Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

We continue our series of excerpts from “Matthew Henry on a Practical Method of Daily Prayer.” These will be without the usual comments and study references. My hope is that people will be like the Bereans, as described in Acts 17:11, and will put Henry’s writing to the test.

Directive Two Continued:

When you go to work, Henry wrote, your job “calls for your constant attendance every day, and all the day.” But do not neglect God in your work. Work in the presence of God. Open the doors of your shop with the thought that you are on God’s appointed road of obedience and you depend on God to bless you in it. See every customer or client as a person sent by divine providence. Perform every transaction in justice as if God’s holy eye were upon you. Look to God for the skill to make an honest profit by honest diligence.

If you take a book into your hands, be it “God’s book, or any other useful good book,” rely on God to make it profitable to you. Do not waste time reading unprofitable books. When you read, do so not out of vain curiosity but with love for God’s kingdom, compassion for human beings, and the intent to turn what you learn into prayers and praises. When you sit down for lunch, remember that the Creator gave us the right to eat of His created provisions, but we must eat and drink for the glory of God. When you visit friends, be thankful to God that you have friends—and clothing, houses, and furniture to enjoy with them. If you go on a trip, put yourselves under God’s protection. “See how much you are indebted to the goodness of his providence for all the comforts and conveniences you are surrounded with in your travels,” said Henry.

Wherever you go, whatever you do each day, search for abundant reasons for prayer and praise, Henry said. As James wrote, if you are sad, then pray to God; if you are happy, then sing praises to God (James 5:13). That covers all of life.

Joel R. Beeke, “Matthew Henry on a Practical Method of Daily Prayer,” in Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer, ed. Brian G. Najapfour (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2011), 149.