Exercising Faith @ Work

“Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6) so clearly if I want to please God at work (and of course I do) then I need to exhibit faith in the workplace. But what does this mean? Does it mean that I should pray over every decision, every broken formula, every program bug, every employee challenge, and expect that every one of them would work out right? Do I, then, pray over every deal with confidence (faith) that we will be the winners? Surely that would present God with the classic conundrum of two Christian football teams both praying for victory! What is He to do?

Now don’t get me wrong – in a sense at least I should be praying over every decision and challenge. But this isn’t so much a matter of a detailed ten-minute prayer for every five-minute issue! Rather my model is Nehemiah who, on hearing of huge problems in Jerusalem, spent days in fasting and prayer and confession and then went into a dangerous encounter with his boss (who happened to be the king of Persia) as prepared as he could be. During that encounter he did pray, but more of an “arrow prayer” (Neh 2:4 – it has to have been quick: I don’t imagine Nehemiah or you or me saying to our boss “please hold on for a few minutes while I get on my knees and ask God for help”). But it was important for him to make a quick acknowledgment of Who God is, and Nehemiah’s own dependence on Him, before asking for outrageous favors from the king on his own and his people’s behalf.

The question I started with came up because I’m preaching on Sunday on faith (from John 20:29-39 where Jesus appears to the disciples, and then to Thomas, as they cower in fear and disappointment in a locked room after His crucifixion). That passage shows a significant transition from knowing about God to knowing God Himself. The disciples knew Jesus to a point, but never did understand just Who He really was (even though they used the right words sometimes) until they encountered Him in the fullness of His deity – seeing Him risen from the dead could do that for you! Their faith became real, their submission became foundational, and He sent them out with the authority and power of the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-23). (If you are members of FCF you now don’t need to come to church on Sunday!)

As I try to apply this to the workplace, I realize that the faith I am called to bring with me to work is not a formula for success in the “name it and claim it” tradition. Rather it is intellectual, spiritual and personal knowledge of God. This faith acknowledges and keeps in mind just who God is, and realizing we are sent out by Jesus into every aspect of our lives, empowered and authorized by His Spirit within us to be His ambassadors. With this in mind, we can approach every decision, every challenge, every action knowing that these are Kingdom activities, being done in the name of Christ and in dependence on His Spirit. Hmm … I think I have some work to do to get there, but it’s worth a shot!