Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Prayer

"Pray without ceasing." [I Thessalonians 5:17]

One aspect of Software Development you are not likely to see in many courses is prayer. While prayer is never mentioned in the Bible regarding computer programming, we are taught that prayer should accompany every aspect of our lives.

For many, this means going to God in prayer when we or loved ones are extremely sick, or we lose a job, or some other form of life circumstance that is hard to deal with. For some, it also means giving up prayers of thanksgiving for the joys and blessings of life.

Most, I daresay, especially those who work in technical fields like IT, sequester off their professional life in their minds, to the point that prayer hardly seems relevant to a world of servers and Internet browsers.

Consider, however, Matthew 21:22

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

In teaching His disciples about faith, Jesus makes the bold, but true, statement that there are no aspects of life forbidden from the realm of prayer. We know that unrighteous or sinful desires are inherently excepted, both by the "believing" criteria, and by the expounding of Peter (3:12) and James (1:5, 4:3). But all things are to be considered, meaning that there's not anything we can think up, in belief and a righteous heart, that is disqualified.

What does this mean? Pray for your IT work.

Are you about to start a new software project? Sincerely pray that it goes well, before during and after implementation.

Are you tasked with a seemingly impossible programming task? Pray for wisdom to see it through.

If we believe that God held the rain for Elijah for three years and six months based on his prayer, we ought also to believe that God can accomplish similar work today. It's not too hard for Him to grant you wisdom to decipher any API, or figure out the root of a backup error. If you're not accustomed to it, it may seem "silly" at first. But don't let that put you off. There's nothing too big for God, and there's nothing too "mundane" for Him to concern Himself with it.

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. " [I Peter 5:6-7]

And, when the Lord answers your prayer, don't forget to render a prayer of thanksgiving for it.

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;" [Colossians 4:2]

- ckb

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for blogging this. I'm not sure how I found your blog, but I was glad to read this post.

I admit that I am one who either forgets to pray, or I am under the mistaken perception that my problems are too small for an omnipotent God to care about. Quite the opposite is true, the omnipotent Creator of the universe, who spoke the world into existence from nothing, asks us to cast our cares upon Him.

What a wonderful God we serve!