The Lord's Prayer for Your Business

In 1855, Joseph M. Scriven wrote a poem to comfort his sick mother.

Years later, his words became the Christian hymn:
"What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

Those words have stayed with Christians for generations because they describe prayer so simply. Carry everything to God in prayer, including our work.

We pray about our families, our health, and our relationships. Yet when it comes to work, many of us wait until something goes wrong before bringing it before God. Revenue slows. A key employee leaves. A deal falls apart. Cash flow gets tight. Suddenly prayer moves to the top of the list.

There is nothing wrong with praying for God to solve our business problems. Philippians 4:6 tells us to bring our requests to God. The problem surfaces when trouble on the job becomes the only time we talk to Him about our work.

When was the last time you prayed for your business when nothing was broken?

"Lord, bless my business" is sincere. I have prayed those words many times. But what exactly am I asking Him to do? Grow the business? Protect it? Guide a hiring decision? Repair a client relationship? Provide more revenue for this month? 

Jesus provided a framework.

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and the Gospels preserve that teaching for us.

In Matthew 6, we find the prayer many of us learned as children:

I memorized those words as a young boy. Many of you likely did too. In the New Living Translation, Jesus introduces the prayer with the words, “Pray like this.” That wording has always stood out to me. Jesus gave His disciples words worth praying, but He also gave them a pattern for approaching God.

The Lord's Prayer begins with who God is. It moves through His will, our needs, our relationships, our weaknesses, and our dependence on Him. That same structure speaks directly to the decisions, money, people, pressures, and opportunities we face at work.

So let’s slow the prayer down and apply it to the world we live in every day.

"Our Father Which Art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name"

When I think about praying for my business, my first instinct is to start with the problem I am facing at work. Slowing revenue. Rising expenses. A critical staffing issue. But Jesus starts somewhere else. He reminds us who we are speaking to before we ask Him to change anything. He sees more than we see, knows what we do not know, and carries no anxiety about the problem consuming our attention.

Then Jesus says, "Hallowed be thy name." We spend years building our own name, reputation, and professional identity. Scripture says a good name matters, but the Lord's Prayer puts God's name first.

That affects how we should begin our prayer about work. Before asking God to fix something, we should ask whether the way we run the business honors Him and whether our work conduct reflects His character.

Our prayer might begin like this: "Father, before I ask You to fix anything, remind me who You are. Help me run this business in a way that honors Your name. Give me courage to tell the truth, keep my promises, treat people fairly, and walk away from opportunities requiring compromise."

"Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done"

This part of the prayer forces us to look at the way we work and ask whether it lines up with God's purpose. Does your advertising tell the truth? Do you keep your promises? Do you negotiate fairly? Do you serve people well? Profit matters, but profit cannot be the primary motivation or the final test of whether a decision is right.

Then Jesus says, "Thy will be done." In other words, we place our plans before God and remain willing to change direction when His answer differs from ours. Sometimes obedience means walking away from an opportunity, changing a decision, or accepting an outcome we did not want.

Our prayer might sound like this: "Father, help me conduct my work in a way that reflects Your values. Keep me honest in my decisions, fair in the way I treat people, and willing to change course when my plans do not line up with Your will. Help me follow You when Your answer differs from mine."

"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread"

Business owners understand the need for provision. We need customers, employees, revenue, ideas, energy, and enough money coming in to meet our responsibilities. What stands out is the phrase "daily bread." Jesus directs our attention to what we need today.

We spend plenty of time thinking about the future. We forecast revenue, study pipelines, plan expenses, and worry about next quarter. Planning matters, and there is a time for that. Jesus directs us to ask what we need from God today.

Daily bread is not always financial. Some days it is wisdom before a meeting, patience with a difficult customer, energy to finish the work in front of you, or clarity when evaluating a new opportunity. Sometimes God's provision looks less like the abundance we desire and more like what we need in that moment.

Our prayer might sound like this: "Father, give me what I need for today. Give me wisdom for the decisions in front of me, patience with the people I am working with, and enough provision to meet my responsibilities. Help me do today's work well without pulling tomorrow's worries forward."

"Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors"

In business, some debts have nothing to do with money. They show up as promises we did not keep, mistakes we did not own, credit we accepted that belonged to someone else, or conversations we avoided because we handled something poorly.

"Forgive us our debts" asks us to look back and repair what needs attention. Do I owe someone an apology? Is there a mistake I need to admit? Did pressure cause me to treat someone unfairly?

Then Jesus turns the prayer toward people who have hurt us. "As we forgive our debtors." A client might have lied. A partner might have betrayed your trust. An employee might have left you with a mess. Forgiveness does not require ignoring what happened or continuing an unwise business relationship. It means refusing to let residual resentment keep control.

Our prayer might sound like this: "Father, forgive me for the ways I have failed people through my work. Show me where I need to apologize, make something right, or admit I was wrong. Help me forgive the people who have hurt me without abandoning wisdom or healthy boundaries.”

"Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil"

Temptation in business rarely looks reckless at first. Greed looks like ambition. Pride looks like confidence. A small exaggeration feels harmless. A shortcut starts to feel acceptable because everyone else is doing it. 

Sometimes we need God to protect us from our own judgment, especially when we want a certain outcome badly enough to explain away the compromises we are willing to make.

Discernment includes knowing when to walk away. "If this deal is wrong for me, stop it" becomes a difficult prayer when the opportunity carries real profits and recognition.

Our prayer might sound like this: "Father, protect me from choices driven by greed, pride, or a willingness to compromise my trust in You. Give me clear judgment. Help me recognize compromise before I excuse it, and give me courage to walk away when I know down deep inside that something is wrong. Protect my business, and protect me from putting success ahead of obedience."

"For Thine Is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory"

In the King James wording many of us memorized, the prayer closes where it began, with God at the center. We have prayed through His will, our needs, relationships, and weaknesses. Then we hand the whole thing back to Him.

Christian entrepreneurs should build excellent companies, create jobs, solve real problems, earn healthy profits, and serve people well. Success has value, but success by itself makes a poor identity.

Revenue, company size, social media followers, and public recognition do not determine your worth. 

Our prayer might sound like this: "Father, my work belongs to You. Help me work hard, lead well, and pursue success without making success my identity. Keep my ambition in the right place. Let the results honor You, and remind me that my worth does not rise or fall with the numbers."

Put the Lord's Prayer Into Your Monday Morning

The framework becomes personal when you connect it to the work you do. The structure stays the same. The details change with your responsibilities.

The words will sound different for you. That is the point. The Lord's Prayer gives you the framework. Your work, responsibilities, relationships, and struggles give your prayer its unique language.

The Mirror Moment

Writing the prayer is the easy part. The harder question is whether you are willing to mean what you pray.

It is one thing to pray, "Thy will be done." It is another to surrender an opportunity you desperately want. 

Maybe there is a deal you have been trying to convince yourself is acceptable. A number you have presented more favorably than you should. A resentment you keep carrying, An apology you keep avoiding. An employee you have treated poorly. A customer you promised to call. An ambition that has slowly become more important than the people around you.

Before you write your own business prayer, sit quietly with the Lord's Prayer and ask yourself one question:

If I truly meant every part of this prayer, what would need to change in the way I work?

Do not rush past the answer. 

Then begin writing. Start with who God is and what honoring His name looks like in your work. Place your plans before Him. Name what you need today. Bring your relationships into the conversation. Admit where you are vulnerable. Then give the results back to Him.

You are not writing something impressive. You are putting the truth about your work before God.

Walk the Road This Week

Your first business prayer does not need to be perfect. But it needs to be 100% yours.

Set aside a few quiet minutes this week and write it. Pray it before the workday begins. Bring it into an important meeting. Return to it when a decision becomes difficult or when pressure starts affecting your judgment.

Keep developing the language. As your work evolves, so will your prayer. Some weeks you will pray more about provision. Other weeks it will be forgiveness, direction, temptation, or surrender. 

Most importantly, you will begin noticing parts of your work that rarely entered your prayers before.

And that is where I hope this leads.

Not toward another prayer you memorize and repeat without thinking, but toward a deeper conversation with God about the work that occupies so much of your life.

Joseph Scriven wrote about the privilege of carrying everything to God in prayer.

And that means everything, including your work.

Let's keep walking the Road together,

Dennis Jones
Founder and Publisher
The Biblical Business Roadmap