Prayer is powerful in every domain of life, even business

I own a business, a small publishing company, and since I got into business 4 years ago, in my forties, with no previous training or experience, I need to run it by prayer. Which I do. Successfully when I remember to pray, stressfully when I do not.

And here’s an example which is pretty amazing. We have published nearly 400 books over the last 3 years, with the help of 7 of our friends who are working with us. We’ve entered 40 of them into various wholesaler’s networks, and they have sold almost as much as the remaining 350 which we sell through retail outlets. So we’ve wanted to get all our books into wholesale channels and get out of retail.

But, though we have wanted to do this ALL YEAR, and were in agreement on it, setting up the titles with images, description and details to fit the wholesaler’s specifications is time-consuming. And somehow, much to our frustration, things kept coming up which seemed to be a higher priority. It was becoming like Mr. Holland’s Opus (remember that heart-breaking film?) and Roy was getting most irritated and frustrated by it, as was I, to a lesser degree.

Last Friday, it struck me: Gosh, I haven’t prayed for time. And so I did. “Lord, please provide time for us to undertake this massive project.”

And almost instantly, He did. Our clever daughter, Zoe, almost 16, who like Irene, 11, has a solid understanding of our business, having  seen it grow from nothing and been involved in all our deliberations about it over the supper table, came up with a solution. The printer had all the data. Get the printer to send us his spreadsheets. Upload those to the distribution networks. We did that, and in a few hours, the mammoth task was done.

Lesson 1. Automate everything you can.

Lesson 2. Never ever forget to pray!!