Dwight Fletcher - FIGHTING AT WORK

We’re in week four of our series, Built to Thrive at Work, and I pray that by now you’re realising that, no matter how stressful or difficult the environment is, you can experience God’s best if you work as worship to God. As believers in the workplace, Jesus is your true boss and you’re an agent on assignment for Him.

With that perspective, you can thrive even in the most toxic workplaces. Instead of fighting with the people at work or getting involved in office politics, you can fight the spiritual forces that come to destroy your workplace. How do you do this? Through prayer.

Prayer is the most underutilised resource on the planet. Last week, I mentioned that there is a spiritual battle happening at your job. It might not look obvious to you, but the devil does not want you to succeed at work, and he definitely doesn’t want you to share the joy and hope you have in Christ with others. So, he keeps you focused on the negatives or distracted with overwhelming tasks, or at odds with your co-workers. But, since Jesus is your ultimate boss, He gives you all the weapons you need to fight back.  This is exactly what Daniel did when he came under threat from his co-workers. If you know the account of Daniel and the lion’s den in Daniel 6, I want you to appreciate that it was a spiritual warfare scenario.

Take a moment and read Daniel 6. You’ll see that Daniel had exemplified himself and King Darius had taken a liking to him and wanted to promote him to be over the entire kingdom. His co-workers didn’t like that but, because Daniel worked to worship God, he didn’t do anything underhanded or unethical. He worked hard and well. So, in order to set a trap for Daniel, the men had to do something related to his relationship with God. When you distinguish yourself with a reputation of integrity and hard work, the enemy will use people to oppose you. He will try to get you to compromise your faith to destroy you.

So, the men convince the king to enact a ruling that everyone should pray to the king only for 30 days or be thrown into a den of lions. But, look at Daniel’s response in Daniel 6:10-11 (NIV), “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.”

God is the real boss, so Daniel prayed, as he usually did. Notice that before he asked for help, he gave God thanks. Thanksgiving is one key to breakthrough. It reminds us of who God is and what He has already done.

Because Daniel prayed, God saved him from the lions and from his enemies. But the bigger celebration is that, because Daniel fought back through prayer, the name of God was glorified in the nation. In Daniel 6:25-27 (NIV) we read that King Darius issued a decree for his entire nation to fear and revere the God of Daniel, and this happened because Daniel stood his ground in God.

If you are a child of God, then your workplace is an opportunity for God to be glorified. Some of the situations you face are not only about you, but about the God whom you serve, and what you do will determine how people see your God. Instead of fighting people at work, fight back against evil through prayer. Thank God, ask for His help to work well;. When you are attacked, pray for deliverance; bless your office, pray for your coworkers and, most importantly, pray that God will be glorified at your workplace.