Well, just a quick update as to how the Lord has been leading me in the past year. After being commissioned into the marketplace ministry last Oct, I have been working with a few companies the past year, providing spiritual covering for them. This spiritual covering takes the form of prayer intercession. It is a contractual relationship with the companies for 6 months or 1 year. The whole idea is about commitment from both sides, not just sporadic kind of prayer support but dedicated spiritual intercession.
I first learnt about this concept of spiritual covering through Kingdom Initiatives Australia. There is so much to share about spiritual covering but that will be for another post in future. Before I even heard about spiritual covering, the Lord has put on my heart the concept of prophetic coaching which might be more familiar to some. Yes some prophets like Doug Addison has been providing mentoring and spiritual coaching for believers. Basically to me, it is about journeying with the companies in prayer and also in prophetic consultation.
The idea is not new. As coaching is not new in the business world. But spiritual or prophetic coaching is a little different because it requires us to tap on God’s solutions and the wisdom of heaven for everyday marketplace issues. In doing so, it isn’t just about giving a word to the business owners, it is also about a renewal of their minds. We want the Christian businesses to have a kingdom mindset eventually. We hope to help companies, not just individuals, discover their kingdom assignment, the role it plays in the kingdom or the marketplace.
This type of coaching and intercession in the marketplace specifically deals with issues in the business world. Areas like mammon, corruption, greed, business fundamentals like sales, marketing, staffing, partners and macro economic factors etc. The Holy Spirit is a practical Person and I have seen how His instructions from the word of God are so applicable to the marketplace ministry. For example, as I pray for certain companies, the Lord will highlight specific issues faced by the business owner like the need to build capacity or a good team first.
Later on, when I began to study secular books about doing business and helping businesses prosper, I realised that these concepts were actually espoused by people in the business world. It was then I realised that God Himself was teaching me how to profit and to help these companies to profit. So my bottom line is simple. Besides helping these companies get aligned to the plans of God, eventually the Lord wants them to prosper. So the test is in the pudding. Whether our partnership results in more open doors, sales or increased profitability.
By profitability, I do not mean maximising profits with every single opportunity. At times the instruction of God goes against the grain of the worldly wisdom. It may not just be about making money all the time but yes, God is practical. People who go into business must eventually make a profit. Otherwise it defeats the purpose of doing business. Money is not a bad word. It is the love of money or the Spirit of Mammon that pulls believers away from God. Again, I have much to share on this but it will be for later.
So yes, this is the summary of my work for the past year. It may not sound like a lot but God is laying the ground work in which much is unseen. Or behind the scenes. But I believe that God will open more doors in this new year. He will also cause dead dreams to come alive. Like this writing ministry. Like the idea for my sci-if book. All I have to do is to be willing and obedient. That’s all for now. I will provide more updates in time to come.
