The Spirit-Filled Entrepreneur: A 3-Day DevotionalSample

Life often interrupts our best-laid plans, doesn’t it? I see this in my personal life, and I see it in our business journeys. Week after week, I meet brand-new entrepreneurs who are filled with high hopes, big dreams, and expectations of rosy days ahead. Entrepreneurs who can’t wait to jump into their big adventure. They plan. They work. They smile. They cry. And truthfully, at an alarming rate, their businesses falter and then fail. Years later when I bump into these once-aspiring business owners, they share sad stories of working too hard and seeing too few clients. They didn’t know where to turn and didn’t have anyone to call. Sadly, these once-hopeful entrepreneurs felt helpless, overwhelmed, and alone. Once their scant resources were spent, they had no choice but to fold their businesses and shut down their dreams. Or did they? As the owners of our businesses, we want—we need—to become more of who God wants us to be. Only then can we consistently do the things God is calling us to do. In Romans 11:36, God tells us that from him and through him and to him are all things. Intellectually, we know that’s true. • All things come from God. • All things come through God. • All things are for God. • He is the God of all things. What we sometimes forget is that this vast truth applies in business as well. We are not alone, in our business or our personal lives. We are never alone. These budding businesses that you and I have joyfully birthed . . . they’re not ours. The owner is actually God. He’s the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Investor, Ultimate Provider, and everything else in between. If this is true—and it is—what difference does it make on a daily basis? As we gain a deeper understanding of God’s role in our lives, we must realize that God wants to change our businesses, and that starts with him changing us. In order for this to happen we have to begin by praying for ourselves before we start praying for breakout business results. What might it look like for you to spend time with God praying for yourself as you carry the business God has birthed within you?