Establish the Work of My Hands by Bryan Craig

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”  Psalm 90:17

I know I’ve talked about this before, and I have probably written about it before, but the Holy Spirit prompted me to share it again.  Psalm 90:17 is a prayer I pray nearly every day since I started with Influencers as the Executive Director.  My first official day on the job was January 5, 2015, 10 years ago, and I was having lunch with Rocky.  We were talking about the scope of my role and all the potential things I could be working on.  At the end of our lunch, I said, “Rocky, it’s my first day on the job, and I already feel behind.”  He let out a hearty laugh, and I let out a nervous laugh.

Sometime soon thereafter, as I was processing my thoughts with the Lord in my journal, He reminded me of Psalm 90:17 and what happened in 2005, 20 years ago.  I was on a planning team for a Promise Keepers event that was to take place at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, AR.  I lived in Tulsa, and I commuted to PK meetings a few times a week in Northwest Arkansas.  My job on the team was Marketing of this event to Tulsa.  Well, the greater Tulsa area has 1 million people and lots and lots of churches.  This task was exciting but daunting.  I had been the Men’s Ministry leader at my church for quite a few years, so I had some experience in rallying men, but the whole city? 

Since I was in sales, I wasn’t afraid to do cold calls and try to figure out how to find the decision maker at a company.  So, I approached this the same way.  I started calling churches, trying to get hold of the men’s ministry director.  I remember realizing I was in for a new experience as I called a prominent church in town.

Me:  Hello, can I please speak to the leader of the Men’s Ministry, please?

Receptionist:  What is this regarding?

Me:  Well, I’m working with Promise Keepers and we have a big event coming up I want to talk to him about.

Receptionist:  Well, I’m afraid he’s out of the country.

Me:  Is there someone else I could speak with in his absence?

Receptionist:  No, I’m sorry.  You’ll have to wait until he gets back.

Me: (being persistent)  I really need to speak with someone.  This is a very important event.

LONG PAUSE

Receptionist:  Sir, we don’t have a men’s ministry.

Me: (flabbergasted)  Do you have any men who attend there?

Receptionist:  (huffy)  Well, yes!

Me:  Then, you need a Men’s Ministry.

CLICK

True story.  Well, I was beginning to get a little discouraged.  How in the world was I supposed to rally all the men in Tulsa to go to a Promise Keepers event in Fayetteville?  One morning, I cried out to the Lord in desperation.  “Lord, please help me.  I don’t know how to do this.”  Then, I got into His Word, using one of the devotionals I used daily (this was before I met Rocky and found out about The Journey).  In my reading was this precious verse:

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”  Psalm 90:17

My eyes grew wide and my spirit leapt within me.  That’s it!  It was a prayer for favor and guidance, and two times, the psalmist asks God to “establish the work of his hands.”  I bowed my head.  “Lord, thank You for Your word and Your guidance.  I know You are near.  Would you please establish the work of my hands with this PK marketing task; yes, please establish the work of my hands?  And may your favor be upon me?”

I felt a peace come over me, for I was convinced God wanted me to read that verse and pray that prayer.  No more than an hour later, my phone rang.  I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it for some reason.

“Is this Bryan Craig?”

Yes

“Are you the man who is in charge of marketing for the upcoming Promise Keepers conference?”

Yes I am.

“Well, I’m Bob Lee, and my church has had Bill McCartney, the founder of Promise Keepers, booked for over a year, and we have no idea how to use him.  We were thinking maybe he could help you guys rally Tulsa to go to the PK conference over in Arkansas.”

I about dropped the phone!  First of all, Bill McCartney was a legend to me.  And he was the guy who started the whole thing.  Are you kidding me?  I would have never been able to book him for something this last minute, but he was already booked.  God answered my prayer!

Tears began to roll down my cheek with gratefulness.  My new friend, Bob Lee, and a team of others ended up planning a big event, “No Man Left Behind” with not only Bill McCartney, but Joe White, founder of Kanakuk Camps, Frank Broyles, the legendary Arkansas football coach and AD, Bob Carpenter, famous ESPN personality and Greg Huett, a Tyson Foods executive, who ended up being on the Influencers Global Board (but that’s another story).

It was an amazing, beautiful event that went a long way to start a spark in Tulsa men that would lead to the first Journey Group in Tulsa a year later.  And it all started with a simple prayer.

Bruce Wilkinson wrote a famous book, “The Prayer of Jabez” where he talks about the power of praying a simple prayer.  He says it’s not as much about the prayer as it is about opening your spirit up to what God has for you each day.  To me, that’s what Psalm 90:17 is all about.  “Lord, I’m Yours and this day is Yours.  Please give me favor and establish the work of my hands.”

Like I said, I’ve been praying this prayer for the past 10 years as Executive Director of Influencers, and I have continued to find that this is a prayer God likes to answer.