Do you pray about your work? I know I do, every day. As we go forward in 2025, let me reflect on prayer a bit.

As part of his closing exhortations in his first epistle to the church in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul tells them to “pray continually” (1 Thes. 5:17, NIV). Other translations give us “never stop praying” (CEV), “pray without ceasing” (ESV, KJV), and “be unceasing and persistent in prayer” (AMP). Paul is not commanding Christians to pray 24/7/365. He is merely reminding us to pray regularly, as often as needed, and to never neglect our prayer life. Being a follower of Jesus has always been about a relationship, not religion.

What does having a relationship normally entail? Frequent communication. I embraced this concept early in my walk with Jesus, which began as a high school senior, nearly fifty years ago. (I invite you to read my testimony of how I became a Christian.) In my freshman year at college, I discovered the classic book, Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. It radically changed my life.

My passion as an encourager, teacher, and writer is to help my brothers and sisters in Christ to be able to live out the theology of work, which I refer to as Immanual labor – the biblical connection between God’s presence and human work. I see clearly that God is ever present and involved in every phase of a Christian’s personal life, especially in their careers. Mine has been a rather winding path.

Regardless of what your journey has looked like, I imagine that you have needed to pray much about your own career: when getting that first job, keeping your job when it looked like there might be a reduction in force, asking for wisdom to deal with a tough boss or a lazy employee, handling a job transition, or preparing for retirement, which is where I am at right now. Let me unpack what our prayers might look like in each of these distinct phases in our careers. (This would apply equally to those who work at home as well as those who work outside the home.) I will begin with the first two.

Starting Out

About this time thirty-nine years ago, I was a husband and father of a one-year-old. I had just dropped out of seminary at the end of the fall semester. God had closed every door financially for me to continue pursuing my master’s degree. I was not fully qualified or ready for full-time vocational ministry, which I had felt called to do. My Colorado teaching certificate was not recognized in the state of Oregon, so I couldn’t teach math. I had to get a real job to take care of my young family.

“Be all that you can be” grabbed my attention. It was an obvious option. I prayed a long time for wisdom, guidance, timing, etc., more than I ever had before. Guess what? God answered my prayers. (I invite you to ready more about my story of how I experienced God throughout my military career.)

Whether you are sixteen and applying at fast-food restaurants for a summer job, a high school graduate looking for some skills training, a new college/grad school graduate ready to put that degree to good use, or a new mom with a baby to take care of, if you are a Christian, I imagine that you are going to be bathing your efforts in prayer. This is a good place to start. If you trust God to provide, when he does, it will build your faith.

Hitting Your Stride

At this early stage in one’s career, things are going well, and you are beginning to get good at what you do. This job, which was a direct answer to prayer, not only provides for your needs, but begins to bring some satisfaction.

Let me share a relevant quote about prayer from Brother Lawrence. You can get a glimpse of how God’s presence directly impacted the daily work responsibilities of this humble man of faith:

At the beginning of my duties, I would say to the Lord with confidence, “My God, since You are with me, and since, by Your will, I must occupy myself with external things, please grant me the grace to remain with You, in Your presence. Work with me, so that my work might be the very best. Receive as an offering of love both my work and all my affections” . . . And at the end of my work, I used to examine it carefully. If I found good in it, I thanked God. If I noticed faults, I asked His forgiveness without being discouraged, and then went on with my work, still dwelling in Him.

I would say that the focus of your prayers at this stage would be to continually learn to work in God’s presence. Ask him to lead you and guide you as you meet your customers’ needs, take care of your employees, if any, and submit well to your employer. I also encourage you to start to think about what might be next.

In the next article, I will explore what prayers will best serve you during job/career transitions and when you are nearing the final phase of your career.

Editor’s note: This article was republished from the author’s blog with permission.