When I decided to pen this testimony to glorify God for how He has given me a career breakthrough, I began mulling over a good title for the article. As a journalist, I pay close attention to headlines – both in their spirit and letter. So it’s simply wonderful that on the day I set my heart on writing the testimony, I was led to the day’s devotion of “Our Daily Bread” series. Titled “Beware of what you want”, the devotion talks about the first sin – desire, or more specifically covetousness. Behold! I have found the headline for my piece, though with a slight twist. While I don’t mean to equate prayers to anything covetous, there is always the danger of our petitions to God going off-course. Yes, we can fall into the tendency of dictating to God what we want. From the way God has moved to give me a career switch, I’ve learnt that attitude and posture are key in our prayers.
Sensing that work commitments were gradually drawing me away from God, I started praying for the Lord to open the doors of opportunity for me. I needed not just a job change, but a career switch. Honestly, I had no idea then how things would pan out. I’m already 50 years old and the only skill I possess is editing and writing. And if I were to stick to journalism, the work demands would be pretty much the same no matter which organization I move to. But as the Lord says in Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are completely different from yours, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” I believe it was more than a case of fortuity that my attention was drawn to an advertisement on a vacancy for the post of editorial manager in a reputable agency. A series of events following that convinced me that God’s hand was at work, and that I just had to respond to seize the opportunity.
At a Sunday service on April 18, the day before I put in my application for the new job, I felt extremely at peace for the first time in a long while. It was like a replay of the hour I first believed. And as Pastor Daniel asked the congregation to turn their seats into an altar at the start of worship, I prayed fervently asking God to help me move on in this journey with the Lord. Thereafter, Psalm 145 was flashed on the big screen for the congregation to recite. [Only much later did I realize the significance of Psalm 145:18 – The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely (NLT).] There you are, it’s a matter of attitude in our prayer – why we are asking what we are asking from God. The essence of my prayer that morning was for God to land me a job that would allow me to do more for Him, and to spend more quality time with my family. In my heart, there was no yearning for a better-paying job or a more prestigious one. I was merely asking for a job with regular hours - no late-night shift, no Sunday duty. That, I believe, confers “the right attitude” on my prayer.
At the end of his sermon that morning, Pastor Chew made an altar call for those in need of prayers, whether it’s about a relationship problem, a financial issue, a career crossroads or anything at all. I immediately stood up at the place I was sitting, the first time in more than two years that I had responded to an altar call. And I thank God for my boldness and humility in responding to the call. For when I sent in my job application the next morning, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of confidence that God was going to help me. In the days and weeks after that, I continued to ask for and received plenty of prayer support from family and friends. And as they say, the rest is history. I was shortlisted for an interview and subsequently offered the post of editorial manager. It’s a regular-hour job with a weekend rest. And it came with a substantial salary increase. Well, God did give me more than I asked for. So, what’s the moral of the story? The posture of our prayer, I believe. Though we can and should lock ourselves in our room to seek God’s help, He is also pleased to see us humbling ourselves and submitting to prayers openly. Hallelujah!
By Yeap Boo Yam
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