It all started with my new job. Commuting 90 miles to work. I made a commitment to not turn on the radio for the morning commute. I wanted to learn how to pray. My new job had so much adventure built in, but I wanted this job to be different. I prayed for my family on the way to work and others who had specific prayer requests, but then my world got rocked. One day, in my email inbox, my friend Bob sent me the Today God is First devotional from Os Hillman. For the first time in my life, I learned that God loved my work and that my workplace was my mission field. I was floored. For years I had tried to go into full-time ministry in a church, but this devotional told me that I was in ministry already and my workplace was my mission field.  The paradigm shift began in my thinking.  

With the new reality that my work was, in fact, my place of ministry, my workplace mission field, I modified my workplace commute prayer time. I still prayed for my family, but I added my bosses, my coworkers, and eventually my employees. I noticed a funny thing happening. I started to see these people differently. I think I was seeing them the way God saw them. I grew in empathy and love for them, and I really started seeing myself as a minister in my workplace. Now, mind you, it was a real job with real demands and deadlines; but when I could, I started to serve my co-workers over and above what I was required to do. This selfless serving of others caused them to see that something was different about me. I started to see my faith relevant to my work. My paradigm was shifting, and my heart was encouraged.   

I knew that more was needed to shift my faith paradigm at work. I needed to really know the people I worked with. Martha and I started creating ways to get to know people outside of work to develop real lifetime relationships. We had people over for dinner, we went out after work, we ate lunch together. I made it my intention to know more about them as people than just what their job had them doing. I learned their spouses’ names, their kids’ names. I learned what bothered them and what encouraged them. At the same time, I let them know who I was. I shared about my family, my dreams, my struggles. We just shared life. I started to see the real people I worked with. And I began to see something.  

When you work with someone day in and day out, you start to know what their normal is. After I started praying for people, I had a better sense when things were off. I could tell when their demeanor was different, when they weren’t doing okay. I learned to ask, “How are you doing today?” and I really wanted to know the answer. When they responded with “I’m fine,” then I would respond: “Really? Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional? Really, how are you doing?” Then I would be quiet and let them share what was really going on. When they were done sharing something from their heart, I learned to say, “Thanks for sharing that with me. Can I pray about that with you right now?” I never got turned down.  Mind you, this took a couple of years to develop, but you can do it, too.  

God taught me how to shift the paradigm of work into a place of work interlaced with ministry, but none of these actions would have mattered if my work wasn’t excellent. Excellence needs to define who we are at work. Looking back, I made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I was able to pray with tons of people, made lifelong friends, and even participated in leading one of my bosses to Jesus and another to rededication.  iWork4Him was born out of this story. Would you take the time to tell us your “iWork4Him” story? 

Take this topic further:

Listen to or watch shows 1999: The Birth of iWork4Him and 2000: iWork4Him 101

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