Pay to pray? I think LEGO's founder would approve. Here's why.
Devote yourselves to prayer. (Colossians 4:2)
Ole Kirk Christiansen didn’t live long enough to see LEGO become the most successful toy company in history. But he did live long enough to see something even greater: a glimpse of how his work honored his Lord.
Just a few months before his death, Christiansen attended a party to mark his company’s 25th year in the toy business. Christiansen’s son Godtfred, by then the day-to-day leader of LEGO, locked eyes with his father and said, “We all know that this company was born during a time of great struggle and adversity, and that its motto has always been ‘Pray and work.’...You have created something of genuine social benefit, Dad!...I can venture to say that all of us gathered here will continue to strive to do our best, and that our motto remains ‘Pray and work.’”
Ole Kirk Christiansen’s life reminds us that we glorify God by devoting ourselves to prayer. Because as Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”
Don’t just nod your head and assent to that truth. Practically respond to it by blurring the lines between your prayer and your work today. Take some action to ensure you work more closely with God as you do this work for him.
What can that look like practically? A few months ago, I shared a few practices that are working well for me. Here are three more you might try.
#1: Pay to pray. My buddy Hunter recently hired a part-time employee whose only job is to pray for Hunter’s employees and clients. That may sound cold to you. To me it sounds bold. Hunter is putting his money where his mouth is when he says that he values prayer.
#2: Set a silent alarm to pray every hour. On your phone, watch, calendar. Whatever works for you works.
#3: Pray for a different person you work with every day, week, or month. Just one. And then tell that person that you’ve prayed for them. This is an evangelistic softball, my friends. I’ve never met an unbeliever who was offended that I prayed for them. I’m confident the same will be true for you.
I’m praying Ole Kirk Christiansen’s story has inspired you and, more importantly, given you concrete ways to glorify God more fully in your work. Honor his legacy by praying while you work today. Because as pastor Tim Keller said, it is “through prayer” that we bring “heaven into the ordinary,” and “see the world differently, even in the most menial and trivial daily tasks.”
