Most of the people I know came to faith through their churches, their pastors or close friends. My story’s a little different.

I came to know Jesus through a coworker, while working on Wall Street.

When I first started working on Wall Street, I was suffocated by unrealistic expectations, a misconstrued view of success and a lack of self worth. I grew up in the church, but my understanding was shallow, legalistic and compartmentalized. I didn’t know what a relationship with Jesus meant, nor, quite frankly, did I really care.  

I just knew I wanted to get promoted, be well-liked and make money.

But it was because one of my coworkers chose to get to know me, shared his life with me and invited me into his community, that I got to hear the good news of the Gospel. My life has forever changed. His simple obedience to invite God into every area of his life, including his finance job, shows that you too can minister to others in your career – no matter what industry you’re in.

But, I know it can be scary. How do you engage coworkers without ruining relationships? How do you share without imposing beliefs and forcing a “conversion” on them? And how do you not get in trouble with HR in the meantime?

Lots of things to consider.  But if we really believe God is who He says He is and that He wants to be invited into every area of our lives, our careers should be no different.

Honestly, if more people let Jesus flood their work lives, stopped separating Sunday from Monday and operated like the Gospel is true, we’d see a positive ripple effect on the economy, within communities and for the Kingdom.

In the meantime, here are some practical ways to invite God into your job.

Fiercely Pray for your Coworkers, Clients, and Leaders
I never fully understood the power of prayer. It always felt like I was serving up words that fell into the abyss. But, Scripture isn’t a liar. Mark 11:24 says,

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

What would it look like if we were a people that prayed fiercely for God to pursue our coworkers? If we prayed over the leaders in our companies? And if we prayed that our clients would be blessed? I’d imagine God would be up to something, would delight in our asking for Him and would show up in miraculous ways. What if we tested the theory that prayer is powerful?

Coming to Work as a Whole Person
Whole people don’t compartmentalize. They authentically share all of who they are.

And if we are believers in Jesus, it should naturally spill out in our conversations, including at work. When coworkers asked me what I was doing on the weekend, I would explain how my plans included church. Living in NYC, especially, it always sparked interesting conversations. I would invite my coworkers to events where my Christian friends were. Not because I was trying to “convert” them, but I was simply inviting them to be a part of my life. It was a natural extension of who I was. When someone asked me about my life and how I was overcoming an issue, I was honest. I told them very matter-of-factly how Jesus was impacting my recovery. There are so many ways to share about who you really are – your imperfections and all – and have your coworkers draw nearer, not avoid. Just come as you are.

All Work Is Worship
Worship isn’t just for worship leaders. Every single one of us has the opportunity to worship God with our work.

Whether it’s how we perform with excellence, how we treat our coworkers, how we lead our teams or who we seek for guidance – all work is valuable. So many of us are floating through our jobs, waiting for the weekend. What if we instead shifted our focus from “I have to” to “I get to”? How would that impact our daily routine and the way in which we navigate our careers? All work has dignity. So whether you’re an assistant, a stay-at-home mom, a CEO or an artist – your work is beautiful and God delights in seeing His children use the gifts He’s given to them.

Let’s be a people who welcomes God into our businesses, careers, and workplaces, shall we? After all, who knows what He might do?