How to Pray for Friends/Family who Have Lost Their Jobs

(More Pandemic Ponderings)

I’ve seen many friends experience job loss during this pandemic season, and my heart grieves for many who are still in the bittersweet journey of losing a job and looking for another one. It’s likely that you know several people in your circle of the world who are unemployed. Who comes to mind?

  • Do you feel that your prayers for them are going past the ceiling and reaching God?
  • Do you desire to pray for them with greater understanding?

Whenever I pray for someone facing a trial, I imagine myself standing in that person’s place. I consider the emotions I would feel and the thoughts I would have. I think of the ways I would need God to intervene in my life and how God is more than capable and faithful to help me (and all of His daughters and sons) in tough times.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Psalm 46:1-3

I’ve experienced job loss once in my life and can shed some light on what it’s like. I was moving steadily down a career path—a path that seemed to be leading somewhere great. Then—SNAP!—a boss’s decision suddenly left me unemployed, stopping me in my tracks. I had to abandon the path that had grown familiar to wander into the unknown. I had to seek out the new path God wanted me to walk. I had to figure out next steps.

When your income is essential to provide a roof over your head and food to fill your belly, it’s scary and sobering to lose your job. Job loss thrusts a person into a jousting match with these questions: How long will it take to find another job? How far will my savings and severance go? What can I give up to carry my money farther? How will my family suffer because of this? Will I/my family become homeless?

Through the years, I’ve seen many friends and coworkers who were let go from their jobs ask the same questions. Unemployment places people in a vulnerable position. Satan, described in 1 Peter 5:8 as a lion prowling for prey, roars at vulnerable people with lies about their identity and worth. When someone you know loses a job, I encourage you to reach out to that person through a text, email, or call and let her (or him) know you care about her and will be praying for her. God is a GREAT God who can use our sentiments, formed out of loving-kindness, to encourage our neighbors’ hearts.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” –Hebrews 10:23-24

Experiencing unemployment is no fairytale, but it’s also not “The End” of the story.

A Different Perspective

My perspective on job loss was forever shaped by Carl Wilhelm, a most beloved and greatly admired older gentleman in my church. Carl worked on church staff for many years and overlapped my time on staff. His passion for God, humility, genuine love for people, desire to connect with all ages, and visionary wisdom make him a treasure of a man.

On the day church leadership broke the news of a staff reorg, Carl was the right person to hand a microphone to because he knows how to shepherd hearts. The reorg resulted in the firing of nine fellow coworkers. Those of us who had been reorged into a new division titled “Congregational Ministries” gathered together in one of the church’s large auditoriums. Shell-shocked, sad, and somber, we were eager to hear from Carl. I’m sure I don’t recall his words perfectly, but he said something to this effect:

“Our friends have lost their jobs. It’s okay to feel sad for our friends and for their families. It’s okay to mourn the loss of our teammates. Sherri (his wife) and I have met with all of them. They are sad and experiencing a variety of emotions, which is to be expected. They are leaning on God. The days ahead of them will be difficult. Our friends need our prayers.

We must remember that God has a plan for them, and He will carry them to the other side. Right now, on this side, there is pain. BUT ONE DAY, they will make it to the other side, and we’ll see what God had planned for them all along…and we’ll celebrate God’s work in their lives. We’ll celebrate all God will do through them for His glory!”  

For our friends, family members, and acquaintances who have lost their jobs, we need to pray to that end.

God has a plan.

All of our lives are part of a BIGGER Story.

Though experiencing job loss may seem like a setback, it’s a send-off to a new calling—a new “God Assignment.”

Our faithful God will help them make it to the other side.

Our loving God can use us to help our friends make it to the other side and make their bittersweet journey a little sweeter.

There is a celebration to come, for all of our lives were designed as a celebration of Him!

More Scriptures to Ponder

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” –Ecclesiates 3:1&4

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” –Philippians 1:6

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses , made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. –Ephesians 2:4-10

A Prayer for Those who Have Lost Their Jobs

(On every blank line, insert the name of the person you’re praying for)

Heavenly Father, I praise You, for this is who You are:

You sit on the throne and hold the entire universe together. You manage Your creations respectfully, lovingly, justly, graciously, and perfectly. You are our Ultimate Boss. At the end of every workday, it’s You we want to please. You are our Ultimate Provider. It’s Your work and Your work through us that provides what we need for life and godliness. 

I lift up __________ to You. Help __________ to remember that her (or his) identity comes from You and not her work. She is not defined by circumstance or man’s opinion. Keep __________ dwelling in the truth that she is a creation made in Your image, wonderfully-woven with dignity, worth, and purpose.

Father, hold __________’s heart close to Yours. Let her experience Your love and peaceful presence in the heart’s depths. In the wounded spaces of her heart, bring healing. Show her how to grieve this loss to Your glory. Envision her with eternal perspective on this earthly loss. Turn her fears into forward-moving faith.

Father, prepare _________ for her next “God Assignment.” As You lead her to it, I ask that You provide open doors and closed doors, and none of the confusing in between. May she walk boldly through open doors and walk confidently past closed doors.   

{Pray Colossians 3:23-24 over the person.} “May __________ reflect Christ’s character and share Christ’s love on “the other side” and all along the way. “Whatever __________ does, {may she} work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord {she} will receive the inheritance as reward.” In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Verses are ESV, unless noted. *Photo credits: In the boat, by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash / Walking to shore by Dev Asangbam on Unsplash

Other blogs to help you relate more deeply with God during this “pandemic” season:

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