In Scripture, God calls us to cast anxiety on him, because he cares for us (1 Pet 5:7). He cares for your daily work, your joys, sorrows, and the unknowns. He also cares for those on the frontlines of fighting for our health and safety. If you don’t know where to start with praying for our world right now, here are a few vocations to pray for.
Prayer for social workers:
Jesus, thank you for the social workers and the unique role they play in our society. We pray for a sense of calm over them, as they bring calm to situations of need and crisis day in and day out. We pray for a strength and confidence over them that can only come from you.
Prayer for caretakers:
God, grant protection to the medical professionals throughout the world. Hold fast their anxious hearts and strengthen their weary bones. For they are the hands and feet of Jesus in the shadowlands. Shield them from harm. May they be emissaries of hope and healing to those stricken with illness. May they toil in light of a coming day when your kingdom comes and all is mended and made whole. Let it be soon.
Prayer for teachers:
Lord, thank you for teachers who labor to shape students of all ages, with knowledge and virtue. Many have had to regroup and adjust to a new normal, as they find new ways to communicate, and at times, equip parents or caregivers to play a more active role in the process. Lord, you are the great teacher. So we ask you to bless the work of their hands. Encourage them daily. Give them creative energy to discern what is best. And grant them strength to not grow weary in doing good.
Prayer for finance professionals:
Lord, thank you for those who work in the world of finance. In seasons like these, they face tremendous strain and pressure, as they face not only their own troubles, but also bear the anxiety and panic of others who look to them for help. Sustain them. Grant them stamina. Help them hold their work with an open hand. Let them make decisions with great wisdom. And grant them your grace to provide words of comfort, calm, and peace to those who call upon them.
Prayer for engineers:
Lord, thank you for engineers, for those who love science and math, for those who love to apply a way of thinking to solve human problems. Times like these call for creative problem solving to confront great challenges. Grant them special insight that goes well beyond their experience and education. Use them to bring relief to so many who are suffering. May these engineers and researchers lean not to their own understanding but acknowledge you in all their ways.
Prayer for the elderly:
As you shelter in place and lose contact with many other people, may you feel safe and protected wherever you find yourselves. May you find new ways of staying connected to the people you love, who may not be able to visit with you. May your fears be allayed by good care, compassionate support and knowing that you are being prayed for by many. Do not let your anxieties and fears overcome your mind, but seek out ways to occupy yourselves, however small that cause you to focus on that which is good, and true, and beautiful right now.
Prayer for caterers:
Lord, thank you for caterers and their gift of spinning so many plates in the air. Their work has literally come to a halt because of social distancing, which means little cash on hand to cover basic necessities. Lord, provide their needs according to your riches in glory. May your bride, the church, come to the aid of caterers and so many strapped for cash. God, you are the God of abundance and not scarcity. Deliver and provide, I pray.
Prayer for musicians and artists:
Lord, we pray for musicians and artists. You are the great artists who fills all things with creative beauty. You know the challenges they face. For many, their economic well-being depends upon concerts and other public events that have been cancelled. Comfort them in their disappointment, fear, and anxiety. Provide for their needs and those of their families. And in this season, pour out your Spirit of creativity and unleash new works of art that would bring hope, comfort, and refreshment to all who are weary.
Prayer for custodial staff:
Jesus, thank you for the work of janitorial and custodial staff. Their work holds great value, as they restore spaces to be clean and beautiful, and as they sanitize surfaces, so that people can live and work without fear. In times like these, we are awakened to the great service they give, though their presence is often unseen. Protect them from harm. Encourage them in their work. Remind them of your care. And show them glimpses of your love.
Prayer for students:
Lord, we lift up the lives of learners. We thank you for their wide eyes, their malleable minds, and their curious hearts. From young to old, we thank you for a generation of students being lifted up to understand and steward the creation well. In these uncertain times, we lament with those around the globe who won’t be going back to school. We lament cancelled classes, postponed gatherings, and isolated ideas. We grieve the normalcy of a school year that shall no longer come to pass in a way we expected or anticipated. But we also trust you: to sustain studies, to sharpen minds, and to shape hearts to learn about you in a new and exciting ways.
Prayer for retail workers:
God, for the retail workers, hear our prayer. As they lead customers through abandoned aisles, as they take payment from customers’ hands, help them not to be afraid. As they restock barren shelves only for them to be cleared moments later, help them to know that their work is necessary and good. They labor not in vain. Grant them grace every hour.
Prayer for gig workers:
(A prayer based on Psalm 46) God, for gig workers, hear our prayer. In times of calm, they can lack peace because of the precariousness of their work. Now, they see their projects canceled or postponed. Their contracts give way and seem to fall into the heart of the sea. God be their refuge and their strength, their ever-present help in trouble. As storms of financial uncertainty toss them without mercy. Help them find stillness as they trust in you.
