"May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us." Psalm 90:17
As a creative, I spend a lot of my time daydreaming. Most of my time is spent being a visionary, and thinking about hopes and dreams I have for the future.
This is one of my favorite parts of the creative process. But I'm tempted to say that the more important part is actually taking the idea and putting a plan into action.
It's just a dream or a hope until I actually start building or creating something.
But, I think if I went just from the idea to action I would be missing the most important step: prayer.
This word "establish" is presented to us here in the form of a prayer for work. Moses prays, "May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us."
This prayer is the prayer I often place over all of my work. I admire the posture I read here; God is the one who is establishing the work, He is the one with the power, and we take on a posture of reliance and dependence on Him.
In our world we are often taught to admire hard work, discipline, and hustle. It's trendy and cool to spend hours on work, to have a side-hustle, and to be working tirelessly to create something that matters.
How do we create something that matters? How do we create something that lasts beyond us? How do we build a legacy that honors God?
In Psalm 127:1 we read, "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain."
We are presented with so many ideas of what "success" is in the world today. A lot of people are building and creating really cool and valuable things, but they are also doing it without committing those things to the Lord.
This word is for you if you are hoping to create or build something in the coming year. Maybe you want to create or build a business, maybe you are hoping to establish the foundation you will pass on to your kids, or maybe you are dreaming about the legacy you hope to leave to those you interact with every day.
It's so easy to go from the daydreams to the action. Instead of going straight from the hope and dream to the action, let's have hearts that echo this prayer.
Let's invite God to "establish" the work we dream about
and then take action.
I love this comment from BibleRef.com on this verse, "We can do more than pray, but we cannot do anything eternally significant until we pray."
Amen!
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