Last Updated on November 16, 2023 by Emma
Do you want to pray about a budget meeting? Do you need guidance for proper budget planning?
These seven practical prayers can help you go into a budget planning meeting with greater confidence and clarity. As we cannot predict every little aspect of what you need to pray for regarding a budget, you are welcome to modify these prayers, as needed, to fit your situation. But, do pray!
Budgets, whether for home, business, or nonprofit organizations, seem like a bland thing to even consider praying about with God. Yet, scripture gives us many reminders that we need to ask God for wisdom in every area of our lives. For instance:
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15.22, NIV).
We want to get as much help as we can when we come up with a budget, and that help should include prayers for guidance and wisdom from God. Even the decision to have a budget is a good step. While it comes down to a simple equation of “We need to have more money coming in, than we have going out,” a budget helps everyone (be it family members, employees, or volunteers and supporters) see where the money is going and for what purposes.
A budget helps you be transparent and accountable. Jesus shared a story of how important it is to be careful with money, among many examples of his teaching. A budget is also the first step to a financial breakthrough, at least in most cases.
Let these prayers be a way for you to bring God into the process of making a budget. If you are one person in a larger group of budget planners, that is okay. Allow God to work through you in the planning process to insert necessary wisdom or insight into the table.
Table of Contents
A Short Prayer About Budget Planning
Dear God, we are about to go into what could be a very long budget meeting. I pray for us all to be calm and open-minded about the process, and about the budget itself. It’s clear we have to make some cuts, but I pray we can do so in a spirit of fairness to all who will be affected. Help me be a voice of reason in this budget planning meeting, O Lord. In the name of Jesus I pray,
Amen.
Help us, Lord, to make good decisions that will not lessen the impact of what we do, yet enable us to be not go into debt either. We need your guidance, which is why I’m praying to you right now. I ask you in the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Prayer Before a Budget Meeting For a Religious Group
Dear God in heaven, we ask your guidance upon all of us here tonight. You have given us the responsibility to plan out a budget for next year. We give you thanks for all you have provided for us and this (group or church) over the past year. When we had need, you came through with provision. Thank you Lord!
As we are dependent upon gifts given to us for our budget, we also want to express our gratitude for the faithful giving of our supporters and members. We ask that you help us attract more participants in our mission and more members who will give toward the vision you have given us.
Lord, we seek to be good stewards of all money that comes in. We ask that you help us see clearly where and how we could decrease some of our expenses, so that the finances we do have can be stretched further. We want to continue our purpose and mission strongly in this next year, so we pray that you help us create a solid budget. With a solid budget, we can then move forward knowing what we have the resources to make plans for and initiate and do.
We ask all of these things in the name of the mighty Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Prayer For Budget Planning For Our Household
Jesus, we sit down in a few minutes to write out our budget for our home. We are so grateful that we both have jobs and steady incomes, as that is a way you provide for us. We know it all comes from you, Lord, so we want to honor you as we plan out the best way to make the money coming in cover everything we need.
Thank you for our church having a budgeting class for the community, as it was so helpful. We now know we need to have an emergency fund set aside, so we don’t get blindsided financially by sudden expenses. We have a plan to pay down our debt, which is helping us to actually tithe to you.
It feels good to finally have a plan down on paper so we both can see exactly what money is there, and each place it goes to. We both are feeling more confident with a budget plan, because it is easier to stick to something tangible and real. Before we just relied on whether there seemed to be money in the checking account and that got us in money trouble.
Bless you Lord for humbling us so we can be accountable to you, and to each other. We pray this prayer of thankfulness and guidance in the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Prayer For Budget Planning For a Business
God, I need your help. I’m laying out a budget in order to get a loan for my business and it seems overwhelming. My accountant has given me all the files I need and the information is sound, so that is helpful. I ask for your blessing upon this process.
I don’t want to be in debt but a loan for the business is needed and my mentors at the chamber of commerce all have said it’s a wise move right now. As I work through all of the financials, help me to focus and think clearly so that all the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted. I want the loan officer to have a solid loan application to review.
Thank you for all you have provided for our business year after year. I pray for its continued success. Allow this budget I’m making now to serve as a financial road map toward greater security and provision. I pray this in Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Prayer For Budget Planning For a School
Dear God, I pray for our school board. They have such a hard job to help oversee the school district and all that goes with it. They are having a budget meeting tonight and have opened the floor for community comments. I know everyone is going to have their “pet” project they want funded, but I pray for each board member to listen fully and hear what people are saying.
I also pray for each speaker to voice their concerns with respect and not with negativity. The board members are seeking to do what’s best for each school and its students. I pray for wisdom, clarity, and confidence as they plan out the budget over the next two weeks. I pray this in the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Prayer For Budget Planning For a City/Town
Lord Jesus, I have been living in this town for several years now and I’ve never really paid attention to the city budget until lately. Thank you for the local newspaper that actually sends reporters to the town council and writes about the details so we’re informed.
I’m praying to you because I want to voice my concerns and yet I don’t know if I’ll be heard. I know the council has a very difficult job to do. The tax base is fairly solid here, but it also has not increased much in the last few years, yet expenses have, so budget cuts are going to be necessary. Help me think through what I want to say in order to be clear.
I pray for the council members and the mayor, collectively and individually. They’re just citizens like me, elected to fulfill this role. But now, they have some tough decisions to make because there won’t be enough money coming into town to cover the current budget, as it stands. I pray for each of them to seek you for guidance and direction. I pray for provision and wisdom and calm thinking throughout the process. I pray this in the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Final Thoughts
Hardly anyone looks forward to planning a budget, or attending a budget planning meeting. Or any meeting for that matter.
But nearly everyone with good common sense understands that having a budget is vitally important, whether it’s a personal budget, a business budget, or an organizational budget. A budget is basically a financial plan. A budget shows us how much money comes in, and where it goes. Scripture reminds us that having a plan is wise:
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish” (Luke 14.28-30, NIV).
It doesn’t matter whether you are the one doing the budgeting, or whether you are one of a group doing the budgeting, praying about it is a good choice.
May these prayers serve you well by enabling you to bring your concerns before God and laying them down. Let prayer relieve you of the budget burden. And, as you pray, your own prayer requests may rise up in your mind. We invite you to share them in the comments section.