control, that all I had worked for was for nothing.
There was not one issue that caused this anxiety and stress, instead a series of attacks over the course of the prior months with the last one being the “straw that broke the camels back.” I found myself curled in a fetal position on my couch shaking, something I thought would never happen to me.
I was blessed with an amazing support system through my wife and mentors that helped me get through that dark time and to remember that I am not in control of my life, God is.
As I started to work on a path forward one of my mentors, Rick Newton, suggested since my company is God’s company that I start a companywide intercessory prayer meeting. He told me when he was in a similar spot with his company in earlier years, he started an intercessory prayer meeting. At first it was just him and his wife. And as they continued the meetings as the company grew, more people joined the prayer meeting.
After prayer and contemplation, I felt called to put this to action at Beratung. I looked through our calendar to pick out a day and time that would work in our weekly rhythms, a slot that could be consistent week to week and announced it to the team.
Little did I realize at the time, in my haste to pick a day and get it started soon, that the day I picked was Ash Wednesday, which is the start of lent. It started in the season of repentance, reflection with prayer, fasting and almsgiving, a sign to me that this was part of God’s plan.
This first prayer meeting started with just Sarah Buchko and I and has grown to have more team members join us. In the meeting we pray over our company, our clients, our team, our community, and our country. We pray for wisdom and discernment as we guide and lead this company, he has entrusted us with. We gave thanks, praise and share our gratitude with God.
We have moved the time and day around several times to better accommodate our weekly schedule and provide better opportunities for people to join. Currently we pray every Tuesday at 11:15 following our weekly team meeting at Beratung East.
Nobody is forced to join. It’s open to any team member or client that wants to join us. What’s been amazing is we have had team members join that are not believers and had different team members volunteer to lead the prayers that would not normally want to lead. As with the prayer letters, it normalizes this practice.
What is most amazing is that God used this dark season to change our company for his good, and focus our attention back to him and doing his kingdom work. What happened over those next 40 days of lent was nothing short of an amazing transformation of our company and setting us up for future growth.
All you need to do to start a weekly intercessory prayer meeting is pick a date, invite others, and pray!
Prayer Breakfast
The last major way we have integrated prayer life into our company is through prayer breakfasts. We regularly attend and invite others to prayer breakfasts. This includes the annual Pittsburgh Prays Prayer Breakfast hosted by Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation and Kingdom Advisor’s Prayer breakfast at conferences we attend.
By creating an opportunity, showing up for it and supporting it, we are again normalizing this practice to our team. When they come to a breakfast full of other business leaders coming together in prayer, it has a profound impact on them and encourages them to reflect and connect with God.
In addition to our team, we invite friends and centers of influence. You never know who the Holy Spirit will impact that day. Just invite others and if you are able to, cover the costs.
There are many ways to incorporate your faith into your work. I have shared just three ways we do this with prayer as the cornerstone but there are many other ways we share our faith and ways you can too.
Through it all, just be authentic to the person God has called you to be. They will know we are Christians by our love. Love others and let them wonder what compels you to act the way you act. Eventually they will ask you about your faith and let you share the Gospel with them.
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
The opinions expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of LPL Financial.
