You never know how God might answer prayers for your co-workers

Written by Sharon Hau

Entering into the workplace was a scary transition for me. 

I had spent the year after graduation serving with P2C-Students in the Arab world. Coming home to find a new job in the field of social work was daunting and full of uncertainty. 

By God’s grace, I was able to secure employment where I had done my practicum before graduation. This familiarity was a comfort to my change-averse self, and it prepared me for my new work culture. 

Preparing with prayer

Starting out, I knew that I was one of only two Christians in the organization, and that many of my Christian values would not be welcome at the table. Yet I spent the weeks leading up to my first day praying for my future co-workers. 

I prayed for God to provide at least one co-worker with whom I could talk about faith. 

I prayed for help developing good friendships with my teammates. 

Previously working at this organization provided another, unexpected, blessing: everyone knew I had already graduated the year before, so they all wanted to know what I had been up to. I decided to embrace the potential risk of being known as the “weird Christian girl,” so I explained what I did in the Arab world and why. 

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Taking risks over time

As the months passed, I continued to pray for my co-workers and as I got to know them better, we began to have a lot of deep conversations. 

During one chat, my co-worker told me that even though she was not religious, she loved talking about faith with one of her other friends. I was stunned. That night I texted her to say I also enjoyed having those kinds of conversations, and that I would be happy to talk about those things with her as well. 

This opened up the door for many many conversations about God, our differing perspectives on social issues, and a deepening of our friendship as a whole. We were blessed by often working the evening shift at the office with no one else around, allowing us to have long conversations without being interrupted. 

Somehow—I can’t recall exactly how it happened—we decided to start studying the Bible together after work. 

Read more: I want to read the Bible. How do I start? Where do I start?

Trusting God’s slow work

Fast forward about a year. Though I am no longer working at that organization, I still see my co-worker regularly. She hasn’t made a decision to follow Jesus. But I’m continuing to pray for her and we still have lots of encouraging conversations about faith.  

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Wherever you work, I hope you find ways to courageously pray for your co-workers, take risks towards deeper conversations, and trust God to be with you.