PRAYER PLUS HARDWORK EQUAL SUCCESS
“Prayer + hard work = success”
This is my formula for success. I know there are a lot of formulas and strategies to success, some are tested, trusted, and effective while others are the exact opposite.
This is the secret recipe in my formula and I will be handing over to you for a tiny price. Share your secret success formula with me in the comments section.
My Ultimate search for success took me through several routes, journey, formulas, theologies, logic, and philosophies.
Each of these processes was helpful but a lot of them were also missing the key ingredient. The formula was not incomplete so every time I try to solve the equation of life to arrive at success the solution always resulted in errors.
I gave up on the whole “success thing” and decided to live life the way it comes without future plans, goals, and vision. I just existed in the world of the living.
It was during my Anti- success stage that I really got to understand what the word “success” means.
What is prayer?
According to Wikipedia prayer is an act of communicating with a supernatural being either directly or indirectly (through a deity, god or an ancestor).
Most times “a wish” and “prayer” are interchangeably used and this gets really confusing for a lot of people.
Is a wish really a prayer of some sort or is prayer a kind of wish?
Let’s get our facts straight!!
A wish is a strong desire or hope for something that might not happen.
Source: Wikipedia
On the other hand, prayer is a form of communication with a supernatural being either to make a request or offer thanks for an already answered prayer.
The answer is definitely clear, a wish is not a prayer they are completely different concepts.
What does the bible say about prayer?
“True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that – it is a spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.” – Charles Spurgeon
Many passages in the bible speak a lot about how to pray, when to pray, what to pray for, answered prayer, and the right way to pray.(Thessalonians 5: 17, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Pet 5:7).
Prayer is highly emphasized in the bible, different people prayed about certain things and they received the answers to their prayer.
The bible also intertwines prayer with faith, for your prayers to be answered you need to believe that God has heard you and he will respond either by telling you what to do or answering your prayers with evidence.
In Jesus ministry, he taught us how to pray using the lord’s prayer
“Our father who art in heaven”(Matt 6:9 -13), he showed us the act of reverence, thankfulness, confession, intercession, and how we can make our request known to God through our prayers.
The Lord’s prayer was the model Jesus used to teach his disciples how to pray. This prayer showed a particular pattern, it started off with;
(i) Acknowledgement, praise, and reverence for God
(ii) Confession of sins
(iii) Forgiveness
(iv) A prayer of direction
(v) Thanksgiving
Types of prayer
• Intercessory prayers
• Prayer of confession
• Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Prayer of guidance
• Prayer of request etc.
Importance of prayer
(i) Answered prayer
This might look like funny importance of prayer but the truth is without prayers there will be nothing like answered prayers. There has to be a request before you can receive any answers to your prayers. God is not a genie, he doesn’t grant wishes. Turn your wishes to prayers, believes firmly in your prayers and you too will receive an answer.
(ii) Act of obedience and service
The bible instructs us to watch and pray so anytime we pray, we are obeying an instruction.
When we intercede for our family and friends, we are rendering our service. It shows that we care about them, that we feel the pain of their circumstances so we are offering our help by praying for them.
(iii) A stronger relationship
Effective communication helps to build better relationships among humans.
If we want to build a stronger relationship with God, then we need to effectively communicate with him through prayers.
When we establish a strong relationship with God through prayers, it makes us closer to him and we receive amazing rewards and benefits.
(iv) Proffers solutions
How you ever been in a difficult situation without a humanly possible way out of the problem?
At this point, you need supernatural intervention, and the only way to activate this is to pray. Prayer offer solutions to situations beyond our control.
(v) Eradicates frustration
Unprecedented challenges and circumstances can make life really frustrating.
How can you cope with frustrating life experiences?
Talk to someone about it, preferably someone who would not judge or criticize you, who would not talk to other people about it, who would proffer solutions. The best person I can think of is God, talk to God about any frustrating problems and believe me you will feel better and relieve.
Other importance of prayers include;
• It helps you make better decisions.
• Praying helps to change and transform a person.
• You can make requests to God through prayers.
• It offers solutions to tough decisions.
We have spoken a lot about prayers but not about hard work. Let’s consider hard work and then correlate it with success.
What is hard work?
There is a saying that has been misinterpreted by a lot of people. “Work smart, not hard.”
A lot of people have interpreted this statement like this
“There is no need to involve myself in strenuous tasks I just need to act smartly then I can achieve everything I want.”
What’s your take on these two words “smart work” and “hard work”?
Let me begin by with a quote I got from primer magazine;
“Hard work is emotional, not physical”
Therefore,
Hard work begat smart work, it takes a smart person to understand that hard work is simply the application of smart work with the aim of achieving beneficial results.
There is a thin line between stressing and working hard. When someone is stressing, they are focusing all their attention, both physically and mentally with the hope of achieving just one particular thing.
Hard work on the other hand involves a physical focus on a particular thing, mental alertness on the various benefits it could yield(smart work) when the particular goal is achieved.
The next time you hear a successful person talking about hard work, you should understand that it entails smart work.
Importance of hard work
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it. ~ Henry Ford, American industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Co.
• Hard work produces results
• It helps one build focus and resilience.
• Working hard introduces a person to the limelight, it draws attention to your abilities.
• Opportunity is when hard work meets luck. Don’t let that opportunity pass by, be fully ready to grab it.
• You are able to attain self satisfaction when you work hard. Kick out procrastination and strive hard to achieve your set goals.
The relevance of prayer and hard work in achieving success.
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
What is success?
Success is the end product or result of hard work, consistency, dedication, and prayer.
Hard work is made up of dedication, smart work, and consistency.
Prayer requires dedication, hard work, and consistency in order to be effective.
We have outlined a lot of benefits that are attainable when we pray and work hard. You shouldn’t focus on only one aspect of this formula because the two work together.
The correlation between prayer and hard work;
• Prayer will help you eradicate frustration, thereby offering you peace of mind. With this peaceful mind, you can think hard and clearly about the process you need to take in order to achieve certain goals.
• Prayer guides you in making certain difficult decisions and with hard work you can work on the chosen decisions in order to achieve it.
• You make your request known to God and work hard while hoping that your desired answers will come.
• Hard work can drawn attention and opportunities to you. Prayers helps you to control the “feeling of arrival” (in others words pride) that comes with attention.
• Prayer can transform a person but it takes dedication and hard work to maintain the transformation.
As you strive to achieve success, never forget that prayer is hard work and hard work requires smart work. To succeed in life you need a balance between prayer and hard work.
