How To Pray For Employment

Looking for a job or employment is challenging, especially if you have already applied for several job opportunities but haven’t as yet heard from those establishments or your applications got rejected. While there is indeed an element where we have to work hard to make ourselves the best candidate for the job by becoming competent, we ultimately depend on God. Everything comes from the LORD, whether it is an open door, the ability to be competent, or our skills and talents.

Heavenly Father, remind me never to lose heart whenever my applications are rejected for the job opportunities I applied for. I know that You are faithful to provide me with a job as I look for one. I also pray for Your grace and mercy that I work to be a competent and ideal candidate for whatever job opportunities I am applying for. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Why do we pray to God for employment?

We pray to God for employment because, in the end, we dependent on Him. As with any other thing we do in life, we can try to do it on our own and without God. Sometimes we may succeed, and sometimes we won’t. However, the burden will be on you, and at times you will find that burden unbearable. 

A Christian, however, does all things with dependency on God, including looking for employment. The burden is not on their shoulders because they have God as their guide. Whenever their job applications get rejected, they can still persevere, knowing that in the end God is faithful and will someday bring them to that specific job He has for them. Not just in job hunting but in every difficult circumstance Christians may face, they always depend on God. As written in Psalm 73:26, our heart and flesh may fail, but God is the strength of our hearts and our portion forever.

Another reason why we should pray to God and ask Him for help as we look for employment is that everything comes from God. In Psalm 24:1, it is written that the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof. Everything here on earth and in the entire universe belongs to the LORD. Even our ability to produce wealth through our job comes from God, as He is the One Who provides, as written in Deuteronomy 8:18. God is the God of the universe. He is magnificent, holy, and all-powerful. No wonder He owns everything, including our resources and talents on this earth. In Isaiah 66:1, it is written that heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool.

Ultimately, depending on God is our best option, not just because He is our strength in everything we do but also because the very talents, skills, open doors, and direction we need as we search for employment come from Him.

Father in heaven, as I look for employment, remind me not to trust in my skills and talents but to trust and depend on You. Everything comes from You, even the opportunities that arise and the talent and skills that make me the ideal candidate. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

What can you pray for as you look for employment?

There are four things that every person who is looking for employment can pray for:

• Favor
• Open doors
• Direction
• Grace to be competent

You pray for the favor that it would be your application that will be selected from the many or several applications for the position. You can also pray that when you go for a job interview you would find favor in the interviewer or HR manager’s eyes and hopefully get selected for the job. In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus teaches us to ask God and seek Him. In this case, you ask for and seek employment.

Father in heaven, as I apply for a specific job position at a particular company and industry that I would like to work at, I pray that You would give me favor in the eyes of the interviewer and HR manager and be selected for the job position. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Open doors are also something that you can pray for. Praying for open doors is also like praying for a job opportunity. It is praying for job vacancies or openings to which you can apply. If there is a specific industry or company where you would like to work, especially if it is the career or place where you want to get the experience you need, you can pray for open doors.

Heavenly Father, there is a specific industry and set of companies in which I hope I will be able to work. Working in those companies will give me the experience to grow in my career and acquire the skills and knowledge so I can become competent in what I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Direction is also essential to pray for. You don’t just apply for whatever job openings are available out there; you also consider the direction that God wants you to take. What is it that He is calling you to do? What are the gifts and talents that He has given You that you can use as you become the salt and light wherever God has called you? Sometimes particular doors are not open, or we are rejected from the jobs we applied for. In those times, we can also pause and pray to God about what it is or where He wants us to go. A good example is in Psalm 143:8 when King David prayed to God to show him how he should go.

Father in heaven, as I seek employment, give me clarity and direction regarding where you want me to be and what You have called me to do. Help me to be sensitive to where You are leading me and obey You no matter the direction You take me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Lastly, you can pray for the grace to be competent. Of course, even if you receive favor in the eyes of the interviewer or HR manager and have open doors, what the company or establishment that you are applying for would want most is a competent employee. You can’t be bad at what you do and expect favor and open doors to land you a job. In fact, as Christians, we ought to be good examples and be the salt and light to the world through our excellence in the workplace. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, it is written that we are to glorify God in everything we do. If we want to glorify God in the workplace, we must be excellent and competent in what we do.

Heavenly Father, I pray for the grace I need to be competent in the job I am applying for. Help me be a blessing to the company where I am applying and be someone they can rely on and trust, given my excellent work. I pray that I shall always be a good example to other employees and, through my work, show Christ with excellence and integrity. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

It is important to note that just because Jesus told us to ask and seek God, God does not necessarily grant whatever job opportunity we ask for. God is not a genie. The Bible also says in James 1:17 that every good gift comes from our Father in heaven. God is our good Father, Who gives us only what is good for us. 

If a specific job application isn’t answered, it might not be the one for our good. If that happens, we continue to seek God in prayer and trust Him and His infinite wisdom that whatever He gives is good. God defines what is good and not us. God is not a killjoy but a loving Father Who wants and knows what is best for His children.

How do you pray for employment?

As you pray for employment, you can follow the prayer points mentioned above and specify the details based on the specific employment you are praying for. As you pray and ask God for employment wherever you want to work, you can also pray for favor and open doors at that company or industry and with the recruitment staff.

Father in heaven, I pray that I will be able to work in a restaurant where I can learn and harness my culinary skills. I pray for open doors at several restaurants I’m considering working at and growing as a cook. I pray that I will find favor in the eyes of the head chef, and he will take me under his wing to work for him and learn at the same time. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

How you pray for direction is something personal. It is as simple as asking God which direction to take in life or which specific career or industry to consider. You pray to God by asking Him to guide you, show you clarity, and point you in the direction He wants you to go.

Heavenly Father, I pray for direction as to whether you would still like me to work as a sous chef at the restaurant I am working at, transfer to a different country and learn and gain experience at a different restaurant, or start my own restaurant. Help me be sensitive to where You are leading me, and give me the wisdom to make the wisest decision.

It is also essential to point out that sometimes it is not direction but wisdom that we must pray for. At times, given several options when applying for employment, either of the choices is acceptable to God because they are all within His will. In those cases, we pray to God not for direction but for the wisdom to choose the wisest job opportunity.

Lastly, as you pray for the grace to be competent, you pray for the grace to be good in whatever skill set you need to be good at for the specific job. For example, if you are applying for the position of a sous chef, you pray for the grace to be competent in terms of your skills in cooking.

Heavenly Father, help me be a competent sous chef and be the best in my work. Help me execute the basics of cooking perfectly and give me the creativity to develop novel recipes. I also pray for the grace to increase my knowledge of cooking and apply it as I strive to be excellent in what I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

As you pray and seek God for employment – whatever employment it is that you want to have – remember that you are there to serve God. It is written in Colossians 3:23 that we work heartily for God and not for man. Yes, you may have superiors to answer to, but in the end, it is God you serve and work for. You work in line with the eternity that you have in Christ and seek to be the salt and light to the world through your work.