Ora et labora, pray and work, is the rhythm of the Christian life. Americans tend to put many other things on their daily and weekly to-do list, and prayer may not make the list at all, but for believers the two primary occupations are prayer and work. This is the opus Dei, the work of God, that which he assigns to us as his image-bearers, lords of creation, and kings and priests in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Many of us probably have an unhealthy misunderstanding of work and an unbiblical and misguided idea of what an unsanctified culture refers to as “work–life balance.” There is no such thing. Work is life, at least a central part of it. Scripture knows nothing of a “work–life” dichotomy. It calls us to two patterns: work–rest and work–prayer.
Of course, prayer is part of the work God has given us to do. Epaphras labored in prayer for the welfare and spiritual growth of the Colossian saints (Col. 4:12). An important part of every day’s labor should be praising and thanking the God of heaven and praying his mercy and blessings for his people and this world. Prayer is not the kind of work by which we bend things and move God as if with a crowbar. Prayer is the work by which God bends and transforms us. Prayer does change things in this world, but it is first and foremost a means of grace by which God changes people who pray.
Prayer is work in the sense that exercise is work. It builds one’s faith, hope, love, endurance, and understanding. This is one reason that praying the Psalms is so important. If left to myself, my prayers will inevitably be self-centered, shallow, and erratic. The Psalter disciplines my life so that the hours of prayer are filled with divine grandeur, kingdom priorities, and the spiritual warfare that exists throughout the created universe.
Sabbath involves rest, but not primarily the rest that requires a couch or La-Z-Boy—though power nap to the glory of God if you have time on Sunday afternoons. Sabbath is the holy resting from one part of our vocation, labora, that we may give ourselves more fully to the first part of our vocation, ora, prayer. Prayer is a larger category than just what happens when we fold our hands and close our eyes and whatever we say before Amen. Singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is prayer. Reading Scripture can (should) be prayer. Greeting our brethren can also be prayer. Remember Boaz and his servants’ greetings in the field: “Yahweh be with you! Yahweh bless you!”
God’s saints have been praying all week. We have been praying in common, but most days we have been doing it alone. Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day, and we will gather to pray together, with one heart and voice. We will pray responsively, we will pray melodically, and we will pray biblically. We will say Amen with a great shout, because we have a holy boldness in the Spirit knowing our prayers are acceptable to the Father because of the righteousness of the Son. God will speak to us, and we will pray to him, back and forth, again and again, from beginning to the end. The Lord is summoning us to the house of prayer. Let us go up with joy and present our prayers as holy sacrifices and incense to the glory of God. --JME
