A Vocational Prayer for Working Parents — Nashville Institute for Faith and Work

Dear Heavenly Father,

As we consider the serious challenges presented by the pandemic, we give thanks and intercede for those that are currently parents working at home, balancing their family commitments and their job responsibilities simultaneously.

Lord, You have given great honor to all work, both paid and unpaid. As your image bearers, You have created us to work and create. You delight in all honest labor, even the unseen works of our hands. Faithfully folding laundry, washing dishes, or putting numbers on a spreadsheet are equally honoring in Your sight.

We know that being faithful to both callings—in parenting and vocationally—has never been easy. In our current moment, however, COVID-19 has magnified the challenges facing many parents to balance the increasing demands of work alongside caring for their children at home. For others, the stress of finding and paying for childcare or making decisions about whether to send their children back to school this fall weighs heavily on their minds. You know their hearts, and You see their struggles. Remind them that You are the ultimate provider.

Our vocational lives have been disrupted in different ways. For working parents whose volume of work has increased in light of the pandemic, grant them the peace that comes with knowing that You are in control. For those working early in the morning and late into the night, we ask for the gift of Sabbath rest. Sustain these working parents against burnout and exhaustion. When it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day, allow them to experience Your yoke that is easy and Your burden that is light.

Lord, refresh working parents with an invigorated sense that their work matters to You and to their neighbors, regardless of the task. Help them to see with clear vision the ways that their work can be a conduit of grace for those around them, especially now. Remind them that their labor is not in vain, and establish the work of their hands. Keep them from equating their worth with their output, and instead remind them that their identity is rooted in You. Our work may shift, but God, You do not change.

Lord, we thank You for working parents who are seeking to be faithful in their personal and professional lives. Help them to love their families and serve their work well, and remind them of your grace when it all feels like too much to do. You have called them to be faithful—not perfect— in their callings as workers and parents. Send your Spirit to be with them. Bring healing where there is pain, peace where there is anxiety, comfort where there is fear, wisdom where there is uncertainty, and fellowship where there is loneliness.

Lord, we trust that You are making all things new, and we eagerly look to that future day where all things will be restored to perfect harmony. Give us the gift of vision to notice and to celebrate the places where Your kingdom is breaking in here on earth today—even when it may be harder to see.

Amen.