When ministers whisper behind closed doors that the marketplace is a dangerous place to send Christians, it's easy to get defensive. But the truth is they are mostly right. Too often, Marketplace Christians let their spirituality fall by the wayside. We have not tended well the gardens of our hearts. We have let our passion for God wane. Our spiritual pursuit often dwindles to minimal, perfunctory acts just enough to keep our heads above water. Our only spiritual intensity comes when we need to be rescued from some desperate life situation. In many cases we have disengaged from church, become cynical and developed an independent spirit. Most tragically, many of us have become prayerless. Prayerlessness is the final fruit of our unspirituality.

Historically and biblically, the majority of great spiritual leaders came from the marketplace. They were ranchers, soldiers, shepherds and workers - normal people, yet deeply spiritual. Yet few marketplace Christians today even try to walk in the footsteps of Nehemiah, David, Joseph or Abraham. Why have we abdicated spiritual greatness? How has the enemy convinced us to set our aim so low?

God has no secular, unspiritual roles in His Kingdom:

^{9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Pet. 2:9 (NIV)}

Every believer is to be first a priest, even a king-priest, meaning one with a kingly flavor. It is not enough to build careers or businesses and give money to the kingdom. It is not even enough to build anointed businesses. We have reduced spirituality to integrity at work, church attendance and giving in church offerings. While these are good, they fall far short of true spirituality. We must become priests of our own lives and our marketplace flock if Marketplace Christianity will have the transforming power God intends it to have.

How then to we reclaim our priesthood in the marketplace?

Prayerlessness

Spiritual greatness comes to those who simply pursue God earnestly; and pursuit of God begins and ends in prayer. Prayer is the single key to reclaiming our marketplace priesthood. But Marketplace Christians are not usually praying people. We give money, go to fellowship groups and prayer breakfasts - but we won't pray. Why? Some of us are discouraged by our weakness. Our past efforts at prayer have only left us disappointed. As spiritual second-class citizens, it has become easier to just not try. But weakness is not to be despised but embraced. God is not impressed by the strength of man, nor depressed by the weakness of man. He loves our earnest pursuit. In our hearts we must only earnestly desire Him to please Him. We must simply be consistent in our weak pursuit in order to become spiritual men and women.

David was a weak and inwardly torn man. He knew he was one step away from sin. He committed a grievous murder in order to commit grievous adultery. Yet David did not allow his weakness to destroy his relationship with God. He did not hide from God, but ran right to Him in repentance (Ps. 51). Astonishingly, God was pleased with him and called him a "man after God's own heart," because he understood the heart of God - that God was for him, even in his weakness and sin. God can deal with our sin, but not with the pretense we often put up, like Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5.

God wants to take us out of that place of sin, spiritual sickness and pretense and into our full marketplace calling, which includes vibrant, passionate spirituality and an active, on-going prayer dialogue with God.

Self-reliance

Another block to prayer is the sickness of self-reliance. Marketplace Christians generally think of themselves as problem-solvers. They hate excuses, hate being needy. As such, prayer offends them. There is an inherent weakness and absurdity to it and that by God's design. Prayer requires humility and recognition of weakness. It's the only way prayer works.

Like me, most Marketplace Christians want someone else to do the praying. But prayer is every believer's calling. Humans were created, by design, to ask and receive, which is what prayer is. When we ask of God, we are inviting Him to invade earth. Though God owns the earth, He does not take His authority to traffic here unless we invite Him to.

When we neglect prayer, we dis-invite God out of our circumstance and workplace. You may recall the tragic episode of August 2000 when the Soviet Submarine "Kursk" sank to the ocean bottom. Several nations stood by with rescue equipment, ready to try to save the trapped sailors. They only needed Russia's approval. They waited for over a week, until the sailors were all dead, because the Russian leaders were stuck in self-reliance.

God has answers waiting for us, like the ships waiting to help the Kursk. He wants us to ask, so that He can answer.

Continued..............Go to: Priests In The Marketplace Part 2