About the Business of Prayer

Thinking of Prayer Like Business

The Business of Prayer – Part 3

One of the questions we like to ask when it comes to this topic is what does this phrase “business of prayer” bring to mind? What does it say to you? I’ll state this here since it might not be so obvious. Normal people think of prayer in simple terms. Normal will have you think of prayer as one dimensional which means we rarely process the other dimensions of prayer. This is normal. Regardless of what you think, we get very little teaching on the subject anyway and therefore not many dimensions of prayer are known. That could be for one of two reasons.
Reason 1 – people have never been taught beyond the basics and simply don’t know.
Reason 2 – a little prayer goes a long way which means we’re okay with and stop at our little prayers. (
That was to the left a little.)
Let me remind you that this is next-level prayer and the goal is to take what you know (be it little) to the next level.


In this section, we have to come to grips that there is a business dimension to prayer. It’s not simply us going to God and He answering the requests we ask for and those we’ve not asked for. We are going to look into the business side of your prayers. Some often wonder why few people have great results while the rest rarely see their prayers answered. It’s because those rare (uncommon) few have connected with a few of the other dimensions of prayer. They are serious about prayer, spend time improving, and study how it works. Are you serious enough about prayer? Are you serious enough to pray because of what’s at stake if you don’t? We believe that the average person has a 10% answered prayer success rate and it’s our goal to get you to a 90+% answered prayer success rate. This is the business of prayer; this is next level prayer!

Think of Prayer Like Business
Let’s think through this concept of business for a moment. Think of the business you work for or the one you own. How much work do you put into it on a daily basis? A lot. How much work do you put into running the business God has given you, called your life? Do you put as much time into this? A next level person works harder on himself or herself than on their job. This work includes prayer.

Thinking back to business. In the work I do and have done, working is serious. In fact there’s very little time spent playing while at work. It’s a serious time; you’re trying to accomplish something whether on your own or with a team of individuals. Prayer is no different. You’re trying to accomplish something whether on your own or with a group of individuals. In work, we have tools, skills, and experiences that we use to accomplish our goals. Prayer requires the use of tools, skills, and experiences in order to accomplish your goals for which you pray.

Prayer is a part of the Business
I didn’t choose this word “business” arbitrarily, but with intentionality. It’s said that when Jesus was twelve that his mother and father went looking for him as he wasn’t with them as they returned to their hometown. They found him amongst the teachers in the temple. A famous story that introduced Jesus leaving childhood and becoming an adult. When they questioned his actions as His parents, his response was surprising and unusual. I’m not surprised as Jesus is the ultimate example of an uncommon, next level, person. This is what he said, “Why do you seek Me? Did you not know I must be about “My Father’s business?” [1]

He’s in the temple and this phrase “business” left them with a lack of understanding. He related His actions in the temple to that of business. As done today, we often segment church (religion) out of business and business out of religion (church). Here it is Jesus is saying His work, God’s work, is business. In the same way, prayer is a part of the business that God has you working.

Based on this thought, there is a business dimension to prayer that needs to be addressed. For example prayer takes work. How are you organizing the work of prayer so that you can get it (prayer) accomplished? What metrics do you have to report on when it relates to your prayers? What times do you have set to offer prayer? What are the tasks you’d like to cover on Sunday verses Monday, Tuesday, etc.? Do you have a list of prayers you’d like to pray for your child, your significant other? So forth and so on? What are you praying over your job and the company in which you work? When was the last time you prayed for your bank accounts and the financial institutions that serve you? What prayers have you offered over your calendar? Future appointments and past appointments? What prayer targets do you have when it comes to your growth and productivity? When was the last time you prayed for next steps with your own personal mission? This is the business of prayer.

In the coming messages, we will expound on this idea of the business of prayer. How can you expect results when you’ve never asked for any results? The Bible says you have not because you ask not. [2] In what areas of your life have you not asked God? In what areas have you not been about Your Father’s business, your life? With this in mind, we better get to asking. Make it your business to ask. In the words of Jesus, I must be about My Father’s business. My part includes doing the business of prayer. This is next-level prayer!

Question: what comes to your mind when you think of this phrase “the business of prayer?”

[1] Luke 2:49-50 NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed April 5, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/114/LUK.2.49-50.NKJV
[2] James 4:2 NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed April 5, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/JAS.4.2.NLT

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.

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