Prayer – A Change in Perspective

I recently experienced a situation where I needed an answer from God to a prayer, but nothing was happening.  I have a client that had a specific need and my company had the perfect solution, but regardless of what I tried, they did not move forward to implementation.  They had agreed that the services we offered were right, and had even agreed to hire us.  It was just that actually starting (and earning fees from the client) never seemed to happen.  My prayer regarding this was beginning to change from something like, “Lord, can You help this move forward, it’s taking a long time?” to “Lord, do You want me to do this, is it right to move forward?”  Still, I felt like God was telling me to keep going, and was wondering why He wasn’t answering my prayer.  Maybe He wanted to teach me perseverance.

I also realized that there were several other things in my life that seemed stuck.  They ranged from business things to ministry opportunities, to simple, day-to-day issues.  Nothing really big, but there was a consistent theme there.  While I was committed to keep praying about it and believed that eventually God would provide an answer to my problem, something did not seem right.  When I spoke to some of my friends, the general opinion was that this is just the way it is. I didn’t want to accept this, and asked God to show me His perspective.

I was reading through the Gospel of Matthew, and something really jumped out at me in Chapter 20: 29-34.  It is the story of Jesus healing two blind men.  They stop Jesus on the road and ask for mercy.  He turns to them and asks them what they want.  For some reason, that question stopped me in my tracks.  It seems pretty obvious what they needed, so why did Jesus ask the question?  I think it’s because there is a larger principle here. They were focused on the problem (their blindness and financial need) and Jesus wanted them to be focused on and partnering with the solution from heaven.  Their answer reflects this – they wanted to see. It’s is a small change, but one that changes everything.

So, what’s my point?  I realize I had been praying in the same way.  I was focusing on my problem, instead of partnering with heaven for a solution that reflects the reality of God’s promises. I changed my prayer.  I acknowledged that the Kingdom of God is about honoring people, producing outcomes where everyone wins and resulting in a life lived to the full.  I changed my prayer to reflect this.  I no longer prayed about the problem, but simply agreed with God about the way things are when you reflect heaven in the marketplace.  The next day, things were no longer stuck.

Since then, I have been applying this in various areas of my life.  Praying from a place of declaring God’s promises and focusing on them, and not even addressing my problems; after all, He already knows what they are.  I might as well just talk to him about His promises, and agree with Him.

In this instance, He wasn’t teaching me perseverance, He was teaching me perspective. In other words, how things look if we view them as they exist in heaven, and fully partner with that reality.

I invite you to join me in this change of perspective.  In business, relationships and our personal lives – as it is in Heaven, so let it be in me!

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Gary Klopfenstein is a highly successful business executive with over 30 years’ experience in asset management, strategic consulting and leadership development.  His specific areas of expertise are in the design and implementation of investment strategies, across both traditional and alternative investment classes, investment research, client acquisition, business growth and catalytic leadership development.  Gary has a wealth of global expertise including successful client relationships in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Gary is Chairman of GK Investment Management, a private asset management company established as a family office.  In previous roles Gary has served as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Berenberg Asset Management, the U.S. asset management arm of a 400-year-old German financial institution, and as Senior Managing Director, member of the Board of Directors and Head of Direct Alternative Investment Strategies for Mesirow Financial, a Chicago based diversified financial services firm.  Gary was responsible for growing the business from $1 billion to $60 billion in less than ten years.

He has written one book, Trading Currency Cross Rates, and edited two others, FX: Managing Global Currency Risk and Strategic Trading in the Foreign Exchange Markets.  Gary is a frequent speaker at conferences and a regular publisher of thought leading papers for global publications.  He is considered to be one of the industry founders of the specialist management of global currency risk.

Gary and his wife Candice live in Chicago, have been married for over thirty years and have two adult children.