Dear Lord,
Thank you for my boss. Even though he is one of the most powerful and consistent sources of stress, embarrassment, confusion, and frustration in my life, I am so glad that you have put him in it.
On a day-to-day basis, my boss is condescending, demeaning, hostile, and argumentative. He is a very skilled engineer, but seems to enjoy making everyone else feel incompetent and useless by comparison. He is dismissive of others' ideas, concerns, and proposals, and he is impatient with anyone who questions his own, even gently. Working for him can be a harrowing experience, and it is likely that when I finally move on to a new job, it will be mainly as an effort to escape him.
But, Lord, I thank you for him. Thank you for my boss, and please bless him.
I know that he played a major role in hiring me in the first place, which motivated me to move back to LA in 2005. Returning to Los Angeles wasn't my favorite idea at the time, but, since then, it has become clear to me that you brought me back here for a purpose, Lord, and my boss was one of the people you used to make it happen. Without him, I would not have my job, I would not be in LA, and thus I would not have returned to Venice Church. Without my boss's help, unwitting though it might have been, I wouldn't have discovered this purpose or this direction, which I pray are your purpose and your direction.
My job is a blessing, Lord, and so my boss is a blessing, and I thank you. My job allows me to pay my bills, and gives me the hope of being a financially responsible citizen, son, brother, friend, and church member. When I was hospitalized and near death in the summer of 2006, the medical insurance provided by my company spared my family from an overwhelming burden of health care expenses. When I needed to take a medical leave of absence from work, my company was supportive, and my coworkers actually seemed to care that I take the time to heal. My job has been such a blessing, Lord. And without my boss and his work, my own work would not be possible. So, again, thank you for my boss, Lord. Thank you for using him in my life, and please bless him.
And please, Father, help me resist the temptation to hate. Please help me to love my boss, to appreciate him and to care for him. I know that he is under an extreme amount of pressure, and that he works unbelievably hard. Please help me remember that, if I were under similar strain, I might act like a jerk sometimes too. Actually, even under much less strain, I already do act like a jerk a lot of the time! I pray that you will give me the patience and the understanding to see and understand the many, complex forces that push and pull on my boss, and I pray that you will give him the strength and perseverance to survive the wrenching effects of these forces. Please help me be able to share his burden, to be able to ease the pressures put on him, to be a blessing to him in some way.
And finally, Father, please draw my boss closer to you. Please touch his heart and his life, and if he doesn't already understand his desperate need for a savior, please help him to see it. I pray that your love and grace will saturate every part of his life.
I pray this in the name of our savior Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit,
Amen
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