{"id":2405,"date":"2015-09-04T09:42:21","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T13:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2405"},"modified":"2015-09-04T09:42:21","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T13:42:21","slug":"a-prayer-for-business-competitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/09\/a-prayer-for-business-competitors.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for Business Competitors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\u2019 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust\u201d <\/i>Matthew 5:43-48.<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s contextualize Jesus\u2019s words for businesses. He might say today, \u201cLove your competitors and pray for those who steal your market share.\u201d<\/i> Really?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an engineer knows his machine, God knows how we humans function best. He says \u201cpray for your competitor\u201d <\/i>because bitterness is poison. When we judge, our criticisms boomerang, and the troubles I wish on the competitors return to my head (Matt<\/i>. 7:1). I\u2019m better off blessing!<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, not all competitors have \u201cpersecuted\u201d us. But nonetheless, it can be hard to wish them success. The answer: Don’t listen to your feelings; listen to Jesus!<\/span><\/p>\n

You may be saying, \u201cSo when do I begin to pray for my<\/i> success?\u201d Not yet. Not today. Today, let\u2019s do something only Jesus would think up. Let\u2019s pray for our competitors! Perhaps you don\u2019t have direct competitors in your job. Okay, but you do recognize the tendency to compete for advantage. Audit your relationships and pray for the person you tend to compare your life against\u2026 That\u2019s often a good indicator.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Dare you\u2026<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Take a drive by their office, or look up their website, or go buy their product; take their product, or find some other tangible way to represent who they are and what they do. From there, ask God to bless this person and their labors. Perhaps read a favorite promise from the Bible as a prayer for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember<\/i>\u2026<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Blessing is not a zero-sum game with God. He can bless you and<\/i> someone else in a win-win way. There\u2019s plenty of goodness to go around! Give it away!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\u2019 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1342,1328,1341,1343,581,1326],"class_list":["post-2405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-blessing-our-enemies","tag-business","tag-business-competitors","tag-jesus-command","tag-obedience","tag-success-in-business"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer for Business Competitors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/09\/a-prayer-for-business-competitors.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for Business Competitors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\u2019 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. 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