Praying Always

Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts.  Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. – Psalm 28:3-4

What we do is heard by God as much or more than what we say.  As you may recall, Tomberg talks about the various forms of prayer, one of which is true work, which he defines as work done with one hundred percent effort.  Work may be intellectual in pursuit of truth, reflecting the phrase of the Lord’s Prayer which says, Hallowed by thy name, or creative, reflecting, Thy kingdom come, or yet our effort to provide for the supply of material needs as in, Give us this day our daily bread.  God bestows a benediction in keeping with the nature of this form of prayer.

Just so when the wicked pray by means of their wicked works, God pays them in their coin of choice.  God does not pay every Friday because He is loving and merciful and long-suffering, but when He does pay, it is in full.  For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality, as Paul says.

While we’re in Colossians 3, we might as well think about why full effort makes all our work spiritual.  It is because we are acknowledging the One for whom we are really working.  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.  Our full effort presses us beyond our physical, mental and emotional limitations.  Like suffering, our exertion forces us to rely upon the spiritual component of our being and draws Christ more intimately into our lives.  Work, when done with the right perspective, is communion and identification with the Lord.  We can obey the admonition to pray without ceasing as we give ourselves wholly to God in whatever it is that we do.