This short prayer is for the people you spend your working hours beside, the colleagues whose moods, deadlines, worries and hopes shape your days as much as your own. Pray it at the start of a shift, before a difficult meeting, or during a quiet moment at your desk. You can read it aloud exactly as written, or use it as a starting point and speak more plainly about the people you have in mind.
Short Prayer for My Coworkers
Lord, thank you for the people I work with each day. You know their names, their families, the things they carry home at night and the things they are afraid to say out loud. I ask you to watch over them where I cannot. Give them rest when the workload is heavy, and patience with one another when tempers run short. Where someone is struggling with their health, their marriage, a child who is far from home, or money that does not stretch far enough, be near to them and show them that they are not alone.
Father, guard our conversations from gossip and our decisions from pride. Help each of us to do honest work and to speak the truth with kindness. If someone is far from you, draw them close in a way they can recognize. If someone is lonely at lunch or quietly overlooked, let me notice them and be a friendly face. Make this place a little more humane because you are in it. Thank you that you see every one of us, and that nothing about our working lives is hidden from you. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, bless the people I work with today. Give them strength for what is asked of them and kindness toward each other. Comfort the ones who are hurting and help me to be honest, patient and fair. Keep our words gentle and our hands ready to help. Thank you for them, and for the work you have given us to do together. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Philippians 2:4
Each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
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Paul asks believers to look beyond their own interests. Pray this for your coworkers by asking God to show you one specific colleague whose needs are easy to miss, and to give you a willing heart to notice them.
Galatians 6:2
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
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This verse speaks of carrying one another’s burdens. Pray it over the people in your office who are under pressure, asking God to show you where a practical kindness, a listening ear or a shared task would lighten their load.
Colossians 3:12-13
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
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Paul describes the clothing of God’s people: compassion, kindness, humility and patience. Pray that these qualities would mark how your coworkers treat one another, especially when frustration rises and patience runs thin.
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
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Paul encourages peace as far as it depends on us. Pray for peace in your workplace, and for the grace to do your own part, even when others are difficult, trusting God with the outcome of what is beyond your control.
Psalm 121:7-8
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
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The psalmist declares that the Lord keeps and watches over his people in their coming and going. Pray this over your coworkers as they leave for home and return to work, asking God to guard their going out and their coming in.
How to Pray This Prayer
Choose a regular moment that already exists in your day, such as the walk from the car to the building, the first sip of coffee, or the minute before you open your inbox. Keep a short list on your phone or a sticky note with two or three names, and pray for one person at a time rather than the whole office at once. Over a week or a month, you will find that your list becomes more specific and your prayers more attentive.
You might also invite a trusted colleague, or a friend from church, to pray the same words for the same people. Some workplaces have a small group that meets over lunch, and others simply share a quiet prayer before a difficult meeting. Whatever shape it takes, let your prayer lead you toward a real act of kindness, such as asking how someone’s week is really going or offering to cover a task for a tired teammate.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord bless the people you work beside and keep them in his care. May he give them rest when they are weary, courage when they are afraid, and good company when they feel alone. May he make your workplace a place of honesty and generosity, and may his peace settle over each of you as you go about your work together.
