A Workspace Blessing

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. – Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

When was the last time you blessed your workspace?

At the end of the workday, the average employee is thinking about doing many things. But blessing their space is probably not one of them.

For people who work in hard jobs and under unpleasant conditions, the workplace does not feel like a place of blessing but something to endure. But what if you blessed your space anyway?

For people who enjoy their work and look forward to it, the workplace can be a place of productivity and service. But let’s not take that for granted. Why not bless your space anyway?

It had never occurred to me to bless a workspace until a parishioner asked me to bless her office. She invited her staff but made sure they knew it was optional. After all, we live in a multi-faith world, which includes people of no faith. Nonetheless a group gathered, and I prayed with them about their work and asked God for a blessing upon the office.

Not every workplace or employer could pull off something like that. But there is nothing to prevent any one of us from blessing the space where we work with a simple prayer like this one:

A Workplace Blessing
Loving God, I speak your grace, love and mercy into this place. Bless my job with meaning and purpose, productivity and usefulness, so that even my smallest task brings you honor. Thank you for the gifts you have given to me to do this work. I do not take them lightly, but commit to using them responsibly and well. Bless the others who work with me. Make me grateful for their gifts and patient with their shortcomings. Like them, I have my share of both. Lastly, I acknowledge your mysterious power over all that I will speak, think, do or decide here, when I open my heart to the power of your blessing. Amen.

About the Author
Lillian Daniel is Senior Pastor at First Congregational Church in Dubuque, Iowa. She is the author of Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To and When “Spiritual but not Religious” is Not Enough.