Last year I wrote a series of blog posts on what God expects from you at work.
It was a brief overview based on the premise that work that is done 1) ethically; 2) excellently; and 3) empowered by the Holy Spirit advances the kingdom of God on earth.
As I’ve grappled with living out these three imperatives, working empowered by the Holy Spirit has been by far the most difficult. If you read the series, you know I argued that working empowered by the Holy Spirit ensures God’s presence in your work. So, this was not one I wanted to give up on just because it was difficult.
Fortunately, in struggle to incorporate these imperatives in my work, I’ve learned a few things that have helped me make this ideal more of a reality in my work life. Hopefully they will help you too. Here they are in no particular order:
1. Pray in the Spirit. If you are a Charismatic, praying in tongues in the morning before you go to work can be a game changer. The Bible says that one who prays in the Spirit edifies himself. I Cor. 14:4. It recharges your spiritual battery and prepares you to respond in the Spirit to the challenges you will face at work.
2. Stop and Acknowledge God. I can tell when I start to veer off into the flesh at work. It’s usually when I am trying to get something done, and I keep getting interrupted. And if I’m in the flesh, I’m not working empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now when I feel myself start to go down that path, I stop, sit back in my chair, take a deep breath, and acknowledge God. Just acknowledging Him is usually enough to pull me out of the flesh and back in alignment where He can work through me.
3. Pray Strategically. When you pray at work about what to do on a matter or how to solve a problem you are inviting God to intervene and provide you with wisdom. Before discussing settlement with a client recently, I prayed about what to recommend. It was one of those situations where there really wasn’t a right or wrong answer. It would be the client’s call. But as I prayed, the word “closure” came to mind. So, when I explained the options to the client, I mentioned that one of the options would bring closure. He immediately said, “That is what I want, closure.”
4. Listen. The Holy Spirit is totally aware; we operate in limited degrees of situational awareness. The Holy Spirit knows all the motives of the people in the room, and He has total understanding of what is going on. The Bible says if we have the Spirit of God we have the mind of Christ. I Cor. 2:15-16. In other words, we have access to wisdom beyond our own limited human senses. It doesn’t make us God or mean we know everything He knows, but it does mean if we listen we can sometimes learn more than we perceive on our own, and in so doing invite Him into our work. There is a reason the Holy Spirit is called the Helper. John 14:26.
I hope these suggestions help you as much as they have helped me. GS