I heard an inspiring "I-could-do-that" story this morning at an all-city prayer meeting for the marketplace in our community. The worship leader paused behind his guitar and told us about the three or so years he worked at Starbucks. At first it was just a job to pay the bills, he said. But gradually, God turned it into a powerful prayer ministry.
How? One morning the young man sensed God inviting him to pray a simple prayer: "Lord, is there anything You want to say to folks through me today?" Well, guess what--there was!
As he started praying that question as part of his morning going-to-work routine, each day new people would open up and share bits of their lives with this friendly baristo who served up their latte's. He'd offer to pray for them, and they'd often accept. Usually they were just simple, 30-second prayers. But God answered them and made paths to their hearts through these simple acts of love and prayer. He healed people and worked other miracles. He made Himself real to the ones that received prayer. Eventually, word traveled, and people made special trips to that Starbucks just so they could be prayed for. Over his three-year tenure, our worship leader estimated that he ministered to more that 1,100 people.
His workplace became a meeting place, where people who would never go to church could come and meet with God. And, the worship leader suggested, "Your workplace could become a meeting place, too. Perhaps God has things He wants to say to folks you encounter each day . . . through you."
Do you have prayer-and-workplace stories? If you do, please take a moment to share them with us!