Doing Business With God

In the economy of heaven, transactions aren’t made with money- they’re made with surrender, faith, and covenant. Doing business with God isn't treating God like a genie- where we manipulate, beg or cajole to get our own way. Instead, it's a divine exchange where we offer what’s in our hands and hearts as a channel for God to use. In this partnership, we align with God’s plan and allow His Will to be done in our lives and situations. As I was mulling over the context of this blog post, two women came to mind to illustrate this principle in a profoundly moving way: Hannah, the weeping intercessor, and Leah, the overlooked wife.

Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1 begins with deep anguish. She was barren, ridiculed, and desperate. But rather than collapsing into despair, she entered into divine negotiation and prayed a vow:

Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but giver her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head (1 Samuel 1:11 NIV).

Hannah was essentially declaring that 'God, if You bless me with a son, I won’t hoard the blessing. I’ll return it to You for Your purposes. ' In her desperation to carry a child, she offered back to God that which she desired most and perhaps unknown to her, she was aligning with God’s bigger picture. Doing business with God means being willing to release what you’re asking for back into His hands. It’s not just about receiving a breakthrough; it’s about dedicating the blessing to Kingdom service.

Leah’s journey in Genesis 29 shows us another type of divine transaction. She felt unwanted by her husband, Jacob, and tried to earn his love through childbearing. After naming her first three sons based on her pain and longing (Reuben, Simeon, Levi), something shifted with her fourth:

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ So she named him Judah. (Genesis 29:35 NIV).

Judah means praise, and it is through Judah that Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, came. At that moment, Leah did kingdom business without speaking a word. She shifted her focus from man to God, from pain to praise, and again, unbeknownst to her, she would express the lineage of the Messiah. Sometimes, doing business with God means surrendering your expectations and choosing to praise and worship over striving. That shift in focus can birth something far greater than what you originally hoped for.

Hannah and Leah demonstrate that Kingdom transactions require surrender. You give God your tears, pain, and unmet desires, and He'll give you something eternal. Here’s how you can “do business with God” today:

• Be honest: God invites your raw emotions. Cry out like Hannah.

• Shift your focus: Stop striving for what others won’t give you, and start praising the One who sees you as Leah did.

• Dedicate the blessing: Don’t just ask for a business, a child, a platform or whatever; dedicate it to God’s service before it manifests.

Hannah received Samuel, Israel’s first prophet whose words never fell to the ground. Leah gave birth to Judah, whose lineage led to the world’s Savior. Neither outcome was random; it was the result of a sacred transaction.

The next time you approach God in prayer, when you declare 'let Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven' , are you willing to do business with God?  Not just for what you want, but for what He wants to do through you?